The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Encinitas, CA
Encinitas is a city of 52,000 in San Diego County, about 25 miles north of downtown San Diego · Updated November 2026
Is Encinitas, CA safe?
Yes. An overall CrimeGrade™ of A means crime in Encinitas is low. Most US neighborhoods have little crime too, so Encinitas sits near the middle: 57% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime, and 43% in neighborhoods with less. Violent and property crime both grade A here. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Encinitas run from A+ to B+, so check the map below.
A
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 869 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
57% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Encinitas as a whole, and 43% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Encinitas scores 869.
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 Encinitas, CA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Encinitas, 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 Encinitas
Car thefts and simple assaults both run low. In Encinitas, each runs at about half the US rate: 1.2 car thefts and 4.8 simple assaults a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.7 and 9.7 nationally.
The safest and least safe parts of Encinitas
Every part of Encinitas where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across Encinitas run from A+ to B+; 80% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
100%
A or B 100%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Within Encinitas, the northeast side has the least crime and the west side the most.
Crime rates and types in Encinitas
CrimeGrade™ estimates Encinitas has about 23 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 39% less than the US as a whole and 43% less 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.
Theft makes up about 43% of crime reported in Encinitas. Assault is less common but costs more, because each one does 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.
The Encinitas Police Department's 2024 report to the FBI was missing some months of burglary and theft; CrimeGrade™ filled them in from the department's own monthly pattern.
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 Encinitas
Encinitas has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Encinitas, 39% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often in parking lots and garages: 31% of them, against 31% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Stores and businesses (42%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Car theft
Streets and sidewalks (33%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Parking lots and garages (31%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Streets and sidewalks (28%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Robbery
Stores and businesses (51%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Streets and sidewalks (30%)
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 Encinitas compares with nearby cities
Encinitas has less crime than 7 of its 10 nearest cities.
One thing sets Encinitas apart: it has 18.2 stores and restaurants for every 1,000 residents, against 10.5 nationally. Places like that tend to report more theft, yet theft runs lower here than that would suggest.
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.18.2 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 95% 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 Encinitas: D+ (25 of 100).5 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 69% 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. 77% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D+ (21 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 63% of US city residents
Show all 6
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson.4.6% of homesUS: 7.1%Lower than for 64% of US city residents
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.49 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 61% 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.18% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 54% 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 Encinitas
Crime costs Encinitas about $610 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 49% less 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 $36 million a year, or $686 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$1.1 million
$22
Rape
$370,000
$7
Robbery
$780,000
$15
Assault
$4.8 million
$93
Burglary
$930,000
$18
Theft
$2.6 million
$50
Vehicle theft
$980,000
$19
Arson
$160,000
$3
Vandalism
$800,000
$15
Total
$13 million
$242
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 Encinitas 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 Encinitas, CA average a SchoolGrade of A+: 64% of students test proficient, against 58% projected for schools like them. Overall, they exceed expectations. See schools in Encinitas on SchoolGrade
