The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Santa Cruz, CA
Santa Cruz is a city of 98,000 in Santa Cruz County and the main city of the Santa Cruz metro area, home to 264,900 · Updated November 2026
Is Santa Cruz, CA safe?
With an overall CrimeGrade™ of B, Santa Cruz has moderate crime by national standards. Most US neighborhoods have less: 72% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime. Violent crime grades B+ and property crime B-. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Santa Cruz run from A+ to C-, so check the map or the safest and least safe neighborhoods below.
B
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 673 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
28% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Santa Cruz as a whole, and 72% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Santa Cruz scores 673.
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 Cruz, CA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Santa Cruz, 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 Cruz
Car thefts run high in Live Oak. In this part of east Santa Cruz, they run at about triple the rate in the rest of Santa Cruz.
The safest and most dangerous neighborhoods in Santa Cruz
Most of Santa Cruz grades well: 71% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and the rest in areas graded C. Grades across Santa Cruz run from A+ to C-; 23% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
71%29%
A or B 71%C 29%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
1Westside, northwestCar thefts run at a small fraction of the rate in the rest of Santa Cruz.A902
2Live Oak, eastBurglaries run about 30% lower here than in the rest of Santa Cruz.B-589
3Beach Hill, southAggravated assaults run about 70% higher here than in the rest of Santa Cruz.C+525
4Central Santa Cruz & Downtown Santa Cruz, centralBurglaries run at more than double the rate in the rest of Santa Cruz.C460
Neighborhood areas of Santa Cruz, 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 Cruz?
Reported violent crime in Santa Cruz peaked in 2021 and has fallen 19% since, back near its 2019 level. Property crime is down 45% from 2019. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults stayed at about 6.0 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts went from about 45 to 25 (US: 18). Neither changed much from 2023 to 2024.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
Santa CruzUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Santa Cruz. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Santa Cruz
Violent, US
Property, Santa Cruz
Property, US
2016
+35%
+4%
+24%
+15%
2017
+5%
+4%
+26%
+12%
2018
+0%
+0%
-1%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
-19%
+4%
-22%
-8%
2021
+25%
+6%
-16%
-10%
2022
+19%
+5%
-21%
-6%
2023
+8%
+2%
-46%
-7%
2024
+1%
-4%
-45%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Santa Cruz
CrimeGrade™ estimates Santa Cruz has about 47 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 26% more than the US as a whole and 18% 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 36% of crime reported in Santa Cruz. Assault 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.
How Santa Cruz compares with nearby cities
Santa Cruz has more crime than 7 of its 8 nearest cities. Felton and Ben Lomond have the least crime nearby.
Walkability, parking lots and density in Santa Cruz
Two things set Santa Cruz apart: it has a Walk Grade of C (37 of 100) on BestNeighborhood, against 21 for the US as a whole, and 1.0 parking-lot spaces per resident, against 2.0 nationally. Even so, 53% of residents in Santa Cruz live in car-dependent areas, where most errands take a car. Very walkable places tend to report more theft and assault, and they run high here.
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 (37 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 87% of US city residents
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.1.0 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Lower than for 76% 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.38% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 75% of US city residents
Show all 6
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.12.4 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 72% 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.80% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 71% 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 Cruz: C- (29 of 100).5 trips an hourUS: noneHigher 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 Santa Cruz
Crime costs Santa Cruz about $1,434 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 19% 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 $151 million a year, or $1,537 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$6.1 million
$62
Rape
$2.3 million
$23
Robbery
$2.6 million
$26
Assault
$19 million
$191
Burglary
$2.8 million
$29
Theft
$8.4 million
$85
Vehicle theft
$5.1 million
$52
Arson
$1.3 million
$13
Vandalism
$4.6 million
$47
Total
$52 million
$529
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 Cruz 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 Cruz, CA average a SchoolGrade of A: 48% of students test proficient, against 42% projected for schools like them. Overall, they greatly exceed expectations. See schools in Santa Cruz on SchoolGrade
