Montclair is a neighborhood of 5,860 residents in Oakland, about 4 miles northeast of downtown · Updated November 2026
Is Montclair in Oakland safe?
Crime in Montclair is moderate, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of B. Most US neighborhoods have little crime: 73% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime than Montclair. Violent crime grades better than property crime here, A against D+. Oakland as a whole grades F. Its neighborhoods are much alike, from B+ to B-; see the map below.
B
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 661 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
27% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Montclair as a whole, and 73% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Montclair scores 661.
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 Montclair, Oakland, CA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Montclair in Oakland, 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 Montclair
Burglary stands out among B-graded neighborhoods. For the typical resident of a B-graded US neighborhood, the figure is 2.5 burglaries a year per 1,000 residents; Montclair has 6.3.
Vehicle theft at more than double the US rate. Montclair has 6.8 car thefts a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.7 nationally.
Crime rates and types in Montclair
CrimeGrade™ estimates Montclair has about 40 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 8% more than the US as a whole and 68% less than Oakland as a whole.
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 Montclair, about 44% of everything reported, but vehicle theft 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.
How Montclair compares with nearby neighborhoods
Montclair has less crime than 8 of its 10 nearest neighborhoods; only Merriwood and Upper Rockridge have less.
Two things set Montclair apart: it has 4% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally, and 2.0 stores and restaurants for every 1,000 residents, against 10.5 nationally. Places like that tend to report less robbery and car theft, yet car theft runs higher here than that would suggest.
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery and car theft.4% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 95% of residents of US city neighborhoods
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft and car theft.2.0 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower than for 95% of residents of US city neighborhoods
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+ (19 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 74% of residents of US city neighborhoods
Show all 4
Tree coverThe share of land under tree canopy where people live. Leafy neighborhoods tend to report less robbery.32% where people liveUS: 21%Higher than for 92% of residents of US city neighborhoods
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 Montclair
Crime costs Montclair about $946 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 22% 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 $3.5 million a year, or $604 per resident.
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 Montclair 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 Montclair, Oakland, CA average a SchoolGrade of A+: 63% of students test proficient, against 58% projected for schools like them. Overall, they exceed expectations. See schools in Montclair on SchoolGrade
