Downtown Modesto is a neighborhood of 6,410 residents in Modesto, close to downtown · Updated November 2026
Is Downtown Modesto in Modesto safe?
Crime in Downtown Modesto is high, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of D+. Most US neighborhoods have far less: 88% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime than Downtown Modesto. Violent crime grades C- and property crime D+. Modesto as a whole grades B. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Downtown Modesto run from B- to F, so check the map below.
D+
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 306 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
12% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Downtown Modesto as a whole, and 88% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Downtown Modesto scores 306.
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 Downtown Modesto, Modesto, CA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Downtown Modesto in Modesto, 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 Downtown Modesto
Robberies and aggravated assaults both run high. In Downtown Modesto, each runs at more than triple the US rate: 6.8 robberies and 19.8 aggravated assaults a year per 1,000 residents, against 0.62 and 2.6 nationally.
Car thefts happen on streets and sidewalks far more often than nationally. In Modesto as a whole, 56% of reported car thefts happen on streets and sidewalks, against 27% nationally.
Crime rates and types in Downtown Modesto
CrimeGrade™ estimates Downtown Modesto has about 180 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, more than triple the rate for the US as a whole and more than triple the rate for Modesto as a whole.
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 Downtown Modesto, about 37% of everything reported, but assault costs more, because each one does far more harm.
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 Modesto
The Modesto Police Department polices Downtown Modesto; these figures cover Modesto as a whole, 2022 to 2024.
In Modesto as a whole, 49% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often in parking lots and garages: 37% of them, against 31% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (49%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Streets and sidewalks (56%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Parking lots and garages (37%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (38%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Robbery
Stores and businesses (41%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (55%)
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 Downtown Modesto compares with nearby neighborhoods
Downtown Modesto has more crime than 9 of its 10 nearest neighborhoods. Crossroads-Riverbank and Mayfield have the least crime nearby.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from Downtown Modesto. Beside each overall CrimeGrade™ is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer).
Compared with neighborhoods of similar size and density, Downtown Modesto has more crime than 74% of them.
Parking lots, nightlife and walkability in Downtown Modesto
Two things set Downtown Modesto apart: it has 4.9 parking-lot spaces per resident, against 2.0 nationally, and 5.1 bars and nightlife spots for every 1,000 residents, against 0.6 nationally. It also combines many stores and restaurants with a lot of parking-lot space: places with both tend to report more theft and car theft than places with only one of them, and they run high here.
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.4.9 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher than for 98% of residents of US city neighborhoods
Bars and nightlifeBars, lounges, clubs and casinos. Places with more bars tend to report more assault and robbery.5.1 per 1,000 residentsUS: 0.6Higher than for 98% of residents of US city neighborhoods
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 (58 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 70% of residents of US city neighborhoods
Show all 4
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft and car theft.43.2 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 98% of residents of US city neighborhoods
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 Downtown Modesto
Crime costs Downtown Modesto about $5,591 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, more than triple 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 $50 million a year, or $7,728 per resident.
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 Downtown Modesto 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. Downtown Modesto is a good example: many people work in, shop in or visit it, so its crime per resident looks worse 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 Downtown Modesto, Modesto, CA average a SchoolGrade of D: 25% of students test proficient, against 31% projected for schools like them. Overall, they don't meet expectations. See schools in Downtown Modesto on SchoolGrade
