The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in San Ysidro, CA
San Ysidro is a city of 28,800 in San Diego County, about 13 miles southeast of downtown San Diego · Updated November 2026
Is San Ysidro, CA safe?
San Ysidro has more crime than most of the country: an overall CrimeGrade™ of C+, with more crime than the neighborhoods where 81% of Americans live. Violent crime grades better than property crime here, B+ against D. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within San Ysidro run from B+ to F, so check the map below.
C+
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 532 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
19% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than San Ysidro as a whole, and 81% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. San Ysidro scores 532.
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 Ysidro, CA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in San Ysidro, 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 Ysidro
Burglaries are less common than the crime level suggests. Crime overall in San Ysidro runs 49% above the US rate, but burglaries run 23% below it: 1.8 a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.4 nationally.
Car thefts run high. San Ysidro has car thefts at more than triple the US rate: 12.8 a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.7 nationally.
The safest and least safe parts of San Ysidro
Areas graded C are home to 51% of residents in San Ysidro; 16% live in areas graded A or B and 33% in areas graded D or F. Grades across San Ysidro run from B+ to F; every part of San Ysidro has more crime than the typical US neighborhood.
16%51%33%
A or B 16%C 51%D or F 33%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Within San Ysidro, the east side has the least crime and the west side the most.
Is crime going up in San Ysidro?
Since 2019, reported violent crime in San Ysidro is up 11% and property crime is down 14%. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 3.7 to 4.1 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 19 to 17 (US: 18). Neither changed much from 2023 to 2024.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
San YsidroUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves San Ysidro. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, San Ysidro
Violent, US
Property, San Ysidro
Property, US
2016
+4%
+4%
+7%
+15%
2017
+1%
+4%
-3%
+12%
2018
+3%
+0%
+1%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
+4%
+4%
-8%
-8%
2021
+15%
+6%
+6%
-10%
2022
+17%
+5%
-5%
-6%
2023
+14%
+2%
-6%
-7%
2024
+11%
-4%
-14%
-15%
Crime rates and types in San Ysidro
CrimeGrade™ estimates San Ysidro has about 55 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 49% more than the US as a whole and 39% more 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 43% of crime reported in San Ysidro. Vehicle theft is less common but 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.
Where and when crime happens in San Ysidro
The San Diego Police Department polices San Ysidro; these figures cover San Diego as a whole, 2022 to 2024.
In San Diego as a whole, 44% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often at homes: 39% of them, against 34% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (44%)
Night (midnight to 6 am)
Car theft
Streets and sidewalks (54%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Homes (39%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (37%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Robbery
Stores and businesses (46%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Aggravated assault
Homes (36%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Shares of the crimes reported to police, 2022 to 2024. Reports with no time recorded are left out of the times.
How San Ysidro compares with nearby cities
Of the 10 cities closest to San Ysidro, 9 have less crime. Bonita and Coronado have the least.
Two things set San Ysidro apart: it has 17.5 stores and restaurants for every 1,000 residents, against 10.5 nationally, and 84% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally. Places like that tend to report more theft, and it runs high here.
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.17.5 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 93% 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.84% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 93% 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. 66% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D+ (23 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 70% of US city residents
Show all 6
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 92% 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 Ysidro: C- (27 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 84% of US city residents
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.35 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 62% 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 Ysidro
Crime costs San Ysidro about $2,270 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 88% 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 $51 million a year, or $1,767 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$2.5 million
$87
Rape
$340,000
$12
Robbery
$1.1 million
$38
Assault
$4.4 million
$152
Burglary
$470,000
$16
Theft
$3.5 million
$122
Vehicle theft
$5.7 million
$197
Arson
$87,000
$3
Vandalism
$1.1 million
$37
Total
$19 million
$665
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 Ysidro 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 San Ysidro, CA average a SchoolGrade of D: 26% of students test proficient, against 25% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in San Ysidro on SchoolGrade
