The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Santa Cruz County, CA
Santa Cruz County is home to 264,900 residents and includes Santa Cruz and Watsonville · Updated November 2026
Is Santa Cruz County, CA safe?
Yes, crime in Santa Cruz County is low, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of A-. Because most US neighborhoods are safe as well, Santa Cruz County 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 Santa Cruz County run from A+ to C-, so check the map or the safest and least safe places below.
A-
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 794 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
42% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Santa Cruz County as a whole, and 58% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Santa Cruz County scores 794.
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 County, CA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Santa Cruz County, 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 County
Arson at more than double the US rate. Santa Cruz County has 0.31 arsons a year per 1,000 residents, against 0.12 nationally.
The safest and most dangerous places in Santa Cruz County
Low crime is the norm across Santa Cruz County: 87% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and the rest in areas graded C. Grades across Santa Cruz County run from A+ to C-; 37% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
87%13%
A or B 87%C 13%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Cities and towns in Santa Cruz County with at least 1,000 residents. Ranked by overall CrimeGrade™; beside each grade is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer), and the other numbers are residents.
Across the county, the Boulder Creek, Felton, and Ben Lomond areas have the least crime and the south side the most.
Is crime going up in Santa Cruz County?
Reported crime in Santa Cruz County has fallen since 2019: violent crime is down 12% and property crime down 40%. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 4.1 to 3.6 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 26 to 15 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, violent crime fell 15%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
Santa Cruz CountyUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police departments across Santa Cruz County. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Santa Cruz County
Violent, US
Property, Santa Cruz County
Property, US
2016
-1%
+4%
+35%
+15%
2017
-5%
+4%
+27%
+12%
2018
-11%
+0%
+7%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
-12%
+4%
-12%
-8%
2021
+7%
+6%
-25%
-10%
2022
+12%
+5%
-23%
-6%
2023
+4%
+2%
-40%
-7%
2024
-12%
-4%
-40%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Santa Cruz County
CrimeGrade™ estimates Santa Cruz County has about 34 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 9% less 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 Santa Cruz County, about 34% of everything reported, but aggravated assault 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 Santa Cruz County compares with nearby counties
Santa Cruz County has less crime than 7 of its 10 nearest counties.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from Santa Cruz County. Beside each overall CrimeGrade™ is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer).
Compared with counties of similar size and density, Santa Cruz County has more crime than 71% of them.
Walkability, night lighting and density in Santa Cruz County
One thing sets Santa Cruz County apart: it has 35% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally. Places like that tend to report more robbery, and it runs 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. 64% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.C- (28 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 83% of Americans
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.62% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 76% of Americans
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery.35% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 75% of Americans
Show all 6
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.36 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 71% of Americans
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.11.2 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 70% of Americans
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 County: D+ (24 of 100).4 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 63% of Americans
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 County
Crime costs Santa Cruz County about $1,078 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 11% less than the US figure of $1,205. The total is about $104 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 $304 million a year, or $1,149 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$13 million
$48
Rape
$5.9 million
$22
Robbery
$4.7 million
$18
Aggravated assault
$20 million
$75
Simple assault
$16 million
$61
Burglary
$5.2 million
$20
Theft
$16 million
$59
Vehicle theft
$12 million
$45
Arson
$2.0 million
$7
Vandalism
$9.5 million
$36
Total
$104 million
$392
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 County 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 County, CA average a SchoolGrade of B-: 39% of students test proficient, against 39% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in Santa Cruz County on SchoolGrade
