The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in East Palo Alto, CA
East Palo Alto is a city of 29,200 in San Mateo County, about 25 miles southeast of downtown San Francisco · Updated November 2026
Is East Palo Alto, CA safe?
East Palo Alto 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 C+ and property crime C-. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within East Palo Alto run from A- to F, so check the map below.
C
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 414 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
15% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than East Palo Alto as a whole, and 85% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. East Palo Alto scores 414.
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 East Palo Alto, CA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in East Palo Alto, 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 East Palo Alto
Reported rapes run high for a C-graded city. East Palo Alto has 0.87 reported rapes a year per 1,000 residents; for the typical resident of a C-graded US city, the figure is 0.30.
Burglary is a strength. East Palo Alto grades C- for property crime, but burglary grades A-.
The safest and least safe parts of East Palo Alto
Areas graded C are home to 49% of residents in East Palo Alto; 14% live in areas graded A or B and 37% in areas graded D or F. Grades across East Palo Alto run from A- to F; every part of East Palo Alto has more crime than the typical US neighborhood.
14%49%37%
A or B 14%C 49%D or F 37%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Within East Palo Alto, the south side has the least crime and the north side the most.
Is crime going up in East Palo Alto?
Since 2019, reported violent crime in East Palo Alto is up 17%, while property crime has held about steady. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 4.9 to 5.7 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts stayed at about 18 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, property crime fell 12%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
East Palo AltoUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves East Palo Alto. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, East Palo Alto
Violent, US
Property, East Palo Alto
Property, US
2016
-17%
+4%
-4%
+15%
2017
-14%
+4%
-13%
+12%
2018
-3%
+0%
+6%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
-0%
+4%
+24%
-8%
2021
+26%
+6%
+26%
-10%
2022
+28%
+5%
+24%
-6%
2023
+20%
+2%
+13%
-7%
2024
+17%
-4%
-0%
-15%
Crime rates and types in East Palo Alto
CrimeGrade™ estimates East Palo Alto has about 41 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 10% more than 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.
Assault is the most common crime in East Palo Alto, about 33% 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 East Palo Alto
East Palo Alto has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In East Palo Alto, 59% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often on streets and sidewalks: 54% of them, against 18% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (59%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Car theft
Streets and sidewalks (76%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Streets and sidewalks (54%)
Night (midnight to 6 am)
Vandalism
Streets and sidewalks (36%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Robbery
Streets and sidewalks (45%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (47%)
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 East Palo Alto compares with nearby cities
East Palo Alto has the most crime of its 10 nearest cities.
Two things set East Palo Alto apart: it has 3.5 stores and restaurants for every 1,000 residents, against 10.5 nationally, and 82% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally. Places with few stores and restaurants 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.3.5 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower 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.82% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 93% 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. 56% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.C (32 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 83% 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 90% 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 East Palo Alto: C- (27 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 84% 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.9.1% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 80% 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 East Palo Alto
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs East Palo Alto about $2,218 a year per household, 84% 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 $57 million a year, or $1,939 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$3.2 million
$109
Rape
$1.5 million
$53
Robbery
$1.9 million
$66
Assault
$4.7 million
$162
Burglary
$310,000
$11
Theft
$1.9 million
$66
Vehicle theft
$1.9 million
$67
Arson
$240,000
$8
Vandalism
$1.2 million
$40
Total
$17 million
$581
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 East Palo Alto 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 East Palo Alto, CA average a SchoolGrade of C+: 39% of students test proficient, against 40% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in East Palo Alto on SchoolGrade
