The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Avenal, CA
Avenal is a city of 13,700 in Kings County, about 35 miles southwest of downtown Hanford · Updated November 2026
Is Avenal, CA safe?
Yes. An overall CrimeGrade™ of A- means crime in Avenal is low. Most US neighborhoods have little crime too, so Avenal sits near the middle: 45% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime, and 55% in neighborhoods with less. Property crime grades better than violent crime here, A against B+. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Avenal run from A+ to C+, so check the map below.
A-
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 810 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
45% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Avenal as a whole, and 55% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Avenal scores 810.
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 Avenal, CA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Avenal, 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 Avenal
Aggravated assault is the exception. Avenal grades B+ for violent crime, but aggravated assault grades C, worse than in the neighborhoods where 89% of Americans live.
Theft runs low. Avenal has 2.3 thefts a year per 1,000 residents, a small fraction of the US rate of 13.1.
The safest and least safe parts of Avenal
Most of Avenal grades well: 85% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and the rest in areas graded C. Grades across Avenal run from A+ to C+; 46% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
85%15%
A or B 85%C 15%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Within Avenal, the southeast side has the least crime and the center the most.
Crime rates and types in Avenal
CrimeGrade™ estimates Avenal has about 20 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 46% less than the US as a whole and 50% 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.
Assault is the most common crime in Avenal, about 52% 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.
The Avenal Police Department's 2024 count of burglary fell far below its usual level, a sign of a reporting break, so CrimeGrade™ used the department's earlier years instead. The department's 2024 report to the FBI was missing some months of aggravated assault; CrimeGrade™ filled them in from the department's own monthly pattern.
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 Avenal
Avenal has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Vandalism
Homes (74%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Aggravated assault
Homes (71%)
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 Avenal compares with nearby cities
Of the 5 cities closest to Avenal, 3 have less crime. Kettleman City and Stratford have the least.
Two things set Avenal apart: it has 4.4 stores and restaurants for every 1,000 residents, against 10.5 nationally, and 22 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole. Places like that tend to report less theft, and it runs low here.
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.4.4 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower than for 94% of US city residents
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.22 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 84% 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. 76% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D+ (19 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 55% 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.0.9 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Lower than for 78% 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.3.9% of homesUS: 7.1%Lower than for 75% of US city residents
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery and car theft.34% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 72% of US city residents
BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of Avenal 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 Avenal
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Avenal about $2,275 a year per household, 89% 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 $26 million a year, or $1,928 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$1.2 million
$90
Rape
$340,000
$25
Robbery
$150,000
$11
Assault
$2.9 million
$215
Burglary
$280,000
$21
Theft
$160,000
$12
Vehicle theft
$180,000
$13
Arson
$97,000
$7
Vandalism
$290,000
$21
Total
$5.7 million
$415
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 Avenal 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. Avenal 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 Avenal, CA average a SchoolGrade of F: 15% of students test proficient, against 19% projected for schools like them. Overall, they don't meet expectations. See schools in Avenal on SchoolGrade
