Lajas is an unincorporated community of 19,300 in Lajas Municipio, about 13 miles southeast of Mayaguez · Updated November 2026
How common is violent crime in Lajas?
Violent crime is high in Lajas: a B+, with more violent crime than the neighborhoods where 71% of Americans live. Assaults make up 71% of it, most of them aggravated assaults, which involve a weapon or a serious injury.
B+
Violent crime CrimeGrade™
Safety score 736 of 1,000More violent crime than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
29% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more violent crime than Lajas as a whole, and 71% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a violent crime safety score of 860, a CrimeGrade™ of A. Lajas scores 736.
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 Lajas, PR at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Lajas, 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 Lajas
Aggravated assault is a strength. Lajas grades B+ for violent crime, but aggravated assault grades A, better than in the neighborhoods where 67% of Americans live.
Where violent crime is lowest and highest in Lajas
Low violent crime is the norm across Lajas: 83% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and the rest in areas graded C. Violent crime grades across Lajas run from A to C+.
83%17%
A or B 83%C 17%
Share of residents, by the violent crime CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Violent crime rates and types in Lajas
CrimeGrade™ estimates Lajas has about 2.0 reported violent crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 85% less than the US as a whole and close to Puerto Rico.
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 Lajas, about 71% 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.
Violent crime in Lajas and nearby cities
Lajas has less violent crime than 6 of its 10 nearest cities.
Lajas looks like a typical city on the traits that tend to go with violent crime.
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. 82% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D (16 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 57% of US city residents
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery.14% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 51% of US city residents
BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of Lajas on shops, parks, home prices, getting around and more.
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 Lajas
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, violent crime costs Lajas about $40 million a year, or $2,056 per resident. The costs that reach a bill, such as medical care, lost work and the justice system, come to about $6.0 million, or $309 per resident.
Billed cost of violent crime per resident, per year
How the cost breaks down
Pain and suffering are about 85% of that full cost.
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$5.1 million
$264
Rape
$170,000
$9
Robbery
$170,000
$9
Assault
$530,000
$28
Total
$6.0 million
$309
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.
