The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in La Crescenta, CA
La Crescenta is a city of 17,300 in Los Angeles County, about 12 miles north of downtown Los Angeles · Updated November 2026
Is La Crescenta, CA safe?
Yes. An overall CrimeGrade™ of A means crime in La Crescenta is low. Most US neighborhoods have little crime too, so La Crescenta sits near the middle: 52% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime, and 48% in neighborhoods with less. Violent crime grades better than property crime here, A against B+. Its neighborhoods are much alike, from A to B+; see the map below.
A
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 848 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
52% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than La Crescenta as a whole, and 48% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. La Crescenta scores 848.
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 La Crescenta, CA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in La Crescenta, 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 La Crescenta
Car thefts happen on streets and sidewalks far more often than nationally. In La Crescenta, 95% of reported car thefts happen on streets and sidewalks, against 27% nationally.
Simple assaults are uncommon. La Crescenta has simple assaults at a small fraction of the US rate: 2.2 a year per 1,000 residents, against 9.7 nationally.
The safest and least safe parts of La Crescenta
Every part of La Crescenta where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across La Crescenta run from A to B+; 46% 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 La Crescenta, the north side has the least crime and the southeast side the most.
Is crime going up in La Crescenta?
Reported crime in La Crescenta has risen since 2019: violent crime is up 99% and property crime up 20%. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 1.2 to 2.8 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 17 to 20 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, violent crime rose 26%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
La CrescentaUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves La Crescenta. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, La Crescenta
Violent, US
Property, La Crescenta
Property, US
2016
-1%
+4%
+5%
+15%
2017
+18%
+4%
-6%
+12%
2018
-13%
+0%
-6%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
-9%
+4%
-2%
-8%
2021
+12%
+6%
+7%
-10%
2022
+28%
+5%
+10%
-6%
2023
+94%
+2%
+33%
-7%
2024
+143%
-4%
+20%
-15%
Crime rates and types in La Crescenta
CrimeGrade™ estimates La Crescenta has about 17 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 54% less than the US as a whole and 57% 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 is the most common crime in La Crescenta, about 47% of everything reported, but assault 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 La Crescenta
The Glendale Police Department polices La Crescenta; these figures cover Glendale as a whole, 2022 to 2024.
In Glendale as a whole, 47% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often on streets and sidewalks: 44% of them, against 18% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (47%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Streets and sidewalks (95%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Theft from cars
Streets and sidewalks (44%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Vandalism
Streets and sidewalks (33%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Robbery
Stores and businesses (53%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Aggravated assault
Homes (36%)
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 La Crescenta compares with nearby cities
La Crescenta has less crime than 9 of its 10 nearest cities; only La Canada Flintridge has less.
Parking lots, shops and walkability in La Crescenta
Two things set La Crescenta apart: it has 0.3 parking-lot spaces per resident, against 2.0 nationally, and 6.5 stores and restaurants for every 1,000 residents, against 10.5 nationally. Places like that tend to report less theft, yet theft runs higher here than that would suggest.
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.0.3 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Lower than for 95% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.6.5 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower 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. 68% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.C- (28 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 78% of US city residents
Show all 6
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.23 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower 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.45% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 81% 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.6.6% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 59% 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 La Crescenta
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs La Crescenta about $469 a year per household, 61% 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 $7.6 million a year, or $441 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$290,000
$17
Rape
$110,000
$6
Robbery
$210,000
$12
Assault
$760,000
$44
Burglary
$310,000
$18
Theft
$720,000
$42
Vehicle theft
$320,000
$18
Arson
$30,000
$2
Vandalism
$250,000
$14
Total
$3.0 million
$173
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 La Crescenta 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. La Crescenta is the other kind of example: few people work in, shop in or visit it, so its crime per resident looks lower 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 La Crescenta, CA average a SchoolGrade of A+: 61% of students test proficient, against 53% projected for schools like them. Overall, they exceed expectations. See schools in La Crescenta on SchoolGrade
