The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Laguna Beach, CA
Laguna Beach is a city of 22,900 in Orange County, about 45 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles · Updated November 2026
Is Laguna Beach, CA safe?
Yes. An overall CrimeGrade™ of A means crime in Laguna Beach is low. Most US neighborhoods have little crime too, so Laguna Beach sits near the middle: 55% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime, and 45% in neighborhoods with less. Violent crime grades A and property crime A-. Its neighborhoods are much alike, from A to B+; see the map below.
A
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 858 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
55% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Laguna Beach as a whole, and 45% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Laguna Beach scores 858.
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 Laguna Beach, CA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Laguna Beach, 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 Laguna Beach
Robbery stands out among A-graded cities. For the typical resident of an A-graded US city, the figure is 0.13 robberies a year per 1,000 residents; Laguna Beach has 0.58.
Car thefts are uncommon. Laguna Beach has car thefts at less than half the US rate: 0.89 a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.7 nationally.
The safest and least safe parts of Laguna Beach
Every part of Laguna Beach where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across Laguna Beach run from A to B+; 83% 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 Laguna Beach, the east side has the least crime and the northwest side the most.
Crime rates and types in Laguna Beach
CrimeGrade™ estimates Laguna Beach has about 26 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 30% less than the US as a whole and 34% 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.
Assault is the most common crime in Laguna Beach, about 37% 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.
The Laguna Beach Police Department's 2024 report to the FBI was missing some months of burglary and vandalism; CrimeGrade™ filled them in from the department's own monthly pattern.
Select a crime's name to see its map above. CrimeGrade™ business reports map each crime at about 66-meter detail.
How Laguna Beach compares with nearby cities
Laguna Beach has more crime than 7 of its 9 nearest cities. Newport Coast and Laguna Niguel have the least crime nearby.
Shops, parking lots and walkability in Laguna Beach
Two things set Laguna Beach apart: it has 25.8 stores and restaurants for every 1,000 residents, against 10.5 nationally, and 0.5 parking-lot spaces per resident, against 2.0 nationally. Places with many stores and restaurants tend to report more theft, yet theft runs lower here than that would suggest.
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.25.8 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 99% of US city residents
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.0.5 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Lower 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. 68% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.C- (29 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 79% of US city residents
Show all 6
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson.8.0% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 71% 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.31% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 70% 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.85% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 66% 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 Laguna Beach
Crime costs Laguna Beach about $568 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 53% 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 $16 million a year, or $705 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$440,000
$19
Rape
$290,000
$13
Robbery
$410,000
$18
Assault
$2.5 million
$110
Burglary
$430,000
$19
Theft
$860,000
$37
Vehicle theft
$310,000
$14
Arson
$85,000
$4
Vandalism
$830,000
$36
Total
$6.2 million
$270
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 Laguna Beach 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 Laguna Beach, CA average a SchoolGrade of A+: 65% of students test proficient, against 63% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in Laguna Beach on SchoolGrade
