The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Martinez, CA
Martinez is a city of 48,600 in Contra Costa County, about 25 miles northeast of downtown San Francisco · Updated November 2026
Is Martinez, CA safe?
Yes, crime in Martinez is low, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of A-. Because most US neighborhoods are safe as well, Martinez sits near the middle: safer than the neighborhoods where 45% of Americans live. Violent and property crime both grade A- here. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Martinez run from A+ to C+, so check the map below.
A-
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 813 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
45% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Martinez as a whole, and 55% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Martinez scores 813.
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 Martinez, CA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Martinez, 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 Martinez
Robberies run high for an A-graded city. Martinez has 0.62 robberies a year per 1,000 residents; for the typical resident of an A-graded US city, the figure is 0.13.
Car thefts run high, though crime overall runs low. Crime overall in Martinez runs 17% below the US rate, but car thefts run 37% above it: 3.7 a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.7 nationally.
The safest and least safe parts of Martinez
Most of Martinez grades well: 96% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and the rest in areas graded C. Grades across Martinez run from A+ to C+; 41% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
96%
A or B 96%C 4%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Within Martinez, the south side has the least crime and the northwest side the most.
Is crime going up in Martinez?
Since 2019, reported violent crime in Martinez is up 25% and property crime is down 18%. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 2.2 to 2.7 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 15 to 12 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, violent crime rose 22% and property crime fell 15%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
MartinezUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Martinez. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Martinez
Violent, US
Property, Martinez
Property, US
2016
-38%
+4%
+50%
+15%
2017
-35%
+4%
+8%
+12%
2018
-12%
+0%
-8%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
-5%
+4%
+1%
-8%
2021
+29%
+6%
+2%
-10%
2022
+38%
+5%
+3%
-6%
2023
+3%
+2%
-4%
-7%
2024
+25%
-4%
-18%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Martinez
CrimeGrade™ estimates Martinez has about 31 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 17% less than the US as a whole and 22% 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 makes up about 30% of crime reported in Martinez. Assault is less common but 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 Martinez
Martinez has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Martinez, 47% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often in parking lots and garages: 48% of them, against 31% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (47%)
Night (midnight to 6 am)
Car theft
Parking lots and garages (37%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Parking lots and garages (48%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Vandalism
Parking lots and garages (22%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Robbery
Stores and businesses (56%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Aggravated assault
Homes (44%)
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 Martinez compares with nearby cities
Martinez has less crime than 5 of its 9 nearest cities.
Parking lots, empty homes and walkability in Martinez
Two things set Martinez apart: it has 3.5 parking-lot spaces per resident, against 2.0 nationally, and 2.7% of its homes standing empty, against 7.1% nationally. Places with a lot of parking-lot space tend to report more theft, yet theft runs lower here than that would suggest.
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.3.5 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher than for 91% 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.2.7% of homesUS: 7.1%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. 84% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D (16 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 57% of US city residents
Show all 6
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.7.6 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower than for 77% of US city residents
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.60 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 75% 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.27% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 65% 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 Martinez
Crime costs Martinez about $892 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 26% 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 $47 million a year, or $960 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$1.6 million
$32
Rape
$1.2 million
$25
Robbery
$930,000
$19
Assault
$5.3 million
$109
Burglary
$1.1 million
$23
Theft
$2.3 million
$48
Vehicle theft
$2.8 million
$57
Arson
$300,000
$6
Vandalism
$1.7 million
$36
Total
$17 million
$356
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 Martinez 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 Martinez, CA average a SchoolGrade of B: 41% of students test proficient, against 41% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in Martinez on SchoolGrade
