East Los Angeles is an unincorporated community of 109,300 in Los Angeles County, about 5 miles east of downtown Los Angeles · Updated November 2026
How common is violent crime in East Los Angeles?
Violent crime is high in East Los Angeles: a C-, with more violent crime than the neighborhoods where 90% of Americans live. Assaults make up 86% of it, and most of those are simple assaults, which involve no weapon and no serious injury.
C-
Violent crime CrimeGrade™
Safety score 322 of 1,000More violent crime than nearly all US neighborhoodsi What this means
10% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more violent crime than East Los Angeles as a whole, and 90% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a violent crime safety score of 860, a CrimeGrade™ of A. East Los Angeles scores 322.
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 violent crime than most US neighborhoods.
How to read the map: each area's color compares its violent crime with the people who spend time there, on one national scale, from green for the least to red for the most. Each area gets its own color, so a busy downtown or nightlife strip can show red while the homes around it stay green. The interactive maps load faster on a solid connection. Compare high speed internet in East Los Angeles, CA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in East Los Angeles, 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 about violent crime in East Los Angeles
Robberies run high for a city with a C for violent crime. East Los Angeles has 2.2 robberies a year per 1,000 residents; for the typical resident of a US city graded C for violent crime, the figure is 1.0.
Aggravated assault at more than double the US rate. East Los Angeles has 5.9 aggravated assaults a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.6 nationally.
Where violent crime is lowest and highest in East Los Angeles
Areas graded C for violent crime are home to 55% of residents in East Los Angeles; 2% live in areas graded A or B and 43% in areas graded D or F. Violent crime grades across East Los Angeles run from B to F.
55%43%
A or B 2%C 55%D or F 43%
Share of residents, by the violent crime CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Violent crime rates and types in East Los Angeles
CrimeGrade™ estimates East Los Angeles has about 18 reported violent crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 34% more than the US as a whole and 49% more than California.
All violent crime
Assaults
Robbery
Reported crimes a year, per 1,000 residents. Violent crime here includes simple assaults, which the FBI's violent crime rate leaves out.
Assault is the most common violent crime in East Los Angeles, about 86% of the total. Murder and rape are far rarer, but they account for 41% of the cost of violent crime here.
Each CrimeGrade™ here compares a violent crime with the people who spend time in an area, not only the people who live there. 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.
Violent crime in East Los Angeles and nearby cities
East Los Angeles has the most violent crime of its 9 nearest cities.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from East Los Angeles. Beside each violent crime CrimeGrade™ is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer).
Compared with cities of similar size and density, East Los Angeles has more violent crime than 97% of them.
Density, walkability and transit in East Los Angeles
Among the traits that tend to go with violent crime, two set East Los Angeles apart: it has 94% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally, and a Walk Grade of B- (54 of 100) on BestNeighborhood, against 21 for the US as a whole. Places like that tend to report more robbery, and it runs high here.
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery.94% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 96% 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 assault.B- (54 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 93% of US city residents
Transit serviceBuses and trains an hour at the evening rush. Places with busy transit tend to report more robbery. BestNeighborhood's Transit Grade for East Los Angeles: C (35 of 100).16 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 90% of US city residents
Show all 4
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more robbery.22 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 83% 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 violent crime costs East Los Angeles
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, violent crime costs East Los Angeles about $279 million a year, or $2,554 per resident. The costs that reach a bill, such as medical care, lost work and the justice system, come to about $56 million, or $511 per resident.
Billed cost of violent crime per resident, per year
How the cost breaks down
Pain and suffering are about 80% of that full cost.
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$21 million
$189
Rape
$2.0 million
$18
Robbery
$7.4 million
$67
Assault
$26 million
$236
Total
$56 million
$511
How CrimeGrade™ works
The violent crime CrimeGrade™ covers murder, rape, robbery and assault, from A+ for the least crime to F for the most, on one scale for the whole country.
It weighs each violent crime against the people who spend time in an area, so a busy downtown is graded on its workers and visitors as well as its residents.
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.
