The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Santa Clara, CA
Santa Clara is a city of 131,100 in Santa Clara County, about 5 miles west of downtown San Jose · Updated November 2026
Is Santa Clara, CA safe?
Yes. An overall CrimeGrade™ of A- means crime in Santa Clara is low. Most US neighborhoods have little crime too, so Santa Clara sits near the middle: 44% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime, and 56% in neighborhoods with less. Violent crime grades better than property crime here, A against B. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Santa Clara run from A to D+, so check the map or the safest and least safe neighborhoods below.
A-
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 803 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
44% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Santa Clara as a whole, and 56% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Santa Clara scores 803.
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 Santa Clara, CA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Santa Clara, 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 Santa Clara
One part of Santa Clara stands out for theft. Thefts in West San Jose, in south Santa Clara, run at about triple the rate in the rest of the city.
Thefts from cars happen at stores and businesses far more often than nationally. In Santa Clara, 36% of reported thefts from cars happen at stores and businesses, against 10% nationally.
Aggravated assaults and simple assaults both run low. In Santa Clara, each runs at about half the US rate: 1.2 aggravated assaults and 4.9 simple assaults a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.6 and 9.7 nationally.
The safest and most dangerous neighborhoods in Santa Clara
Most of Santa Clara grades well: 89% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 1% in areas graded D or F. Grades across Santa Clara run from A to D+; 5% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
89%10%
A or B 89%C 10%D or F 1%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
1Rose Garden, southeastCar thefts run about 90% higher here than in the rest of Santa Clara.B+764
2Ponderosa Park, westCar thefts run at about double the rate in the rest of Santa Clara.B+739
3West San Jose, southCar thefts run at more than double the rate in the rest of Santa Clara.B681
4North San Jose, eastRobberies run at more than double the rate in the rest of Santa Clara.B666
Neighborhood areas of Santa Clara, 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.
Is crime going up in Santa Clara?
Reported violent crime in Santa Clara peaked in 2021 and has fallen 43% since, back near its 2019 level. Property crime is down 34% from 2019. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 1.7 to 1.8 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 38 to 25 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, violent crime fell 12% and property crime fell 12%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
Santa ClaraUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Santa Clara. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Santa Clara
Violent, US
Property, Santa Clara
Property, US
2016
-24%
+4%
-39%
+15%
2017
+1%
+4%
-23%
+12%
2018
-3%
+0%
-21%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
-5%
+4%
-32%
-8%
2021
+86%
+6%
-11%
-10%
2022
+82%
+5%
-6%
-6%
2023
+21%
+2%
-25%
-7%
2024
+7%
-4%
-34%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Santa Clara
CrimeGrade™ estimates Santa Clara has about 39 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, about the same as 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 Santa Clara, about 47% 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.
Where and when crime happens in Santa Clara
Santa Clara has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Santa Clara, 30% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Stores and businesses (52%)
Night (midnight to 6 am)
Car theft
Homes (44%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Homes (36%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (37%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Robbery
Stores and businesses (54%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Aggravated assault
Homes (48%)
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 Santa Clara compares with nearby cities
Santa Clara has less crime than 5 of its 10 nearest cities.
Jobs, night lighting and walkability in Santa Clara
Two things set Santa Clara apart: it has 103 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole, and 69% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally. 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.
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.103 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 96% 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 92% 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.C+ (40 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 88% 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.69% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 90% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.15.0 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 87% 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 Santa Clara: C- (28 of 100).8 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 80% 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 Santa Clara
Crime costs Santa Clara about $1,020 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 15% less than the US figure of $1,205. The total is about $49 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 $105 million a year, or $801 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$3.9 million
$29
Rape
$1.9 million
$15
Robbery
$2.9 million
$22
Assault
$9.3 million
$71
Burglary
$4.2 million
$32
Theft
$12 million
$95
Vehicle theft
$8.3 million
$64
Arson
$370,000
$3
Vandalism
$5.2 million
$39
Total
$49 million
$370
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 Santa Clara 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 Santa Clara, CA average a SchoolGrade of A-: 47% of students test proficient, against 49% projected for schools like them. Overall, they don't meet expectations. See schools in Santa Clara on SchoolGrade
