Ocean Beach, San Diego, CA Violent Crime Rates and Maps

Ocean Beach is a neighborhood of 13,800 residents in San Diego, about 5 miles west of downtown · Updated November 2026

How common is violent crime in Ocean Beach?

Ocean Beach grades B for violent crime, with more of it than the neighborhoods where 76% of Americans live. Assaults make up 92% 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 678 of 1,000
More violent crime than most US neighborhoods What this means

24% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more violent crime than Ocean Beach 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. Ocean Beach scores 678.

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.

B-
Overall crimeSafety score 569 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoods
C-
Property crimeSafety score 381 of 1,000More property crime than most US neighborhoods

How it works


Violent crime map of Ocean Beach

Map of Ocean Beach shaded by violent crime CrimeGrade™, from green for the least crime to red for the most
Click the map to explore
F D C B A+
Highest crime Safest
Colorblind friendly off

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 Ocean Beach, San Diego, CA at ISP Reports.

Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Ocean Beach 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 Ocean Beach

Aggravated assault at about double the US rate. Ocean Beach has 5.4 aggravated assaults a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.6 nationally.


How Ocean Beach compares within San Diego

Most of Ocean Beach grades well for violent crime: 91% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 8% in areas graded D or F. Violent crime grades across Ocean Beach run from A+ to D-.

A or B 91%C 1%D or F 8%

Share of residents, by the violent crime CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.

Ocean Beach has less violent crime than 24 of the 81 neighborhoods in San Diego. It covers much of the Loma Portal, Linda Vista, and Bay Park areas and the Roseville, Wooded Area, and Little Italy 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
YearViolent, San DiegoViolent, 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 Ocean Beach

CrimeGrade™ estimates Ocean Beach has about 15 reported violent crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 13% more than the US as a whole and 60% 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 Ocean Beach, about 92% of the total.

CrimeCrimeGrade™Reported a yearPer 1,000 residentsUS per 1,000
MurderAunder 10.010.05
RapeA-30.210.38
RobberyC+140.980.62
AssaultB-19213.912.3

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 Ocean Beach; 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.

CrimeMost often atBusiest time
RobberyStores and businesses (46%)Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Aggravated assaultHomes (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 Ocean Beach and nearby neighborhoods

Ocean Beach has the most violent crime of its 10 nearest neighborhoods.

Nearby neighborhoods

PlaceViolentOverallResidents
Ocean BeachB678B-13,800
Loma Portal 1 mileB+762B23,500
Roseville 1 mileA864A-9,540
Wooded Area 2 milesA+946A+7,940
Midtown District 2 milesA-832B+6,520
Show all 10
PlaceViolentOverallResidents
Mission Hills-San Diego 4 milesA-805B+4,790
Moreno Mission 4 milesA-838B+9,930
Pacific Beach 4 milesA-811B31,500
Middletown 4 milesA-779B+3,410
Bay Park 4 milesA-839B+17,800
Little Italy 5 milesB687C-5,670

Nearest first, with each place's distance from Ocean Beach. 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, Ocean Beach is safer than 59% of them.

Neighborhoods of similar size and density

PlaceViolentOverallResidents
Ocean BeachB678B-13,800
North Berkeley, Berkeley, CAA-845B-13,800
Pawtucketville, Lowell, MAA-798A-13,800
Atwater Village, Los Angeles, CAA-787B13,700
Hybla Valley, Alexandria, VAB+715B13,700
Show all 10
PlaceViolentOverallResidents
Ballard, Seattle, WAB678D+13,900
Downtown Yonkers, Yonkers, NYB657B-13,800
Mount Pleasant, Providence, RIB644B13,700
Armour Square, Chicago, ILC405C-13,800
Eastwick, Philadelphia, PAF0F13,800
Windsor Park, Chicago, ILF0F13,800

Transit, nightlife and walkability in Ocean Beach

Among the traits that tend to go with violent crime, two set Ocean Beach apart: it has 2.5 bars and nightlife spots for every 1,000 residents, against 0.6 nationally, and tree cover over 4% of the land where people live, against 21% nationally. Places like that tend to report more assault and robbery, and they run high here.

Transit serviceBuses and trains an hour at the evening rush. Places with busy transit tend to report more robbery. BestNeighborhood's Transit Grade for Ocean Beach: C- (29 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 95% of residents of US city neighborhoods
Bars and nightlifeBars, lounges, clubs and casinos. Places with more bars tend to report more assault and robbery.2.5 per 1,000 residentsUS: 0.6Higher than for 94% 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. 57% of residents here live in walkable areas.B+ (65 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 74% of residents of US city neighborhoods
Show all 4
Tree coverThe share of land under tree canopy where people live. Leafy neighborhoods tend to report less robbery.4% where people liveUS: 21%Lower than for 75% 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 Ocean Beach

Counting the pain and suffering of victims, violent crime costs Ocean Beach about $17 million a year, or $1,239 per resident. The costs that reach a bill, such as medical care, lost work and the justice system, come to about $4.0 million, or $287 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
  • Population and housing figures from the US Census Bureau
  • Published research on what crime costs victims and communities
  • The San Diego Police Department publishes its own crime data

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.

More about CrimeGrade™ data