Upper Lake is an unincorporated community of 3,120 in Lake County, about 16 miles east of downtown Ukiah · Updated November 2026
Is Upper Lake, CA safe?
Yes. An overall CrimeGrade™ of A- means crime in Upper Lake is low. Most US neighborhoods have little crime too, so Upper Lake sits near the middle: 49% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime, and 51% in neighborhoods with less. Property crime grades better than violent crime here, A against A-. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Upper Lake run from A+ to B-, so check the map below.
A-
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 834 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
49% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Upper Lake as a whole, and 51% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Upper Lake scores 834.
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 Upper Lake, CA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Upper Lake, 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 Upper Lake
Aggravated assault stands out among A-graded cities. For the typical resident of an A-graded US city, the figure is 1.2 aggravated assaults a year per 1,000 residents; Upper Lake has 6.4.
Crime rates and types in Upper Lake
CrimeGrade™ estimates Upper Lake has about 37 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.
Assault is the most common crime in Upper Lake, about 46% of everything reported, and it also accounts for 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 Upper Lake compares with nearby cities
Upper Lake has less crime than 3 of its 4 nearest cities; only Kelseyville has less.
Night lighting, density and walkability in Upper Lake
Two things set Upper Lake apart: it has 24% of the land where people live lit at night, against 78% nationally, and 2% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally. Places like that tend to report less theft and vandalism, and they run low here.
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.24% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 94% of US city residents
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery and car theft.2% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 83% 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. 87% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D (13 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 65% of US city residents
Show all 6
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.24 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 81% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.8.0 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower than for 73% 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 Upper Lake: F (4 of 100).1 trips an hourUS: noneLower than for 57% 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 Upper Lake
Crime costs Upper Lake about $1,725 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 43% 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 $6.2 million a year, or $2,002 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$230,000
$72
Rape
$120,000
$39
Robbery
$40,000
$13
Assault
$810,000
$260
Burglary
$93,000
$30
Theft
$130,000
$41
Vehicle theft
$180,000
$57
Arson
$11,000
$3
Vandalism
$87,000
$28
Total
$1.7 million
$543
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 Upper Lake 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 Upper Lake, CA average a SchoolGrade of F: 19% of students test proficient, against 25% projected for schools like them. Overall, they don't meet expectations. See schools in Upper Lake on SchoolGrade
