Rancho Penasquitos, San Diego, CA Violent Crime Rates and Maps
Rancho Penasquitos is a neighborhood of 66,400 residents in San Diego, about 18 miles north of downtown · Updated November 2026
How common is violent crime in Rancho Penasquitos?
Violent crime is low in Rancho Penasquitos: an A+, safer than the neighborhoods where 78% of Americans live. Assaults make up 93% 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 939 of 1,000Less violent crime than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
78% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more violent crime than Rancho Penasquitos as a whole, and 22% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a violent crime safety score of 860, a CrimeGrade™ of A. Rancho Penasquitos scores 939.
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 Rancho Penasquitos, San Diego, CA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Rancho Penasquitos 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 Rancho Penasquitos
Aggravated assaults and simple assaults both run low. In Rancho Penasquitos, each runs at a small fraction of the US rate: 0.63 aggravated assaults and 1.9 simple assaults a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.6 and 9.7 nationally.
How Rancho Penasquitos compares within San Diego
Every part of Rancho Penasquitos where people live grades A or B for violent crime on the national scale. Violent crime grades across Rancho Penasquitos run from A+ to A-.
100%
A or B 100%
Share of residents, by the violent crime CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Rancho Penasquitos has less violent crime than 70 of the 81 neighborhoods in San Diego. It covers much of the Mira Mesa and Rancho Penasquitos 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 Rancho Penasquitos
CrimeGrade™ estimates Rancho Penasquitos has about 2.7 reported violent crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 80% less than the US as a whole and 72% less 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 Rancho Penasquitos, about 93% 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 Rancho Penasquitos; 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 Rancho Penasquitos and nearby neighborhoods
Rancho Penasquitos has more violent crime than 7 of its 10 nearest neighborhoods. Carmel Valley and North City have the least violent crime nearby.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from Rancho Penasquitos. 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, Rancho Penasquitos is safer than 97% of them.
Transit, walkability and jobs in Rancho Penasquitos
Among the traits that tend to go with violent crime, two set Rancho Penasquitos apart: it has a Walk Grade of D (12 of 100) on BestNeighborhood, against 21 for the US as a whole, and 17 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole. Places like that tend to report less assault, and it runs low 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 Rancho Penasquitos: D- (8 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 95% 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. 90% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D (12 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 88% of residents of US city neighborhoods
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more robbery.17 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 75% of residents of US city neighborhoods
Show all 4
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery.40% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 60% 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 Rancho Penasquitos
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, violent crime costs Rancho Penasquitos about $14 million a year, or $209 per resident. The costs that reach a bill, such as medical care, lost work and the justice system, come to about $3.2 million, or $49 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
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.
