The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in San Luis Obispo, CA
San Luis Obispo is a city of 64,500 in San Luis Obispo County and the main city of the San Luis Obispo metro area, home to 281,600 · Updated November 2026
Is San Luis Obispo, CA safe?
Yes, crime in San Luis Obispo is low, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of A-. Because most US neighborhoods are safe as well, San Luis Obispo sits near the middle: safer than the neighborhoods where 42% of Americans live. Violent crime grades A- and property crime B+. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within San Luis Obispo run from A+ to B-, so check the map below.
A-
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 792 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
42% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than San Luis Obispo as a whole, and 58% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. San Luis Obispo scores 792.
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 San Luis Obispo, CA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in San Luis Obispo, 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 San Luis Obispo
Robbery stands out among A-graded cities. For the typical resident of an A-graded US city, the figure is 0.13 robberies a year per 1,000 residents; San Luis Obispo has 0.74.
The safest and least safe parts of San Luis Obispo
Every part of San Luis Obispo where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across San Luis Obispo run from A+ to B-; 24% 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 San Luis Obispo, the northwest side has the least crime and the center the most.
Is crime going up in San Luis Obispo?
Reported violent crime in San Luis Obispo peaked in 2021 and has fallen 23% since, back near its 2019 level. Property crime is down 27% from 2019. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 4.1 to 4.3 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 37 to 27 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, violent crime fell 18%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
San Luis ObispoUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves San Luis Obispo. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, San Luis Obispo
Violent, US
Property, San Luis Obispo
Property, US
2016
-7%
+4%
+20%
+15%
2017
-7%
+4%
+2%
+12%
2018
-0%
+0%
+4%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
+8%
+4%
-6%
-8%
2021
+37%
+6%
-6%
-10%
2022
+36%
+5%
-2%
-6%
2023
+28%
+2%
-30%
-7%
2024
+6%
-4%
-27%
-15%
Crime rates and types in San Luis Obispo
CrimeGrade™ estimates San Luis Obispo has about 42 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 14% more than 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.
Theft is the most common crime in San Luis Obispo, about 42% of everything reported, but assault 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.
How San Luis Obispo compares with nearby cities
Of the 7 cities closest to San Luis Obispo, 5 have less crime. Garden Farms and Santa Margarita have the least.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from San Luis Obispo. Beside each overall CrimeGrade™ is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer).
Compared with cities of similar size and density, San Luis Obispo has more crime than 57% of them.
Two things set San Luis Obispo apart: it has 16.9 stores and restaurants for every 1,000 residents, against 10.5 nationally, and 70 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole. It also combines many jobs with busy transit: places with both tend to report more theft and robbery than places with only one of them, and they run high here.
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.16.9 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 92% of US city residents
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.70 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher 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. 70% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.C- (26 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 75% 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.48% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 82% 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 San Luis Obispo: D (14 of 100).6 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 74% 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.82% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 70% 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 San Luis Obispo
Crime costs San Luis Obispo about $1,294 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 7% 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 $78 million a year, or $1,203 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$1.8 million
$28
Rape
$2.3 million
$36
Robbery
$1.5 million
$23
Assault
$9.0 million
$140
Burglary
$1.6 million
$25
Theft
$5.9 million
$91
Vehicle theft
$1.7 million
$26
Arson
$630,000
$10
Vandalism
$3.8 million
$58
Total
$28 million
$437
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 San Luis Obispo 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 San Luis Obispo, CA average a SchoolGrade of A: 50% of students test proficient, against 44% projected for schools like them. Overall, they exceed expectations. See schools in San Luis Obispo on SchoolGrade
