Planada is an unincorporated community of 4,020 in Merced County, about 9 miles east of downtown Merced · Updated November 2026
Is Planada, CA safe?
Yes. An overall CrimeGrade™ of A- means crime in Planada is low. Most US neighborhoods have little crime too, so Planada sits near the middle: 40% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime, and 60% in neighborhoods with less. Violent crime grades A- and property crime B+. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Planada run from A to C+, so check the map below.
A-
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 781 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
40% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Planada as a whole, and 60% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Planada scores 781.
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 Planada, CA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Planada, 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 Planada
Car thefts run high for an A-graded city. Planada has 5.5 car thefts a year per 1,000 residents; for the typical resident of an A-graded US city, the figure is 0.93.
Crime rates and types in Planada
CrimeGrade™ estimates Planada has about 37 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.
The largest share of crime reported in Planada is assault, about 38% of the total. It also makes up 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.
How Planada compares with nearby cities
Of the 6 cities closest to Planada, 4 have less crime. El Nido and Buhach have the least.
Two things set Planada apart: it has 11 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole, and 3.7 stores and restaurants for every 1,000 residents, against 10.5 nationally. Places like that tend to report less theft and robbery; here theft sits near the national middle.
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.11 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 96% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.3.7 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower than for 96% 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. 75% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D+ (19 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 58% of US city residents
Show all 6
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.0.9 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Lower than for 80% of US city residents
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.76% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 74% 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
BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of Planada on shops, parks, home prices, getting around and more.
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 Planada
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Planada about $1,696 a year per household, 41% 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 $7.3 million a year, or $1,803 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$470,000
$116
Rape
$140,000
$35
Robbery
$60,000
$15
Assault
$680,000
$168
Burglary
$120,000
$30
Theft
$160,000
$39
Vehicle theft
$340,000
$84
Arson
$9,600
$2
Vandalism
$150,000
$38
Total
$2.1 million
$528
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 Planada 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 Planada, CA average a SchoolGrade of C: 33% of students test proficient, against 27% projected for schools like them. Overall, they exceed expectations. See schools in Planada on SchoolGrade
