The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in South Pasadena, CA
South Pasadena is a city of 25,800 in Los Angeles County, about 6 miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles · Updated November 2026
Is South Pasadena, CA safe?
Crime in South Pasadena is moderate, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of B+. Most US neighborhoods have little crime: 69% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime than South Pasadena. Violent crime grades better than property crime here, A- against C+. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within South Pasadena run from A- to C+, so check the map below.
B+
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 702 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
31% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than South Pasadena as a whole, and 69% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. South Pasadena scores 702.
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 South Pasadena, CA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in South Pasadena, 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 South Pasadena
Aggravated assaults are less common than in most B-graded cities. South Pasadena has 1.3 aggravated assaults a year per 1,000 residents; for the typical resident of a B-graded US city, the figure is 3.1.
Robbery is the exception. South Pasadena grades A- for violent crime, but robbery grades B-, worse than in the neighborhoods where 80% of Americans live.
The safest and least safe parts of South Pasadena
Nearly every part of South Pasadena where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across South Pasadena run from A- to C+; every part of South Pasadena has more crime than the typical US neighborhood.
99%
A or B 99%C 1%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Within South Pasadena, the southwest side has the least crime and the center the most.
Is crime going up in South Pasadena?
Reported crime in South Pasadena has risen since 2019: violent crime is up 80% and property crime up 10%. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 1.1 to 2.1 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 22 to 25 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, violent crime rose 36% and property crime fell 10%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
South PasadenaUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves South Pasadena. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, South Pasadena
Violent, US
Property, South Pasadena
Property, US
2016
-9%
+4%
+15%
+15%
2017
-39%
+4%
-12%
+12%
2018
+9%
+0%
-9%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
-16%
+4%
+5%
-8%
2021
+13%
+6%
+4%
-10%
2022
+28%
+5%
-12%
-6%
2023
+32%
+2%
+23%
-7%
2024
+80%
-4%
+10%
-15%
Crime rates and types in South Pasadena
CrimeGrade™ estimates South Pasadena has about 36 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.
The largest share of crime reported in South Pasadena is theft, about 52% of the total. It also makes up 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 South Pasadena
South Pasadena has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In South Pasadena, 45% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often on streets and sidewalks: 39% of them, against 18% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (45%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Streets and sidewalks (64%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Streets and sidewalks (39%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Streets and sidewalks (35%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Streets and sidewalks (46%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Shares of the crimes reported to police, 2022 to 2024. Reports with no time recorded are left out of the times.
How South Pasadena compares with nearby cities
South Pasadena has less crime than 5 of its 10 nearest cities.
Parking lots, night lighting and walkability in South Pasadena
Two things set South Pasadena apart: it has 0.4 parking-lot spaces per resident, against 2.0 nationally, and a Walk Grade of C (36 of 100) on BestNeighborhood, against 21 for the US as a whole. Even so, 51% of residents in South Pasadena live in car-dependent areas, where most errands take a car. Places with little parking-lot space tend to report less theft, yet theft runs higher here than that would suggest.
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.0.4 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Lower than for 93% 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 (36 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 86% 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.51% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 84% 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 South Pasadena: C- (28 of 100).8 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 79% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.8.6 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower than for 67% 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 South Pasadena
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs South Pasadena about $885 a year per household, 27% less 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 $22 million a year, or $869 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$1.0 million
$39
Rape
$400,000
$15
Robbery
$720,000
$28
Assault
$1.6 million
$62
Burglary
$770,000
$30
Theft
$2.5 million
$96
Vehicle theft
$1.3 million
$49
Arson
$120,000
$5
Vandalism
$930,000
$36
Total
$9.3 million
$360
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 South Pasadena 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 South Pasadena, CA average a SchoolGrade of A: 53% of students test proficient, against 42% projected for schools like them. Overall, they greatly exceed expectations. See schools in South Pasadena on SchoolGrade
