The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Mountain View, CA
Mountain View is a city of 85,700 in Santa Clara County, about 11 miles west of downtown San Jose · Updated November 2026
Is Mountain View, CA safe?
Yes, crime in Mountain View is low, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of A-. Because most US neighborhoods are safe as well, Mountain View sits near the middle: safer than the neighborhoods where 44% of Americans live. Violent crime grades better than property crime here, A against B. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Mountain View run from A to C+, so check the map or the safest and least safe neighborhoods below.
A-
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 806 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
44% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Mountain View as a whole, and 56% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Mountain View scores 806.
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 Mountain View, CA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Mountain View, 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 Mountain View
One part of Mountain View stands out for theft. Thefts in Jackson Park & Rex Manor, in central Mountain View, run at more than triple the rate in the rest of the city.
One weak spot: reported rape. It grades B in Mountain View, worse than in the neighborhoods where 73% of Americans live, against A for violent crime as a whole.
The safest and most dangerous neighborhoods in Mountain View
Most of Mountain View grades well: 98% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and the rest in areas graded C. Grades across Mountain View run from A to C+; 13% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
98%
A or B 98%C 2%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
1Whisman Station & North Whisman, eastCar thefts run about 30% lower here than in the rest of Mountain View.A-832
2Martens-Carmelita, Sunnyvale West & Cuernavaca, southeastAggravated assaults run about 30% lower here than in the rest of Mountain View.A-824
3Cuesta Park, Old Mountain View & Waverly Park, southAggravated assaults run about 30% lower here than in the rest of Mountain View.A-821
4Blossom Valley-Mountain View, southwestThefts run about 40% higher here than in the rest of Mountain View.A-807
5Monta Loma, northwestCar thefts run about 50% higher here than in the rest of Mountain View.A-780
6Shoreline West, westRobberies run at about triple the rate in the rest of Mountain View.B+748
7Jackson Park & Rex Manor, centralCar thefts run at more than double the rate in the rest of Mountain View.B650
Neighborhood areas of Mountain View, 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 Mountain View?
Since 2019, reported violent crime in Mountain View is up 39% and property crime is down 15%. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 2.1 to 2.9 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 31 to 26 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, violent crime rose 13%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
Mountain ViewUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Mountain View. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Mountain View
Violent, US
Property, Mountain View
Property, US
2016
-19%
+4%
-27%
+15%
2017
-8%
+4%
-19%
+12%
2018
-5%
+0%
-14%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
-15%
+4%
-14%
-8%
2021
+15%
+6%
-18%
-10%
2022
+36%
+5%
-5%
-6%
2023
+24%
+2%
-11%
-7%
2024
+39%
-4%
-15%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Mountain View
CrimeGrade™ estimates Mountain View has about 39 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, about the same as 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 Mountain View, about 51% 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 Mountain View
Mountain View has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Mountain View, 39% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often in parking lots and garages: 58% of them, against 31% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (39%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Car theft
Parking lots and garages (39%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Parking lots and garages (58%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Other places (26%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Robbery
Stores and businesses (49%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Aggravated assault
Homes (27%)
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 Mountain View compares with nearby cities
Mountain View has less crime than 5 of its 10 nearest cities.
Two things set Mountain View apart: it has 113 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole, and 70% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally. It also combines many jobs with busy transit: places with both tend to report more theft and robbery than places with only one of them, and they run high here.
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.113 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 98% 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.70% of residentsUS: 24%Higher 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.C+ (41 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 88% 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 78% 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 Mountain View: C- (29 of 100).7 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 77% 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.8.6% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 77% 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 Mountain View
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Mountain View about $898 a year per household, 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 $75 million a year, or $873 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$1.5 million
$18
Rape
$2.3 million
$27
Robbery
$1.5 million
$18
Assault
$8.1 million
$95
Burglary
$3.6 million
$42
Theft
$8.6 million
$101
Vehicle theft
$3.1 million
$36
Arson
$480,000
$6
Vandalism
$2.2 million
$25
Total
$31 million
$367
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 Mountain View 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 Mountain View, CA average a SchoolGrade of A+: 64% of students test proficient, against 61% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in Mountain View on SchoolGrade
