The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Playa Del Rey, CA
Playa Del Rey is a city of 11,100 in Los Angeles County, about 13 miles southwest of downtown Los Angeles · Updated November 2026
Is Playa Del Rey, CA safe?
Yes. An overall CrimeGrade™ of A- means crime in Playa Del Rey is low. Most US neighborhoods have little crime too, so Playa Del Rey sits near the middle: 46% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime, and 54% in neighborhoods with less. Violent crime grades better than property crime here, A+ against B-. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Playa Del Rey run from B to F, so check the map below.
A-
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 817 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
46% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Playa Del Rey as a whole, and 54% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Playa Del Rey scores 817.
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 Playa Del Rey, CA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Playa Del Rey, 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 Playa Del Rey
Theft at more than triple the US rate. Playa Del Rey has 139.1 thefts a year per 1,000 residents, against 13.1 nationally.
The safest and least safe parts of Playa Del Rey
In Playa Del Rey, 45% of residents live in areas graded A or B, 38% in areas graded C and 17% in areas graded D or F. Grades across Playa Del Rey run from B to F; every part of Playa Del Rey has more crime than the typical US neighborhood.
45%38%17%
A or B 45%C 38%D or F 17%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Within Playa Del Rey, the northeast side has the least crime and the center the most.
Crime rates and types in Playa Del Rey
CrimeGrade™ estimates Playa Del Rey has about 169 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, more than triple the rate for the US as a whole and more than triple the rate for 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 Playa Del Rey, about 82% 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.
How Playa Del Rey compares with nearby cities
Playa Del Rey has the least crime of its 10 nearest cities.
Two things set Playa Del Rey apart: it has 195 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole, and 24.3 stores and restaurants for every 1,000 residents, against 10.5 nationally. Places like that tend to report more theft and robbery, and theft runs high here.
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.195 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 99% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.24.3 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 98% 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. 57% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.C (34 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 85% of US city residents
Show all 6
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery and car theft.66% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 89% 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.100% where people liveUS: 78%Higher than for 81% of US city residents
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.2.6 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher 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 Playa Del Rey
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Playa Del Rey about $2,153 a year per household, 79% 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 $20 million a year, or $1,778 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$470,000
$43
Rape
$200,000
$18
Robbery
$300,000
$27
Assault
$1.6 million
$144
Burglary
$480,000
$43
Theft
$8.0 million
$714
Vehicle theft
$1.0 million
$90
Arson
$18,000
$2
Vandalism
$410,000
$37
Total
$12 million
$1,116
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 Playa Del Rey 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 Playa Del Rey, CA average a SchoolGrade of A-: 50% of students test proficient, against 40% projected for schools like them. Overall, they greatly exceed expectations. See schools in Playa Del Rey on SchoolGrade
