The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Arcata, CA
Arcata is a city of 21,100 in Humboldt County, about 7 miles northeast of downtown Eureka · Updated November 2026
Is Arcata, CA safe?
With an overall CrimeGrade™ of B+, Arcata has moderate crime by national standards. Most US neighborhoods have less: 63% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime. Property crime grades better than violent crime here, A- against B+. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Arcata run from A+ to B-, so check the map below.
B+
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 758 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
37% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Arcata as a whole, and 63% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Arcata scores 758.
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 crime than most US neighborhoods.
How to read the map: each area's color compares its crime with the people, homes and cars there, on one national scale, from green for the least crime 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 Arcata, CA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Arcata, 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 in Arcata
Robbery stands out among B-graded cities. For the typical resident of a B-graded US city, the figure is 0.63 robberies a year per 1,000 residents; Arcata has 1.3.
Thefts from cars happen on streets and sidewalks far more often than nationally. In Arcata, 56% of reported thefts from cars happen on streets and sidewalks, against 18% nationally.
The safest and least safe parts of Arcata
Every part of Arcata where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across Arcata run from A+ to B-; 13% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
100%
A or B 100%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Within Arcata, the northeast side has the least crime and the center the most.
Is crime going up in Arcata?
Since 2019, reported violent crime in Arcata is up 31% and property crime is down 46%. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 4.0 to 5.2 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 33 to 18 (US: 18). Neither changed much from 2023 to 2024.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
ArcataUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Arcata. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Arcata
Violent, US
Property, Arcata
Property, US
2016
+14%
+4%
+11%
+15%
2017
-11%
+4%
+17%
+12%
2018
-12%
+0%
+10%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
+4%
+4%
+2%
-8%
2021
+55%
+6%
+4%
-10%
2022
+62%
+5%
-13%
-6%
2023
+44%
+2%
-42%
-7%
2024
+31%
-4%
-46%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Arcata
CrimeGrade™ estimates Arcata has about 45 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 21% more than the US as a whole and close to California.
Overall crime
Violent crime
Property crime
Reported crimes a year, per 1,000 residents. These figures include simple assaults and vandalism, which the FBI's violent and property crime rates leave out.
Assault is the most common crime in Arcata, about 38% of everything reported, and it also accounts for the largest share of what crime costs here.
Each CrimeGrade™ compares a crime with what it affects: people for assaults and robbery, homes for burglary, parked cars for vehicle theft. 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 crime happens in Arcata
Arcata has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Arcata, 55% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (55%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Streets and sidewalks (53%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Theft from cars
Streets and sidewalks (56%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Streets and sidewalks (31%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Robbery
Stores and businesses (57%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Streets and sidewalks (37%)
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.
How Arcata compares with nearby cities
Arcata has the most crime of its 3 nearest cities.
Two things set Arcata apart: it has 48% of the land where people live lit at night, against 78% nationally, and 14.9 stores and restaurants for every 1,000 residents, against 10.5 nationally. Places whose neighborhoods are dark at night tend to report less theft and vandalism, yet vandalism runs higher here than that would suggest.
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.48% where people liveUS: 78%Lower 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.14.9 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 and assault. 57% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.C (34 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 85% of US city residents
Show all 6
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.2.8 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher than for 82% of US city residents
Transit serviceBuses and trains an hour at the evening rush. Places with busy transit tend to report more theft and robbery. BestNeighborhood's Transit Grade for Arcata: D+ (22 of 100).5 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 68% of US city residents
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson.7.6% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 67% of US city residents
BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of Arcata on shops, parks, home prices, getting around and more.
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 crime costs Arcata
Crime costs Arcata about $1,287 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 7% more than the US figure of $1,205.
Cost of crime per resident, per year
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, which comes almost entirely from violent crime, the full cost comes to about $35 million a year, or $1,668 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$1.5 million
$72
Rape
$1.0 million
$48
Robbery
$850,000
$40
Assault
$4.1 million
$195
Burglary
$380,000
$18
Theft
$1.5 million
$70
Vehicle theft
$700,000
$33
Arson
$120,000
$6
Vandalism
$1.2 million
$55
Total
$11 million
$536
How CrimeGrade™ works
A CrimeGrade™ shows how much crime an area has compared with the rest of the country, from A+ for the least crime to F for the most. Every neighborhood in the US is graded on the same scale, so a B in Arcata means the same as a B anywhere else.
CrimeGrade™ starts from the crimes people report to police and measures each kind of crime against what it affects: people for assaults, homes for burglaries, parked cars for car thefts.
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.
Schools in Arcata, CA average a SchoolGrade of B+: 42% of students test proficient, against 38% projected for schools like them. Overall, they exceed expectations. See schools in Arcata on SchoolGrade
