The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Castro Valley, CA
Castro Valley is an unincorporated community of 64,300 in Alameda County, about 20 miles east of downtown San Francisco · Updated November 2026
Is Castro Valley, CA safe?
With an overall CrimeGrade™ of B-, Castro Valley has moderate crime by national standards. Most US neighborhoods have less: 77% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime. Violent crime grades B+ and property crime C. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Castro Valley run from A+ to F, so check the map below.
B-
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 598 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
23% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Castro Valley as a whole, and 77% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Castro Valley scores 598.
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 Castro Valley, CA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Castro Valley, 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 Castro Valley
Vehicle theft stands out among B-graded cities. For the typical resident of a B-graded US city, the figure is 2.9 car thefts a year per 1,000 residents; Castro Valley has 8.4.
Burglary is a strength. Castro Valley grades C for property crime, but burglary grades A.
The safest and least safe parts of Castro Valley
Crime varies widely across Castro Valley: 54% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 24% in areas graded D or F. Grades across Castro Valley run from A+ to F; 25% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
54%22%24%
A or B 54%C 22%D or F 24%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Within Castro Valley, the northeast side has the least crime and the southwest side the most.
Crime rates and types in Castro Valley
CrimeGrade™ estimates Castro Valley has about 36 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, about the same as 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.
The largest share of crime reported in Castro Valley is assault, about 37% 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 Castro Valley compares with nearby cities
Castro Valley has less crime than 6 of its 10 nearest cities.
Two things set Castro Valley apart: it has 5.3 stores and restaurants for every 1,000 residents, against 10.5 nationally, and 20 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole. Places like that tend to report less theft, yet theft runs higher here than that would suggest.
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.5.3 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower than for 91% of US city residents
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.20 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower 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. 79% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D+ (20 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 58% 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.0.8 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Lower than for 83% 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.3.6% of homesUS: 7.1%Lower than for 79% 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.38% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 75% 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 Castro Valley
Crime costs Castro Valley about $1,292 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 $77 million a year, or $1,202 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$3.3 million
$52
Rape
$760,000
$12
Robbery
$2.1 million
$32
Assault
$9.8 million
$152
Burglary
$870,000
$14
Theft
$2.6 million
$40
Vehicle theft
$8.3 million
$129
Arson
$200,000
$3
Vandalism
$1.6 million
$25
Total
$30 million
$459
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 Castro Valley 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 Castro Valley, CA average a SchoolGrade of B+: 45% of students test proficient, against 44% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in Castro Valley on SchoolGrade
