The Los Angeles metro area, the second-largest in the US, is home to 12.97 million residents; Los Angeles itself is the largest city in California · Updated November 2026
How common is violent crime in the Los Angeles area?
Violent crime is high in the Los Angeles area: a B, with more violent crime than the neighborhoods where 76% of Americans live. Assaults make up 84% of it, and most of those are simple assaults, which involve no weapon and no serious injury. The city of Los Angeles itself grades C for violent crime.
B
Violent crime CrimeGrade™
Safety score 675 of 1,000More violent crime than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
24% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more violent crime than the Los Angeles area as a whole, and 76% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a violent crime safety score of 860, a CrimeGrade™ of A. The Los Angeles area scores 675.
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 Los Angeles, CA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in the Los Angeles area, 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 the Los Angeles area
One part of Los Angeles stands out for robbery. Robberies in South Los Angeles, in south Los Angeles, run at more than triple the rate in the rest of the city.
Where violent crime is lowest and highest in the Los Angeles area
Low violent crime is the norm across the Los Angeles area: 76% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 13% in areas graded D or F. Violent crime grades across the Los Angeles area run from A+ to F.
76%11%13%
A or B 76%C 11%D or F 13%
Share of residents, by the violent crime CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
5Westchester, Mar Vista & Crenshaw, southwestAggravated assaults run about 30% lower here than in the rest of Los Angeles.B-574
6Boyle Heights, eastRobberies run about 40% lower here than in the rest of Los Angeles.C390
7Westlake & Mid City, centralRobberies run about 40% higher here than in the rest of Los Angeles.C-376
8South Los Angeles, southMurders run at about triple the rate in the rest of Los Angeles.F0
9Southeast Los Angeles & Watts, southeastRobberies run at more than double the rate in the rest of Los Angeles.F0
Neighborhood areas of the city of Los Angeles, ranked by violent crime CrimeGrade™; beside each grade is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer). Each one combines several of the smaller areas on the map.
Cities and towns in the Los Angeles metro area with at least 1,000 residents. Ranked by violent crime CrimeGrade™; beside each grade is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer), and the other numbers are residents.
Violent crime rates and types in the Los Angeles area
CrimeGrade™ estimates the Los Angeles area has about 12 reported violent crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 12% less than the US as a whole and close to 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 the Los Angeles area, about 84% 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 the Los Angeles area and nearby metro areas
The Los Angeles area has more violent crime than 8 of its 10 nearest metro areas. The Oxnard area and the San Diego area have the least violent crime nearby.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from the Los Angeles area. Beside each violent crime CrimeGrade™ is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer).
Density and transit in the Los Angeles area
Among the traits that tend to go with violent crime, two set the Los Angeles area apart: it has 65% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally, and 9 buses and trains an hour at the evening rush, where most Americans have none nearby. 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.65% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 99% of Americans in metro areas
Transit serviceBuses and trains an hour at the evening rush. Places with busy transit tend to report more robbery. BestNeighborhood's Transit Grade for the Los Angeles area: C- (27 of 100).9 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 77% of Americans in metro areas
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 the Los Angeles area
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, violent crime costs the Los Angeles area about $18.79 billion a year, or $1,448 per resident. The costs that reach a bill, such as medical care, lost work and the justice system, come to about $3.96 billion, or $305 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
$1.24 billion
$96
Rape
$251 million
$19
Robbery
$598 million
$46
Assault
$1.87 billion
$144
Total
$3.96 billion
$305
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. These figures cover the whole Los Angeles metro area. 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.
