Atherton is a town of 8,630 in San Mateo County, about 25 miles southeast of downtown San Francisco · Updated November 2026
Is Atherton, CA safe?
Yes. Most US neighborhoods have little crime, and Atherton has less than most of them: its overall CrimeGrade™ is A, safer than the neighborhoods where 60% of Americans live. Violent crime grades A and property crime A-. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Atherton run from A to B, so check the map below.
A
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 880 of 1,000Safer than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
60% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Atherton as a whole, and 40% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Atherton scores 880.
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 Atherton, CA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Atherton, 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 Atherton
Burglary is the exception. Atherton grades A- for property crime, but burglary grades B, worse than in the neighborhoods where 86% of Americans live.
Simple assault runs low. Atherton has 2.8 simple assaults a year per 1,000 residents, a small fraction of the US rate of 9.7.
Crime rates and types in Atherton
CrimeGrade™ estimates Atherton has about 22 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 41% less than the US as a whole and 44% less than 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.
Theft is the most common crime in Atherton, about 40% of everything reported, but assault costs more, because each one does more harm.
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 Atherton
Atherton has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Atherton, 92% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (92%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (52%)
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 Atherton compares with nearby cities
Atherton has less crime than 8 of its 10 nearest cities; only Portola Valley and Woodside have less.
Two things set Atherton apart: it has 4.9 parking-lot spaces per resident, against 2.0 nationally, and 3.1 stores and restaurants for every 1,000 residents, against 10.5 nationally. Places with a lot of parking-lot space tend to report more theft, yet theft runs lower here than that would suggest.
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery and car theft.NoneUS: 24%Lower than for 97% of US city residents
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.4.9 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher than for 97% 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. 96% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D- (11 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 74% of US city residents
Show all 6
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.3.1 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower than for 97% 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.9.8% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 85% 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 Atherton: D (18 of 100).under 1 trip an hourUS: noneLower than for 61% 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 crime costs Atherton
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Atherton about $678 a year per household, 44% less 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 $5.7 million a year, or $665 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$220,000
$26
Rape
$140,000
$16
Robbery
$180,000
$21
Assault
$490,000
$57
Burglary
$300,000
$34
Theft
$390,000
$45
Vehicle theft
$160,000
$19
Arson
$21,000
$2
Vandalism
$190,000
$22
Total
$2.1 million
$243
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 Atherton 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. Atherton is the other kind of example: few people work in, shop in or visit it, so its crime per resident looks lower than its CrimeGrade™ suggests.
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 Atherton, CA average a SchoolGrade of A: 55% of students test proficient, against 53% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in Atherton on SchoolGrade
