The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Sunny Vista, CA
Sunny Vista is a city of 16,500 in San Diego County, about 30 miles north of downtown San Diego · Updated November 2026
Is Sunny Vista, CA safe?
Yes. An overall CrimeGrade™ of A means crime in Sunny Vista is low. Most US neighborhoods have little crime too, so Sunny Vista sits near the middle: 56% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime, and 44% in neighborhoods with less. Violent crime grades A and property crime A-. Its neighborhoods are much alike, from A to A-; see the map below.
A
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 865 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
56% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Sunny Vista as a whole, and 44% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Sunny Vista scores 865.
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 Sunny Vista, CA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Sunny Vista, 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 Sunny Vista
Robberies happen at stores and businesses far more often than nationally. In Sunny Vista, 74% of reported robberies happen at stores and businesses, against 33% nationally.
Car thefts and aggravated assaults both run low. In Sunny Vista, each runs at about half the US rate: 1.3 car thefts and 1.4 aggravated assaults a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.7 and 2.6 nationally.
The safest and least safe parts of Sunny Vista
Every part of Sunny Vista where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across Sunny Vista run from A to A-; 77% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
100%
A or B 100%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Within Sunny Vista, the west side has the least crime and the northwest side the most.
Is crime going up in Sunny Vista?
Reported violent crime in Sunny Vista peaked in 2021 and has fallen 12% since, back near its 2019 level. Property crime is down 19% from 2019. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 2.1 to 2.0 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 19 to 15 (US: 18). Neither changed much from 2023 to 2024.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
Sunny VistaUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Sunny Vista. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Sunny Vista
Violent, US
Property, Sunny Vista
Property, US
2016
-12%
+4%
+3%
+15%
2017
+3%
+4%
+4%
+12%
2018
+1%
+0%
-2%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
-7%
+4%
-14%
-8%
2021
+7%
+6%
-5%
-10%
2022
+1%
+5%
-4%
-6%
2023
-4%
+2%
-13%
-7%
2024
-6%
-4%
-20%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Sunny Vista
CrimeGrade™ estimates Sunny Vista has about 22 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 41% less than the US as a whole and 45% less 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 43% of crime reported in Sunny Vista. 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.
Where and when crime happens in Sunny Vista
The Carlsbad Police Department polices Sunny Vista; these figures cover Carlsbad as a whole, 2022 to 2024.
In Carlsbad as a whole, 42% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often in parking lots and garages: 36% of them, against 31% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Stores and businesses (44%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Parking lots and garages (29%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Parking lots and garages (36%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Other places (23%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Robbery
Stores and businesses (74%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Aggravated assault
Homes (28%)
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 Sunny Vista compares with nearby cities
Sunny Vista has less crime than 5 of its 10 nearest cities.
Walkability, empty homes and transit in Sunny Vista
Two things set Sunny Vista apart: it has a Walk Grade of D- (7 of 100) on BestNeighborhood, against 21 for the US as a whole, and 3.1% of its homes standing empty, against 7.1% 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; here theft sits near the national middle.
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. 97% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D- (7 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 86% of US city residents
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson.3.1% of homesUS: 7.1%Lower than for 85% 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 Sunny Vista: C- (26 of 100).10 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 85% of US city residents
Show all 6
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 80% of US city residents
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.59 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 74% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.8.4 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower than for 69% 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 Sunny Vista
Crime costs Sunny Vista about $600 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 50% 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 $11 million a year, or $649 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$360,000
$22
Rape
$340,000
$21
Robbery
$160,000
$10
Assault
$1.1 million
$65
Burglary
$300,000
$18
Theft
$810,000
$49
Vehicle theft
$330,000
$20
Arson
$30,000
$2
Vandalism
$410,000
$25
Total
$3.8 million
$231
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 Sunny Vista 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 Sunny Vista, CA average a SchoolGrade of A: 52% of students test proficient, against 44% projected for schools like them. Overall, they greatly exceed expectations. See schools in Sunny Vista on SchoolGrade
