The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Lawndale, CA
Lawndale is a city of 33,100 in Los Angeles County, about 13 miles southwest of downtown Los Angeles · Updated November 2026
Is Lawndale, CA safe?
Lawndale has more crime than most of the country: an overall CrimeGrade™ of C+, with more crime than the neighborhoods where 83% of Americans live. Violent crime grades better than property crime here, B against D-. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Lawndale run from B- to F, so check the map below.
C+
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 479 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
17% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Lawndale as a whole, and 83% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Lawndale scores 479.
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 Lawndale, CA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Lawndale, 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 Lawndale
Robbery at about triple the US rate. Lawndale has 2.0 robberies a year per 1,000 residents, against 0.62 nationally.
The safest and least safe parts of Lawndale
Areas graded C are home to 50% of residents in Lawndale; 7% live in areas graded A or B and 43% in areas graded D or F. Grades across Lawndale run from B- to F; every part of Lawndale has more crime than the typical US neighborhood.
50%43%
A or B 7%C 50%D or F 43%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Within Lawndale, the southeast side has the least crime and the north side the most.
Is crime going up in Lawndale?
Reported crime in Lawndale has risen since 2019: violent crime is up 50% and property crime up 44%. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 3.9 to 5.9 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 13 to 18 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, property crime fell 13%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
LawndaleUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Lawndale. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Lawndale
Violent, US
Property, Lawndale
Property, US
2016
+51%
+4%
+25%
+15%
2017
+40%
+4%
+3%
+12%
2018
+2%
+0%
-16%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
+25%
+4%
+20%
-8%
2021
+34%
+6%
+25%
-10%
2022
+12%
+5%
+31%
-6%
2023
+59%
+2%
+65%
-7%
2024
+50%
-4%
+44%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Lawndale
CrimeGrade™ estimates Lawndale has about 35 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 5% less than the US as a whole and close to 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 Lawndale, about 31% of everything reported, but assault costs more, because each one does far 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.
The Lawndale Police Department reports to the FBI in a format that leaves out vandalism, so CrimeGrade™ makes its own vandalism estimate.
Select a crime's name to see its map above. CrimeGrade™ business reports map each crime at about 66-meter detail.
How Lawndale compares with nearby cities
Lawndale has less crime than 5 of its 10 nearest cities.
Two things set Lawndale apart: it has 92% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally, and 0.3 parking-lot spaces per resident, against 2.0 nationally. Places where many residents live in dense blocks 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.92% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 96% of US city residents
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 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.C+ (45 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 90% 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.100% where people liveUS: 78%Higher than for 92% 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 Lawndale: C- (31 of 100).10 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 84% 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.3.2% of homesUS: 7.1%Lower than for 84% 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 Lawndale
Crime costs Lawndale about $1,466 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 22% more 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 $47 million a year, or $1,419 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$1.9 million
$57
Rape
$530,000
$16
Robbery
$2.1 million
$64
Assault
$4.3 million
$130
Burglary
$660,000
$20
Theft
$1.9 million
$56
Vehicle theft
$3.0 million
$90
Arson
$81,000
$2
Vandalism
$1.5 million
$45
Total
$16 million
$479
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 Lawndale 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. Lawndale 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 Lawndale, CA average a SchoolGrade of B: 38% of students test proficient, against 32% projected for schools like them. Overall, they greatly exceed expectations. See schools in Lawndale on SchoolGrade
