The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Espanola, NM
Espanola is a city of 14,900 in Rio Arriba County, about 20 miles north of downtown Santa Fe · Updated November 2026
Is Espanola, NM safe?
With an overall CrimeGrade™ of B-, Espanola has moderate crime by national standards. Most US neighborhoods have less: 79% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime. Property crime grades better than violent crime here, B+ against C. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Espanola run from A+ to F, so check the map below.
B-
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 555 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
21% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Espanola as a whole, and 79% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Espanola scores 555.
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 Espanola, NM at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Espanola, 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 Espanola
Thefts are less common than the crime level suggests. Crime overall in Espanola runs 27% above the US rate, but thefts run 39% below it: 8.0 a year per 1,000 residents, against 13.1 nationally.
Aggravated assault stands out among B-graded cities. For the typical resident of a B-graded US city, the figure is 3.1 aggravated assaults a year per 1,000 residents; Espanola has 10.5.
The safest and least safe parts of Espanola
Safety changes a lot from one part of Espanola to the next: 65% of residents live in areas graded A or B, while 23% live in areas graded D or F. Grades across Espanola run from A+ to F; 40% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
65%12%23%
A or B 65%C 12%D or F 23%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Within Espanola, the south side has the least crime and the center the most.
Crime rates and types in Espanola
CrimeGrade™ estimates Espanola has about 47 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 27% more than the US as a whole and 25% less than New Mexico.
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 Espanola, about 45% 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.
How Espanola compares with nearby cities
Of the 4 cities closest to Espanola, 3 have less crime. San Juan Pueblo and Santa Clara Pueblo have the least.
Two things set Espanola apart: it has 11.6% of its homes standing empty, against 7.1% nationally, and 2.8 parking-lot spaces per resident, against 2.0 nationally. Places like that 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.11.6% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 91% 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 Espanola: F (5 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 84% 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. 90% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D- (10 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 76% of US city residents
Show all 6
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.62% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 82% of US city residents
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.2.8 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher than for 82% 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.4% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 78% 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 Espanola
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Espanola about $2,114 a year per household, 75% 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 $54 million a year, or $3,640 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$3.3 million
$221
Rape
$280,000
$19
Robbery
$390,000
$26
Assault
$5.6 million
$377
Burglary
$830,000
$56
Theft
$610,000
$41
Vehicle theft
$710,000
$48
Arson
$68,000
$5
Vandalism
$780,000
$52
Total
$13 million
$844
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 Espanola 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 Espanola, NM average a SchoolGrade of D-: 23% of students test proficient, against 28% projected for schools like them. Overall, they don't meet expectations. See schools in Espanola on SchoolGrade
