The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Berkeley, CA
Berkeley is a city of 126,300 in Alameda County, about 10 miles northeast of downtown San Francisco · Updated November 2026
Is Berkeley, CA safe?
Berkeley has more crime than most of the country: an overall CrimeGrade™ of C, with more crime than the neighborhoods where 85% of Americans live. Violent crime grades better than property crime here, B against F. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Berkeley run from A to F, so check the map or the safest and least safe neighborhoods below.
C
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 403 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
15% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Berkeley as a whole, and 85% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Berkeley scores 403.
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 Berkeley, CA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Berkeley, 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 Berkeley
Car thefts run high in South Berkeley & Bushrod. In this part of south Berkeley, they run at about triple the rate in the rest of Berkeley.
Burglary stands out among C-graded cities. For the typical resident of a C-graded US city, the figure is 2.5 burglaries a year per 1,000 residents; Berkeley has 6.2.
Theft at more than double the US rate. Berkeley has 34.0 thefts a year per 1,000 residents, against 13.1 nationally.
The safest and most dangerous neighborhoods in Berkeley
Safety changes a lot from one part of Berkeley to the next: 32% of residents live in areas graded A or B, while 46% live in areas graded D or F. Grades across Berkeley run from A to F; 3% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
32%22%46%
A or B 32%C 22%D or F 46%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
1Berkeley Hills, northeastCar thefts run at a small fraction of the rate in the rest of Berkeley.B+756
7SouthWest Berkeley, westAggravated assaults run about 80% higher here than in the rest of Berkeley.D177
8South Berkeley & Bushrod, southRobberies run at about triple the rate in the rest of Berkeley.F0
Neighborhood areas of Berkeley, ranked by overall 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 crime going up in Berkeley?
Since 2019, reported violent crime in Berkeley is up 23%, while property crime has held about steady. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 5.0 to 6.2 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 51 to 50 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, property crime fell 14%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
BerkeleyUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Berkeley. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Berkeley
Violent, US
Property, Berkeley
Property, US
2016
-1%
+4%
-12%
+15%
2017
+8%
+4%
-3%
+12%
2018
-5%
+0%
-14%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
-13%
+4%
-12%
-8%
2021
+9%
+6%
+8%
-10%
2022
+12%
+5%
+7%
-6%
2023
+32%
+2%
+16%
-7%
2024
+23%
-4%
-0%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Berkeley
CrimeGrade™ estimates Berkeley has about 69 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 86% more than the US as a whole and 74% more 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.
The largest share of crime reported in Berkeley is theft, about 49% of the total. It also makes up 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.
How Berkeley compares with nearby cities
Berkeley has more crime than 5 of its 8 nearest cities. Orinda and Albany have the least crime nearby.
Two things set Berkeley apart: it has a Walk Grade of B+ (70 of 100) on BestNeighborhood, against 21 for the US as a whole, and 78% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally. Places like that tend to report more theft and assault, and they run high here.
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. 66% of residents here live in walkable areas.B+ (70 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 96% 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.78% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 92% 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 Berkeley: C (36 of 100).22 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 92% 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.0.5 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Lower than for 91% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.15.1 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 88% 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.10.3% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 87% 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 Berkeley
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Berkeley about $1,889 a year per household, 57% more than the US figure of $1,205. The total is about $94 million a year.
Cost of crime per resident, per year
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, which comes almost entirely from violent crime, the full cost rises to about $246 million a year, or $1,949 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$11 million
$90
Rape
$3.3 million
$26
Robbery
$6.8 million
$54
Assault
$21 million
$165
Burglary
$7.0 million
$55
Theft
$22 million
$174
Vehicle theft
$16 million
$129
Arson
$1.2 million
$9
Vandalism
$5.6 million
$44
Total
$94 million
$747
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 Berkeley 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 Berkeley, CA average a SchoolGrade of A+: 57% of students test proficient, against 52% projected for schools like them. Overall, they greatly exceed expectations. See schools in Berkeley on SchoolGrade
