Santa Cruz Southwest is a neighborhood of 4,840 residents in Tucson, about 3 miles southwest of downtown · Updated November 2026
Is Santa Cruz Southwest in Tucson safe?
Crime in Santa Cruz Southwest is high by national standards, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of C. Most US neighborhoods have little crime: 85% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime than Santa Cruz Southwest. Violent crime grades C and property crime C-. Tucson as a whole grades B-. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Santa Cruz Southwest run from B to F, so check the map below.
C
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 404 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
15% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Santa Cruz Southwest as a whole, and 85% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Santa Cruz Southwest scores 404.
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 Southwest, Tucson, AZ at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Santa Cruz Southwest in Tucson, 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 Southwest
Car thefts run high. Santa Cruz Southwest has car thefts at more than double the US rate: 6.8 a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.7 nationally.
Crime rates and types in Santa Cruz Southwest
CrimeGrade™ estimates Santa Cruz Southwest has about 70 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 87% more than the US as a whole and close to Tucson as a whole.
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 Southwest, about 38% 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 Santa Cruz Southwest compares with nearby neighborhoods
Santa Cruz Southwest has less crime than 5 of its 10 nearest neighborhoods.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from Santa Cruz Southwest. Beside each overall CrimeGrade™ is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer).
Compared with neighborhoods of similar size and density, Santa Cruz Southwest has more crime than 68% of them.
Night lighting, tree cover and walkability in Santa Cruz Southwest
Two things set Santa Cruz Southwest apart: it has tree cover over 1% of the land where people live, against 21% nationally, and 7 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole. Places with little tree cover tend to report more robbery.
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.87% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 98% of residents of US city neighborhoods
Tree coverThe share of land under tree canopy where people live. Leafy neighborhoods tend to report less robbery.1% where people liveUS: 21%Lower than for 96% of residents of US city neighborhoods
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. 76% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D (14 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 84% of residents of US city neighborhoods
Show all 4
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.7 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 95% of residents of US city neighborhoods
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 Southwest
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Santa Cruz Southwest about $2,340 a year per household, 94% 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 $12 million a year, or $2,502 per resident.
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 Southwest 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 Santa Cruz Southwest, Tucson, AZ average a SchoolGrade of F: 20% of students test proficient, against 19% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in Santa Cruz Southwest on SchoolGrade
