The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Palos Verdes Estates, CA
Palos Verdes Estates is a city of 11,400 in Los Angeles County, about 20 miles southwest of downtown Los Angeles · Updated November 2026
Is Palos Verdes Estates, CA safe?
Yes. Crime is low across most of the US, and lower still in Palos Verdes Estates: an overall CrimeGrade™ of A, safer than the neighborhoods where 67% of Americans live. Violent crime grades better than property crime here, A+ against A. Every neighborhood in Palos Verdes Estates grades A.
A
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 900 of 1,000Safer than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
67% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Palos Verdes Estates as a whole, and 33% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Palos Verdes Estates scores 900.
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 Palos Verdes Estates, CA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Palos Verdes Estates, 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 Palos Verdes Estates
Burglary is the exception. Palos Verdes Estates grades A for property crime, but burglary grades B+, worse than in the neighborhoods where 77% of Americans live.
Thefts and acts of vandalism both run low. In Palos Verdes Estates, each runs at less than half the US rate: 5.1 thefts and 2.3 acts of vandalism a year per 1,000 residents, against 13.1 and 5.5 nationally.
The safest and least safe parts of Palos Verdes Estates
Every part of Palos Verdes Estates where people live grades A or B on the national scale.
100%
A or B 100%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Within Palos Verdes Estates, the southwest side has the least crime and the northeast side the most.
Is crime going up in Palos Verdes Estates?
Reported property crime in Palos Verdes Estates has risen 16% since 2019. Too few violent crimes are reported here each year for a reliable violent crime trend. Burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts went from about 6.7 to 7.7 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 18). In 2024 alone, property crime fell 40%.
Property crime, change since 2019
Palos Verdes EstatesUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Palos Verdes Estates. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Property, Palos Verdes Estates
Property, US
2016
+23%
+15%
2017
+39%
+12%
2018
+17%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
-3%
-8%
2021
+59%
-10%
2022
+62%
-6%
2023
+95%
-7%
2024
+16%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Palos Verdes Estates
CrimeGrade™ estimates Palos Verdes Estates has about 15 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 61% less than the US as a whole and 63% 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 35% of crime reported in Palos Verdes Estates. 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 Palos Verdes Estates
Palos Verdes Estates has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Palos Verdes Estates, 85% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often on streets and sidewalks: 79% of them, against 18% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (85%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Theft from cars
Streets and sidewalks (79%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Vandalism
Homes (46%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Shares of the crimes reported to police, 2022 to 2024. Reports with no time recorded are left out of the times.
How Palos Verdes Estates compares with nearby cities
Palos Verdes Estates has the least crime of its 10 nearest cities.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from Palos Verdes Estates. Beside each overall CrimeGrade™ is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer).
Compared with cities of similar size and density, Palos Verdes Estates has more crime than 66% of them.
Shops, jobs and walkability in Palos Verdes Estates
Two things set Palos Verdes Estates apart: it has 2.6 stores and restaurants for every 1,000 residents, against 10.5 nationally, and 19 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole. Places like that tend to report less theft, and it runs low here.
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.2.6 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower than for 98% of US city residents
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.19 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 88% 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. 96% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D- (8 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 82% 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.3.5% of homesUS: 7.1%Lower than for 81% 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.5% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 73% of US city residents
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.1.2 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Lower than for 69% 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 Palos Verdes Estates
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Palos Verdes Estates about $373 a year per household, 69% 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 $4.0 million a year, or $355 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$140,000
$12
Rape
$120,000
$10
Robbery
$87,000
$8
Assault
$380,000
$33
Burglary
$280,000
$25
Theft
$300,000
$26
Vehicle theft
$180,000
$16
Arson
$12,000
$1
Vandalism
$190,000
$17
Total
$1.7 million
$148
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 Palos Verdes Estates 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. Palos Verdes Estates 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 Palos Verdes Estates, CA average a SchoolGrade of A+: 72% of students test proficient, against 66% projected for schools like them. Overall, they exceed expectations. See schools in Palos Verdes Estates on SchoolGrade
