El Cerritos, San Diego, CA Violent Crime Rates and Maps
El Cerritos is a neighborhood of 5,740 residents in San Diego, about 6 miles northeast of downtown · Updated November 2026
How common is violent crime in El Cerritos?
El Cerritos grades B for violent crime, with more of it than the neighborhoods where 80% of Americans live. Assaults make up 82% of it, and most of those are simple assaults, which involve no weapon and no serious injury. San Diego as a whole grades A- for violent crime.
B
Violent crime CrimeGrade™
Safety score 622 of 1,000More violent crime than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
20% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more violent crime than El Cerritos as a whole, and 80% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a violent crime safety score of 860, a CrimeGrade™ of A. El Cerritos scores 622.
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 El Cerritos, San Diego, CA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in El Cerritos in San Diego, 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
Violent crime rates and types in El Cerritos
CrimeGrade™ estimates El Cerritos has about 13 reported violent crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, about the same as the US as a whole and 37% more than San Diego as a whole.
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 El Cerritos, about 82% of the total.
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.
Where and when violent crime happens in San Diego
The San Diego Police Department polices El Cerritos; these figures cover San Diego as a whole, 2022 to 2024.
In San Diego as a whole, 36% of aggravated assaults happen at a home, against 53% nationally. Robberies happen most often at stores and businesses: 46% of them.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Robbery
Stores and businesses (46%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Aggravated assault
Homes (36%)
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.
Violent crime in El Cerritos and nearby neighborhoods
El Cerritos has less violent crime than 5 of its 10 nearest neighborhoods.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from El Cerritos. Beside each violent crime CrimeGrade™ is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer).
Compared with neighborhoods of similar size and density, El Cerritos is safer than 57% of them.
Transit, tree cover and walkability in El Cerritos
El Cerritos looks like a typical neighborhood on the traits that tend to go with violent crime.
Transit serviceBuses and trains an hour at the evening rush. Places with busy transit tend to report more robbery. BestNeighborhood's Transit Grade for El Cerritos: C (33 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 95% of residents of US city neighborhoods
Tree coverThe share of land under tree canopy where people live. Leafy neighborhoods tend to report less robbery.5% where people liveUS: 21%Lower than for 69% 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 assault. 60% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.C (34 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 50% of residents of US city neighborhoods
Show all 4
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery.56% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 52% 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 violent crime costs El Cerritos
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, violent crime costs El Cerritos about $7.5 million a year, or $1,314 per resident. The costs that reach a bill, such as medical care, lost work and the justice system, come to about $1.7 million, or $301 per resident.
Billed cost of violent crime per resident, per year
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
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.
