Bell is a city of 32,200 in Los Angeles County, about 6 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles · Updated November 2026
Is Bell, CA safe?
Bell has more crime than most of the country: an overall CrimeGrade™ of C-, with more crime than the neighborhoods where 86% of Americans live. Violent crime grades C- and property crime C. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Bell run from C to F, so check the map below.
C-
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 367 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
14% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Bell as a whole, and 86% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Bell scores 367.
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 Bell, CA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Bell, 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 Bell
Robberies run high. Bell has robberies at more than double the US rate: 1.6 a year per 1,000 residents, against 0.62 nationally.
Burglaries happen at stores and businesses far more often than nationally. In Bell, 51% of reported burglaries happen at stores and businesses, against 28% nationally.
The safest and least safe parts of Bell
High crime is widespread across Bell: 89% of residents live in areas graded D or F, and the rest in areas graded C. Grades across Bell run from C to F; every part of Bell has more crime than the typical US neighborhood.
11%89%
C 11%D or F 89%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Within Bell, the southeast side has the least crime and the north side the most.
Crime rates and types in Bell
CrimeGrade™ estimates Bell has about 28 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 24% less than the US as a whole and 29% 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 Bell, about 31% of everything reported.
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 Bell 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.
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 Bell
Bell has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
Thefts from cars happen most often in parking lots and garages: 41% of them, against 31% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Stores and businesses (51%)
Night (midnight to 6 am)
Car theft
Streets and sidewalks (40%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Parking lots and garages (41%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Vandalism
Stores and businesses (23%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Robbery
Streets and sidewalks (46%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Aggravated assault
Homes (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 Bell compares with nearby cities
Bell has less crime than 8 of its 9 nearest cities; only Commerce has less.
Two things set Bell apart: it has 98% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally, and a Walk Grade of B- (55 of 100) on BestNeighborhood, against 21 for the US as a whole. Places like that tend to report more robbery and car theft, and they run high here.
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery and car theft.98% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 98% 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.B- (55 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 93% 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.100% where people liveUS: 78%Higher than for 92% of US city residents
Show all 6
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson.2.5% of homesUS: 7.1%Lower than for 92% of US city residents
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 89% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.7.3 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower than for 79% of US city residents
BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of Bell 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 Bell
Crime costs Bell about $2,053 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 70% 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 $84 million a year, or $2,613 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$7.1 million
$221
Rape
$920,000
$29
Robbery
$1.6 million
$50
Assault
$4.3 million
$135
Burglary
$930,000
$29
Theft
$1.4 million
$45
Vehicle theft
$1.6 million
$50
Arson
$110,000
$3
Vandalism
$890,000
$28
Total
$19 million
$588
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 Bell 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. Bell 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 Bell, CA average a SchoolGrade of D+: 29% of students test proficient, against 20% projected for schools like them. Overall, they greatly exceed expectations. See schools in Bell on SchoolGrade
