Hillcrest, San Diego, CA Violent Crime Rates and Maps
Hillcrest is a neighborhood of 12,500 residents in San Diego, about 2 miles north of downtown · Updated November 2026
How common is violent crime in Hillcrest?
Hillcrest earns an A- for violent crime, with more violent crime than the neighborhoods where 66% of Americans live. Assaults make up 88% 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.
A-
Violent crime CrimeGrade™
Safety score 774 of 1,000More violent crime than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
34% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more violent crime than Hillcrest as a whole, and 66% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a violent crime safety score of 860, a CrimeGrade™ of A. Hillcrest scores 774.
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 Hillcrest, San Diego, CA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Hillcrest 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
What stands out about violent crime in Hillcrest
Robberies run high. Hillcrest has robberies at about triple the US rate: 2.0 a year per 1,000 residents, against 0.62 nationally.
How Hillcrest compares within San Diego
Most of Hillcrest grades well for violent crime: 94% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and the rest in areas graded C. Violent crime grades across Hillcrest run from A to C+.
94%
A or B 94%C 6%
Share of residents, by the violent crime CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Hillcrest has less violent crime than 40 of the 81 neighborhoods in San Diego. It covers much of the North Park San Diego, Serra Mesa, and University Heights areas and the Loma Portal, Linda Vista, and Bay Park areas.
Is violent crime going up in San Diego?
Reported violent crime in San Diego as a whole has risen 11% since 2019. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 3.7 to 4.1 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7). Violent crime changed little from 2023 to 2024.
Violent crime, change since 2019
San DiegoUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police departments that serve San Diego. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, San Diego
Violent, US
2016
+4%
+4%
2017
+1%
+4%
2018
+3%
+0%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
+4%
+4%
2021
+15%
+6%
2022
+17%
+5%
2023
+14%
+2%
2024
+11%
-4%
Violent crime rates and types in Hillcrest
CrimeGrade™ estimates Hillcrest has about 23 reported violent crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 75% more than the US as a whole and more than double the rate for 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 Hillcrest, about 88% 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 Hillcrest; 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 Hillcrest and nearby neighborhoods
Hillcrest has less violent crime than 6 of its 10 nearest neighborhoods.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from Hillcrest. 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, Hillcrest is safer than 74% of them.
Among the traits that tend to go with violent crime, two set Hillcrest apart: it has 4.2 bars and nightlife spots for every 1,000 residents, against 0.6 nationally, and 223 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole. Places like that tend to report more assault and robbery, and they run high here.
Bars and nightlifeBars, lounges, clubs and casinos. Places with more bars tend to report more assault and robbery.4.2 per 1,000 residentsUS: 0.6Higher than for 97% of residents of US city neighborhoods
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more robbery.223 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 96% 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 walkable areas.B (62 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 73% 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 robbery. BestNeighborhood's Transit Grade for Hillcrest: C (37 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 95% 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 Hillcrest
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, violent crime costs Hillcrest about $23 million a year, or $1,861 per resident. The costs that reach a bill, such as medical care, lost work and the justice system, come to about $5.6 million, or $446 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. Hillcrest 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.
