The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in La Jolla, CA
La Jolla is a city of 55,400 in San Diego County, about 10 miles northwest of downtown San Diego · Updated November 2026
Is La Jolla, CA safe?
Yes. Crime is low across most of the US, and lower still in La Jolla: an overall CrimeGrade™ of A, safer than the neighborhoods where 68% of Americans live. Violent crime grades better than property crime here, A+ against A-. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within La Jolla run from A+ to F, so check the map below.
A
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 904 of 1,000Safer than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
68% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than La Jolla as a whole, and 32% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. La Jolla scores 904.
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 Jolla, CA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in La Jolla, 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 Jolla
Simple assaults are uncommon. La Jolla has simple assaults at a small fraction of the US rate: 2.3 a year per 1,000 residents, against 9.7 nationally.
Car thefts happen on streets and sidewalks far more often than nationally. In La Jolla, 54% of reported car thefts happen on streets and sidewalks, against 27% nationally.
The safest and least safe parts of La Jolla
Low crime is the norm across La Jolla: 98% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 2% in areas graded D or F. Grades across La Jolla run from A+ to F; 84% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
98%
A or B 98%D or F 2%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Within La Jolla, the northeast side has the least crime and the west side the most.
Is crime going up in La Jolla?
Since 2019, reported violent crime in La Jolla is up 11% and property crime is down 14%. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 3.7 to 4.1 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 19 to 17 (US: 18). Neither changed much from 2023 to 2024.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
La JollaUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves La Jolla. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, La Jolla
Violent, US
Property, La Jolla
Property, US
2016
+4%
+4%
+7%
+15%
2017
+1%
+4%
-3%
+12%
2018
+3%
+0%
+1%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
+4%
+4%
-8%
-8%
2021
+15%
+6%
+6%
-10%
2022
+17%
+5%
-5%
-6%
2023
+14%
+2%
-6%
-7%
2024
+11%
-4%
-14%
-15%
Crime rates and types in La Jolla
CrimeGrade™ estimates La Jolla has about 22 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 41% less than the US as a whole and 45% 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.
The largest share of crime reported in La Jolla is theft, about 48% of the total. It also makes up 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 La Jolla
The San Diego Police Department polices La Jolla; these figures cover San Diego as a whole, 2022 to 2024.
In San Diego as a whole, 44% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often at homes: 39% of them, against 34% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (44%)
Night (midnight to 6 am)
Car theft
Streets and sidewalks (54%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Homes (39%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (37%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Robbery
Stores and businesses (46%)
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 Jolla compares with nearby cities
La Jolla has less crime than 8 of its 10 nearest cities; only Rancho Santa Fe and Poway have less.
Two things set La Jolla apart: it has 131 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole, and 17.6 stores and restaurants for every 1,000 residents, against 10.5 nationally. Places like that tend to report more theft and robbery, yet theft and robbery run lower here than that would suggest.
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.131 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 98% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.17.6 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 94% 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. 61% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.C (35 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 85% of US city residents
Show all 6
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery and car theft.41% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 77% of US city residents
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.1.3 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Lower than for 67% of US city residents
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 64% 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 Jolla
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs La Jolla about $583 a year per household, 52% 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 $27 million a year, or $491 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$870,000
$16
Rape
$480,000
$9
Robbery
$680,000
$12
Assault
$2.5 million
$45
Burglary
$1.1 million
$19
Theft
$3.0 million
$54
Vehicle theft
$1.9 million
$35
Arson
$55,000
$1
Vandalism
$1.2 million
$21
Total
$12 million
$212
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 Jolla 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 La Jolla, CA average a SchoolGrade of A+: 60% of students test proficient, against 54% projected for schools like them. Overall, they exceed expectations. See schools in La Jolla on SchoolGrade
