Santa Barbara is a city of 119,600 in Santa Barbara County, about 55 miles southeast of downtown Santa Maria · Updated November 2026
How common is property crime in Santa Barbara?
Property crime in Santa Barbara runs higher than in most US neighborhoods: a B+, with more property crime than the neighborhoods where 61% of Americans live. Theft makes up 54% of it. Burglary, the crime most likely to reach into a home, grades A, and vehicle theft grades B+.
B+
Property crime CrimeGrade™
Safety score 749 of 1,000More property crime than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
39% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more property crime than Santa Barbara as a whole, and 61% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a property crime safety score of 823, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Santa Barbara scores 749.
Crime is concentrated in a small share of places, so most neighborhoods score high on the 0 to 1,000 scale. That is why a score in the 800s can still mean more property crime than most US neighborhoods.
How to read the map: each area's color compares its property crime with the homes, parked cars and people there, on one national scale, from green for the least to red for the most. Each area gets its own color, so a busy shopping center can show red while the homes beside it stay green. The interactive maps load faster on a strong connection. Compare high speed internet in Santa Barbara, CA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Santa Barbara, and anyone thinking about buying or renting a home there.
Business and enterprise customers: this free map shows neighborhood areas. CrimeGrade™ business reports map crime at about 66-meter detail and estimate it for one address and type of business. See business reports
What stands out about property crime in Santa Barbara
One part of Santa Barbara stands out for vehicle theft. Car thefts in Waterfront & Eastside Santa Barbara, in southeast Santa Barbara, run at about triple the rate in the rest of the city.
Thefts from cars happen on streets and sidewalks far more often than nationally. In Santa Barbara, 46% of reported thefts from cars happen on streets and sidewalks, against 18% nationally.
Where property crime is lowest and highest in Santa Barbara
Low property crime is the norm across Santa Barbara: 70% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 13% in areas graded D or F. Property crime grades across Santa Barbara run from A+ to F.
70%17%13%
A or B 70%C 17%D or F 13%
Share of residents, by the property crime CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
1Upper State, northwestCar thefts run at about half the rate in the rest of Santa Barbara.A-843
2Oak Park-Santa Barbara, centralCar thefts run about 30% higher here than in the rest of Santa Barbara.B+722
3Riviera & Lower East, eastThefts run about 40% higher here than in the rest of Santa Barbara.B+721
4Westside-Santa Barbara & Mesa, southThefts run about 50% higher here than in the rest of Santa Barbara.B+696
Neighborhood areas of Santa Barbara, ranked by property crime CrimeGrade™; beside each grade is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer). Each one combines several of the smaller areas on the map.
Is property crime going up in Santa Barbara?
Reported property crime in Santa Barbara has fallen 24% since 2019. Burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts went from about 23 to 18 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 18). Property crime changed little from 2023 to 2024.
Property crime, change since 2019
Santa BarbaraUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Santa Barbara. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Property, Santa Barbara
Property, US
2016
+43%
+15%
2017
+17%
+12%
2018
+10%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
+6%
-8%
2021
-10%
-10%
2022
-11%
-6%
2023
-22%
-7%
2024
-24%
-15%
Property crime rates and types in Santa Barbara
CrimeGrade™ estimates Santa Barbara has about 22 reported property crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 10% less than the US as a whole and 22% less than California.
All property crime
Burglary
Vehicle theft
Reported crimes a year, per 1,000 residents. Property crime here includes vandalism, which the FBI's property crime rate leaves out.
Theft is the most common property crime in Santa Barbara, about 54% of the total, followed by vandalism and vehicle theft.
Each CrimeGrade™ here compares a property crime with what it affects: homes for burglary and arson, parked cars for vehicle theft, people and parking for theft, homes and businesses for vandalism. Rates count crimes per 1,000 residents.
Select a crime's name to see its map above. CrimeGrade™ business reports map each crime at about 66-meter detail.
Where and when property crime happens in Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Santa Barbara, 44% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Car thefts happen most often on streets and sidewalks: 75% of them, against 27% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Stores and businesses (44%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Streets and sidewalks (75%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Theft from cars
Streets and sidewalks (46%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Streets and sidewalks (27%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Shares of the crimes reported to police, 2022 to 2024. Reports with no time recorded are left out of the times.
Property crime in Santa Barbara and nearby cities
Santa Barbara has more property crime than 7 of its 8 nearest cities. Santa Ynez and Oak View have the least property crime nearby.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from Santa Barbara. Beside each property crime CrimeGrade™ is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer).
Compared with cities of similar size and density, Santa Barbara has more property crime than 59% of them.
Parking lots, shops and walkability in Santa Barbara
Among the traits that tend to go with property crime, two set Santa Barbara apart: it has 0.6 parking-lot spaces per resident, against 2.0 nationally, and 14.8 stores and restaurants for every 1,000 residents, against 10.5 nationally. Places with little parking-lot space tend to report less theft; here theft sits near the national middle.
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.0.6 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Lower than for 88% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.14.8 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 86% of US city residents
Walk GradeBestNeighborhood's grade for getting through daily life on foot, traced along real walking routes to shops, schools and parks. Walkable places tend to report more theft. 58% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.C (33 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 84% of US city residents
Show all 6
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more car theft.41% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 77% of US city residents
Lit at nightSatellite images show which neighborhoods are lit at night, a sign of busy streets and businesses. Brightly lit places tend to report more theft and vandalism.81% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 70% of US city residents
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft.55 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 69% of US city residents
These traits tend to go with more or less crime; none of them causes it on its own. Sources: Census job counts and housing figures, OpenStreetMap and Overture business listings, CrimeGrade™ parking estimates, NASA night-light imagery, US Forest Service tree cover, EPA transit data and BestNeighborhood's Walk Grade.
What property crime costs Santa Barbara
Property crime costs Santa Barbara about $18 million a year, or $151 per resident and about $380 per household: the value of what is stolen or damaged, plus the police, courts and prisons that respond.
Cost of property crime per resident, per year
How the cost breaks down
Pain and suffering add little to the cost of property crime, so this is close to its full cost.
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Burglary
$1.7 million
$14
Theft
$7.1 million
$59
Vehicle theft
$3.6 million
$30
Arson
$330,000
$3
Vandalism
$5.4 million
$45
Total
$18 million
$151
How CrimeGrade™ works
The property crime CrimeGrade™ covers burglary, theft, car theft, arson and vandalism, from A+ for the least crime to F for the most, on one scale for the whole country.
It weighs each property crime against what it affects: homes for burglary and arson, parked cars for car theft, and the people and parking around stores for theft.
The rates on this page count crimes for every 1,000 people who live here, the way police departments report them.
Comparisons with US neighborhoods use the Census Bureau's block groups, small areas of about 1,400 residents, and count the people who live in each. The figures count crimes reported to police; many crimes, shoplifting above all, never are. Behind the grades, CrimeGrade™ tested 21,607 factors from 125 data families. For business owners, paid CrimeGrade™ location reports estimate crime at a single address for each type of business.
Where the numbers come from
Crime reports that police departments file with the FBI
State crime records and city crime data, where they are published
Published research on what crime costs victims and communities
These are estimates of reported crime for whole areas, not a record of what happened on any one street. CrimeGrade™ updates them once a year and provides them free and without guarantee. Check local sources before you rely on them for a decision.
