The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Clearlake, CA
Clearlake is a city of 16,800 in Lake County, about 35 miles north of downtown Santa Rosa · Updated November 2026
Is Clearlake, CA safe?
Clearlake has more crime than most of the country: an overall CrimeGrade™ of C, with more crime than the neighborhoods where 86% of Americans live. Property crime grades better than violent crime here, B+ against D. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Clearlake run from A to F, so check the map below.
C
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 399 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
14% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Clearlake as a whole, and 86% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Clearlake scores 399.
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 Clearlake, CA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Clearlake, 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 Clearlake
Thefts are less common than the crime level suggests. Crime overall in Clearlake runs 43% above the US rate, but thefts run 29% below it: 9.3 a year per 1,000 residents, against 13.1 nationally.
Reported rapes run high for a C-graded city. Clearlake has 0.99 reported rapes a year per 1,000 residents; for the typical resident of a C-graded US city, the figure is 0.30.
The safest and least safe parts of Clearlake
In Clearlake, 19% of residents live in areas graded A or B, 37% in areas graded C and 44% in areas graded D or F. Grades across Clearlake run from A to F; 1% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
19%37%44%
A or B 19%C 37%D or F 44%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Within Clearlake, the southeast side has the least crime and the center the most.
Is crime going up in Clearlake?
Since 2019, reported property crime in Clearlake is down 48%, while violent crime has held about steady. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 7.9 to 8.2 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 30 to 16 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, violent crime fell 18% and property crime fell 28%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
ClearlakeUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Clearlake. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Clearlake
Violent, US
Property, Clearlake
Property, US
2016
+22%
+4%
+44%
+15%
2017
+19%
+4%
+33%
+12%
2018
-9%
+0%
+9%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
-3%
+4%
-24%
-8%
2021
+17%
+6%
-25%
-10%
2022
+9%
+5%
-28%
-6%
2023
+27%
+2%
-29%
-7%
2024
+4%
-4%
-48%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Clearlake
CrimeGrade™ estimates Clearlake has about 53 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 43% more than the US as a whole and 34% 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.
Assault is the most common crime in Clearlake, about 53% 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.
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 Clearlake
Clearlake has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Clearlake, 61% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often at homes: 37% of them, against 34% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (61%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Homes (49%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Theft from cars
Homes (37%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Other places (36%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (56%)
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; they are over one in five for theft from cars.
How Clearlake compares with nearby cities
Clearlake has the most crime of its 4 nearest cities.
Empty homes, night lighting and walkability in Clearlake
Two things set Clearlake apart: it has 13.7% of its homes standing empty, against 7.1% nationally, and 44% of the land where people live lit at night, against 78% nationally. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson, and burglary and vandalism run high here.
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson.13.7% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 95% 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.44% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 89% 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. 87% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D (14 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 64% of US city residents
Show all 6
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
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.6.4 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower than for 85% 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.3% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 79% 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 Clearlake
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Clearlake about $2,422 a year per household, about double 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 $66 million a year, or $3,920 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$5.3 million
$313
Rape
$1.0 million
$60
Robbery
$600,000
$36
Assault
$5.6 million
$333
Burglary
$470,000
$28
Theft
$800,000
$48
Vehicle theft
$880,000
$53
Arson
$210,000
$13
Vandalism
$770,000
$46
Total
$16 million
$928
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 Clearlake 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 Clearlake, CA average a SchoolGrade of F: 15% of students test proficient, against 22% projected for schools like them. Overall, they underperform expectations. See schools in Clearlake on SchoolGrade
