Ponce is an unincorporated community of 146,200 in Ponce Municipio and the main city of the Ponce metro area, home to 278,500 · Updated November 2026
Is Ponce, PR safe?
With an overall CrimeGrade™ of B, Ponce has moderate crime by national standards. Most US neighborhoods have less: 74% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime. Property crime grades better than violent crime here, A against C+. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Ponce run from A to D, so check the map or the safest and least safe neighborhoods below.
B
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 647 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
26% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Ponce as a whole, and 74% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Ponce scores 647.
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 Ponce, PR at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Ponce, 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 Ponce
Aggravated assault is a strength. Ponce grades C+ for violent crime, but aggravated assault grades A, better than in the neighborhoods where 58% of Americans live.
Simple assaults and thefts both run low. In Ponce, each runs at a small fraction of the US rate: 0.65 simple assaults and 3.5 thefts a year per 1,000 residents, against 9.7 and 13.1 nationally.
The safest and most dangerous neighborhoods in Ponce
Most of Ponce grades well: 67% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 2% in areas graded D or F. Grades across Ponce run from A to D; 6% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
67%31%
A or B 67%C 31%D or F 2%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
1Urbanizacion Las Delicias, northwestBurglaries run at about half the rate in the rest of Ponce.A-806
2Parcelas Barahona, Urbanizacion Glenview Gdns & Comunidad Luciana, northeastRobberies run about 40% higher here than in the rest of Ponce.B653
3Parcelas Nueva Vida, Urbanizacion Punta Diamante & Urbanizacion Punto Oro, southwestActs of vandalism run about 30% lower here than in the rest of Ponce.B617
4Villa del Carmen, Urbanizacion Starlight & Urbanizacion Perla del Sur, southBurglaries run about 40% higher here than in the rest of Ponce.B-613
5Urbanizacion Valle Verde-Ponce, Urbanizacion La Rambla & Urbanizacion Riveras de Bucana, eastCar thefts run about 40% higher here than in the rest of Ponce.B-612
6Urbanizacion Los Caobos & Urbanizacion Constancia, southeastClose to the rest of Ponce on most crimes.B-607
7Jardines del Caribe, Estancias del Golf Club & Urbanizacion Baldorioty, westActs of vandalism run about 30% lower here than in the rest of Ponce.B-588
8Urbanizacion Santa Teresita, Barriada Tamarindo & Barrio Pueblito Nuevo, centralCar thefts run about 60% higher here than in the rest of Ponce.C447
Neighborhood areas of Ponce, 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.
Crime rates and types in Ponce
CrimeGrade™ estimates Ponce has about 12 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 69% less than the US as a whole and 18% more than Puerto Rico.
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 30% of crime reported in Ponce. Murder is less common but costs more, because each one does far 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 Ponce compares with nearby cities
Ponce has the most crime of its 10 nearest cities.
Empty homes, parking lots and walkability in Ponce
Two things set Ponce apart: it has 18.2% of its homes standing empty, against 7.1% nationally, and 0.6 parking-lot spaces per resident, against 2.0 nationally. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson, and burglary and arson run high here.
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson.18.2% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 98% of US city residents
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.0.6 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Lower 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. 54% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.C (33 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 84% 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.49% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 83% 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.88% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 63% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.10.5 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 54% of US city residents
BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of Ponce 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 Ponce
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Ponce about $1,025 a year per household, 15% less than the US figure of $1,205. The total is about $61 million a year.
Cost of crime per resident, per year
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, which comes almost entirely from violent crime, the full cost rises to about $342 million a year, or $2,339 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$42 million
$288
Rape
$1.4 million
$10
Robbery
$1.9 million
$13
Assault
$4.8 million
$33
Burglary
$2.6 million
$18
Theft
$2.6 million
$18
Vehicle theft
$2.2 million
$15
Arson
$570,000
$4
Vandalism
$2.9 million
$20
Total
$61 million
$417
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 Ponce 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.
