Union Square is a neighborhood of 8,510 residents in San Francisco, close to downtown · Updated November 2026
Is Union Square in San Francisco safe?
Union Square has more crime than most of the country: an overall CrimeGrade™ of C-, with more crime than the neighborhoods where 87% of Americans live. Violent crime grades better than property crime here, B+ against F. San Francisco as a whole grades C. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Union Square run from C+ to F, so check the map below.
C-
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 353 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
13% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Union Square as a whole, and 87% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Union Square scores 353.
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 Union Square, San Francisco, CA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Union Square in San Francisco, 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 Union Square
Robberies and burglaries both run high. In Union Square, each runs at more than triple the US rate: 15.5 robberies and 19.9 burglaries a year per 1,000 residents, against 0.62 and 2.4 nationally.
Crime rates and types in Union Square
CrimeGrade™ estimates Union Square has about 242 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, more than triple the rate for the US as a whole and more than triple the rate for San Francisco 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.
The largest share of crime reported in Union Square is theft, about 42% 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.
How Union Square compares with nearby neighborhoods
Union Square has less crime than 6 of its 10 nearest neighborhoods.
Two things set Union Square apart: it has 99.1 stores and restaurants for every 1,000 residents, against 10.5 nationally, and 12.6 bars and nightlife spots for every 1,000 residents, against 0.6 nationally. Places like that tend to report more theft and car theft, and they run high here.
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft and car theft.99.1 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 99% of residents of US city neighborhoods
Bars and nightlifeBars, lounges, clubs and casinos. Places with more bars tend to report more assault and robbery.12.6 per 1,000 residentsUS: 0.6Higher than for 99% 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. 100% of residents here live in walkable areas.A+ (96 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 98% of residents of US city neighborhoods
Show all 4
Tree coverThe share of land under tree canopy where people live. Leafy neighborhoods tend to report less robbery.under 1% where people liveUS: 21%Lower than for 99% 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 Union Square
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Union Square about $3,780 a year per household, about triple 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 $44 million a year, or $5,223 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 Union Square 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. Union Square is a good example: many people work in, shop in or visit it, so its crime per resident looks worse than its CrimeGrade™ suggests.
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 Union Square, San Francisco, CA average a SchoolGrade of B-: 39% of students test proficient, against 38% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in Union Square on SchoolGrade
