Westbrae is a neighborhood of 4,430 residents in Berkeley, close to downtown · Updated November 2026
Is Westbrae in Berkeley safe?
Westbrae is among the higher-crime places in the US: an overall CrimeGrade™ of D-, with more crime than the neighborhoods where 92% of Americans live. Violent crime grades better than property crime here, B+ against F. Berkeley as a whole grades C. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Westbrae run from A- to F, so check the map below.
D-
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 112 of 1,000Less safe than nearly all US neighborhoodsi What this means
8% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Westbrae as a whole, and 92% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Westbrae scores 112.
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 Westbrae, Berkeley, CA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Westbrae in Berkeley, 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 Westbrae
Vehicle theft at about triple the US rate. Westbrae has 7.9 car thefts a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.7 nationally.
Crime rates and types in Westbrae
CrimeGrade™ estimates Westbrae has about 50 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 34% more than the US as a whole and 28% less than Berkeley 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 Westbrae, about 49% 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 Westbrae compares with nearby neighborhoods
Westbrae has more crime than 6 of its 10 nearest neighborhoods. Kensington-San Francisco and Berkeley Hills have the least crime nearby.
Two things set Westbrae apart: it has 0.1 parking-lot spaces per resident, against 2.0 nationally, and 14 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole. Places like that 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.0.1 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Lower than for 86% of residents of US city neighborhoods
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.14 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 82% 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.B+ (66 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 75% of residents of US city neighborhoods
Show all 4
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 Westbrae: C (35 of 100).30 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 78% 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 Westbrae
Crime costs Westbrae about $1,545 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 28% 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 $4.9 million a year, or $1,104 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 Westbrae 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. Westbrae is the other kind of example: few people work in, shop in or visit it, so its crime per resident looks lower 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
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 Westbrae, Berkeley, CA average a SchoolGrade of A+: 69% of students test proficient, against 61% projected for schools like them. Overall, they greatly exceed expectations. See schools in Westbrae on SchoolGrade
