The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Hayward, CA
Hayward is a city of 156,100 in Alameda County, about 20 miles southeast of downtown San Francisco · Updated November 2026
Is Hayward, CA safe?
Crime in Hayward is high by national standards, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of C. Most US neighborhoods have little crime: 85% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime than Hayward. Violent crime grades B- and property crime D-. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Hayward run from A to F, so check the map or the safest and least safe neighborhoods below.
C
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 422 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
15% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Hayward as a whole, and 85% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Hayward scores 422.
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 Hayward, CA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Hayward, 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 Hayward
One part of Hayward stands out for robbery. Robberies in Burbank-Hayward, Mission-Foothill & Upper B Street, in north Hayward, run at more than double the rate in the rest of the city.
Vehicle theft at more than triple the US rate. Hayward has 13.6 car thefts a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.7 nationally.
Burglaries happen at stores and businesses far more often than nationally. In Hayward, 52% of reported burglaries happen at stores and businesses, against 28% nationally.
The safest and most dangerous neighborhoods in Hayward
In Hayward, 19% of residents live in areas graded A or B, 25% in areas graded C and 56% in areas graded D or F. Grades across Hayward run from A to F; 1% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
19%25%56%
A or B 19%C 25%D or F 56%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
1Glen Eden, southwestRobberies run at less than half the rate in the rest of Hayward.B685
2Mt Eden & Southgate, westRobberies run at about half the rate in the rest of Hayward.B-578
3Fairway Park & Tennyson-Alquire, southeastAggravated assaults run about 40% lower here than in the rest of Hayward.B-576
Neighborhood areas of Hayward, ranked by overall CrimeGrade™; beside each grade is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer). Each one combines several of the smaller areas on the map.
Is crime going up in Hayward?
Reported crime in Hayward has risen since 2019: violent crime is up 33% and property crime up 15%. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 3.5 to 4.6 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 31 to 35 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, violent crime fell 30%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
HaywardUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Hayward. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Hayward
Violent, US
Property, Hayward
Property, US
2016
+14%
+4%
-5%
+15%
2017
+2%
+4%
+3%
+12%
2018
+21%
+0%
-2%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
-6%
+4%
+7%
-8%
2021
+4%
+6%
+8%
-10%
2022
+12%
+5%
+2%
-6%
2023
+89%
+2%
+27%
-7%
2024
+33%
-4%
+15%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Hayward
CrimeGrade™ estimates Hayward has about 55 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 47% more than the US as a whole and 38% 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.
Theft is the most common crime in Hayward, about 34% of everything reported, but vehicle theft 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.
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 Hayward
Hayward has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
Thefts from cars happen most often in parking lots and garages: 49% of them, against 31% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Stores and businesses (52%)
Night (midnight to 6 am)
Car theft
Streets and sidewalks (55%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Parking lots and garages (49%)
Night (midnight to 6 am)
Vandalism
Other places (25%)
Night (midnight to 6 am)
Robbery
Streets and sidewalks (30%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (49%)
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 Hayward compares with nearby cities
Of the 10 cities closest to Hayward, 7 have less crime. Fremont and Union City have the least.
Two things set Hayward apart: it has 76% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally, and 11 buses and trains an hour at the evening rush, where most Americans have none nearby. Places like that tend to report more robbery and car theft, and they run high here.
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery and car theft.76% of residentsUS: 24%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 Hayward: C- (26 of 100).11 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 86% 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. 55% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.C- (31 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 82% 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.99% where people liveUS: 78%Higher than for 68% 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.4.7% of homesUS: 7.1%Lower than for 63% of US city residents
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.1.5 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Lower than for 58% of US city residents
BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of Hayward on shops, parks, home prices, getting around and more.
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 Hayward
Crime costs Hayward about $2,357 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, about double the US figure of $1,205. The total is about $115 million a year.
Cost of crime per resident, per year
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, which comes almost entirely from violent crime, the full cost rises to about $325 million a year, or $2,084 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$22 million
$139
Rape
$4.3 million
$28
Robbery
$8.4 million
$54
Assault
$18 million
$118
Burglary
$4.9 million
$31
Theft
$15 million
$95
Vehicle theft
$33 million
$209
Arson
$870,000
$6
Vandalism
$8.5 million
$54
Total
$115 million
$734
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 Hayward 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
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 Hayward, CA average a SchoolGrade of D+: 31% of students test proficient, against 36% projected for schools like them. Overall, they don't meet expectations. See schools in Hayward on SchoolGrade
