Imperial Beach is a city of 25,700 in San Diego County, about 10 miles south of downtown San Diego · Updated November 2026
How common is violent crime in Imperial Beach?
Imperial Beach grades B- for violent crime, with more of it than the neighborhoods where 84% of Americans live. Assaults make up 88% of it, and most of those are simple assaults, which involve no weapon and no serious injury.
B-
Violent crime CrimeGrade™
Safety score 544 of 1,000More violent crime than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
16% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more violent crime than Imperial Beach as a whole, and 84% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a violent crime safety score of 860, a CrimeGrade™ of A. Imperial Beach scores 544.
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 Imperial Beach, CA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Imperial Beach, 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 Imperial Beach
Reported rapes run high for a city with a B for violent crime. Imperial Beach has 0.91 reported rapes a year per 1,000 residents; for the typical resident of a US city graded B for violent crime, the figure is 0.40.
Aggravated assaults run high. Imperial Beach has aggravated assaults at about double the US rate: 5.2 a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.6 nationally.
Where violent crime is lowest and highest in Imperial Beach
Most of Imperial Beach grades well for violent crime: 57% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 12% in areas graded D or F. Violent crime grades across Imperial Beach run from B to D.
57%31%12%
A or B 57%C 31%D or F 12%
Share of residents, by the violent crime CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Violent crime rates and types in Imperial Beach
CrimeGrade™ estimates Imperial Beach has about 15 reported violent crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 11% more than the US as a whole and 24% 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 Imperial Beach, 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.
The Imperial Beach Police Department's 2024 count of reported rape fell far below its usual level, a sign of a reporting gap, so CrimeGrade™ used its own estimate instead.
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 Imperial Beach
Imperial Beach has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Imperial Beach, 34% of aggravated assaults happen at a home, against 53% nationally. Robberies happen most often at stores and businesses: 37% of them.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Robbery
Stores and businesses (37%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (34%)
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 Imperial Beach and nearby cities
Of the 10 cities closest to Imperial Beach, 9 have less violent crime. Coronado and Bonita have the least.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from Imperial Beach. 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, Imperial Beach has more violent crime than 79% of them.
Among the traits that tend to go with violent crime, two set Imperial Beach apart: it has 13 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole, and a Walk Grade of B- (52 of 100) on BestNeighborhood, against 21 for the US as a whole. Places with few jobs tend to report less robbery, yet robbery runs higher here than that would suggest.
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more robbery.13 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 95% 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- (52 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 92% of US city residents
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery.76% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 91% of US city residents
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 Imperial Beach: C (35 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 84% 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 Imperial Beach
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, violent crime costs Imperial Beach about $45 million a year, or $1,745 per resident. The costs that reach a bill, such as medical care, lost work and the justice system, come to about $9.2 million, or $359 per resident.
Billed cost of violent crime per resident, per year
How the cost breaks down
Pain and suffering are about 79% of that full cost.
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$1.8 million
$71
Rape
$1.4 million
$55
Robbery
$700,000
$27
Assault
$5.3 million
$206
Total
$9.2 million
$359
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.
