The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Lafayette, CA
Lafayette is a city of 25,400 in Contra Costa County, about 19 miles northeast of downtown San Francisco · Updated November 2026
Is Lafayette, CA safe?
Yes. Most US neighborhoods have little crime, and Lafayette has less than most of them: its overall CrimeGrade™ is A, safer than the neighborhoods where 69% of Americans live. Violent crime grades better than property crime here, A+ against A. Its neighborhoods are much alike, from A+ to A-; see the map and the safest and least safe neighborhoods below.
A
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 905 of 1,000Safer than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
69% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Lafayette as a whole, and 31% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Lafayette scores 905.
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 Lafayette, CA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Lafayette, 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 Lafayette
Simple assault runs low. Lafayette has 2.7 simple assaults a year per 1,000 residents, a small fraction of the US rate of 9.7.
How neighborhoods in Lafayette compare
Every part of Lafayette where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across Lafayette run from A+ to A-; 99% 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.
1Reliez Valley, northClose to the rest of Lafayette on most crimes.A+924
2Burton Valley, southeastClose to the rest of Lafayette on most crimes.A+924
3Peardale Estates, eastClose to the rest of Lafayette on most crimes.A899
4Downtown Lafayette, Via Roble & Upper Happy Valley, westActs of vandalism run about 40% higher here than in the rest of Lafayette.A894
Neighborhood areas of Lafayette, 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 Lafayette?
Reported property crime in Lafayette has held about steady since 2019, within 9%. Too few violent crimes are reported here each year for a reliable violent crime trend. Burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts went from about 14 to 12 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 18). Property crime changed little from 2023 to 2024.
Property crime, change since 2019
LafayetteUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Lafayette. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Property, Lafayette
Property, US
2016
+11%
+15%
2017
-11%
+12%
2018
-35%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
-25%
-8%
2021
-18%
-10%
2022
-9%
-6%
2023
-10%
-7%
2024
-9%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Lafayette
CrimeGrade™ estimates Lafayette has about 20 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 47% less than the US as a whole and 51% 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 Lafayette, about 56% 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.
Where and when crime happens in Lafayette
Lafayette has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Lafayette, 47% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often at homes: 32% of them, against 34% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (47%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Car theft
Parking lots and garages (32%)
Night (midnight to 6 am)
Theft from cars
Homes (32%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (26%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Shares of the crimes reported to police, 2022 to 2024. Reports with no time recorded are left out of the times; they are over one in five for burglary.
How Lafayette compares with nearby cities
Of the 7 cities closest to Lafayette, 4 have less crime. Alamo and Moraga have the least.
Empty homes, night lighting and walkability in Lafayette
Two things set Lafayette apart: it has 2.7% of its homes standing empty, against 7.1% nationally, and 42% of the land where people live lit at night, against 78% nationally. Places like that tend to report less burglary, vandalism and arson, and burglary and vandalism run low here.
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson.2.7% of homesUS: 7.1%Lower than for 90% 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.42% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 90% 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. 86% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D (14 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 64% 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.5% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 74% of US city residents
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.35 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 61% of US city residents
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.1.4 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Lower than for 61% 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 Lafayette
Crime costs Lafayette about $449 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 63% 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 $9.8 million a year, or $386 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$350,000
$14
Rape
$150,000
$6
Robbery
$400,000
$16
Assault
$970,000
$38
Burglary
$260,000
$10
Theft
$1.4 million
$56
Vehicle theft
$300,000
$12
Arson
$30,000
$1
Vandalism
$500,000
$20
Total
$4.4 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 Lafayette 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 Lafayette, CA average a SchoolGrade of A+: 64% of students test proficient, against 60% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in Lafayette on SchoolGrade
