The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
Rancho Palos Verdes is a city of 45,700 in Los Angeles County, about 20 miles south of downtown Los Angeles · Updated November 2026
Is Rancho Palos Verdes, CA safe?
Yes. Crime is low across most of the US, and lower still in Rancho Palos Verdes: an overall CrimeGrade™ of A, safer than the neighborhoods where 64% of Americans live. Violent crime grades better than property crime here, A+ against A-. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Rancho Palos Verdes run from A+ to B+, so check the map below.
A
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 893 of 1,000Safer than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
64% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Rancho Palos Verdes as a whole, and 36% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Rancho Palos Verdes scores 893.
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 Rancho Palos Verdes, CA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Rancho Palos Verdes, 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 Rancho Palos Verdes
Simple assaults are uncommon. Rancho Palos Verdes has simple assaults at a small fraction of the US rate: 0.84 a year per 1,000 residents, against 9.7 nationally.
The safest and least safe parts of Rancho Palos Verdes
Every part of Rancho Palos Verdes where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across Rancho Palos Verdes run from A+ to B+; 93% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
100%
A or B 100%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Within Rancho Palos Verdes, the south side has the least crime and the east side the most.
Is crime going up in Rancho Palos Verdes?
Reported crime in Rancho Palos Verdes has risen since 2019: violent crime is up 28% and property crime up 14%. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 0.7 to 0.9 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 7.6 to 8.7 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, violent crime fell 23%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
Rancho Palos VerdesUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Rancho Palos Verdes. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Rancho Palos Verdes
Violent, US
Property, Rancho Palos Verdes
Property, US
2016
-9%
+4%
+30%
+15%
2017
+12%
+4%
+40%
+12%
2018
+9%
+0%
+23%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
+45%
+4%
+5%
-8%
2021
+85%
+6%
+15%
-10%
2022
+82%
+5%
+32%
-6%
2023
+66%
+2%
+10%
-7%
2024
+28%
-4%
+14%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Rancho Palos Verdes
CrimeGrade™ estimates Rancho Palos Verdes has about 14 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 62% less than the US as a whole and 65% 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 39% of crime reported in Rancho Palos Verdes. Assault 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 Rancho Palos Verdes compares with nearby cities
Rancho Palos Verdes has less crime than 9 of its 10 nearest cities; only Palos Verdes Estates has less.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from Rancho Palos Verdes. Beside each overall CrimeGrade™ is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer).
Compared with cities of similar size and density, Rancho Palos Verdes is safer than 78% of them.
Shops, jobs and walkability in Rancho Palos Verdes
Two things set Rancho Palos Verdes apart: it has 4.2 stores and restaurants for every 1,000 residents, against 10.5 nationally, and 20 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.4.2 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower than for 94% of US city residents
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.20 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 86% 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. 94% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D- (10 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 76% 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.1.2 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Lower than for 72% 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 Rancho Palos Verdes: D+ (20 of 100).3 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 60% 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.5.0% of homesUS: 7.1%Lower than for 60% 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 Rancho Palos Verdes
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Rancho Palos Verdes about $394 a year per household, 67% 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 $18 million a year, or $400 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$680,000
$15
Rape
$430,000
$9
Robbery
$340,000
$7
Assault
$1.3 million
$29
Burglary
$1.1 million
$24
Theft
$1.3 million
$28
Vehicle theft
$840,000
$18
Arson
$100,000
$2
Vandalism
$830,000
$18
Total
$6.9 million
$151
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 Rancho Palos Verdes 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. Rancho Palos Verdes 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 Rancho Palos Verdes, CA average a SchoolGrade of A+: 68% of students test proficient, against 55% projected for schools like them. Overall, they greatly exceed expectations. See schools in Rancho Palos Verdes on SchoolGrade
