Santa Barbara, CA Violent Crime Rates and Maps

D+

Violent Crime Grade	D-
Property Crime Grade	D
Other Crime Grade	B+

Which crimes are included?

$31.9 million

Cost of Crime™ for Santa Barbara, CA

In 2025, violent crime will cost $666 per household.

More cost data

On the map, green marks the parts of Santa Barbara with the least violent crime and red marks the most, weighted by the type and severity of each offense. Violent crime concentrates where people gather after dark, near nightlife, bars, and transit, more than on residential streets. The Interpreting the Crime Maps section below explains how to read those hot spots.

The D- grade reflects how often assault, robbery, rape, and murder occur in Santa Barbara against the average US city, where the rate is much higher than the norm. Santa Barbara sits in the 12th percentile for violent-crime safety, ahead of 12% of cities and behind 88%. The grade covers only Santa Barbara's official city boundaries. See the table below for nearby cities.

The violent crime rate in Santa Barbara is 6.149 per 1,000 residents in a typical year. Residents generally consider the northeast part of the city the safest. Your chance of being a victim ranges from 1 in 99 in the southeast neighborhoods to 1 in 334 in the northeast.

Counting total incidents instead of per-capita rates, the southeast parts of Santa Barbara, CA report the most violent crime, about 198 cases per year. The northeast part reports the fewest, around 7 per year.

The Cost of Crime™ in Santa Barbara, CA

The tangible cost of violent crime in Santa Barbara is projected at $31,870,048 for 2025, about $262 per resident and $666 per household. That equals 0.4% of the median household income, and it counts only the bills that can be totaled: emergency care, lost wages, and the justice response. The larger cost, the harm to victims, comes later on this page. These tangible costs split into:

Criminal justice system costs (law enforcement, courts, and imprisonment): 46.1%
Direct costs to victims (damaged property, medical expenses, and lost wages): 40.0%
Lost economic contribution from offenders (time in prison or repeat offenses): 13.7%

How Much Does Violent Crime Cost in Santa Barbara Compared to Other Cities?

Santa Barbara, CA:	$262
French Camp, CA:	$748
Plumas Lake, CA:	$105
California:	$264
USA:	$258

The tangible cost of violent crime is $262 per resident each year in Santa Barbara, which is $4 more than the national average and $2 less than California's state average. The comparison below uses cities similar to Santa Barbara:

In French Camp, CA, crime costs $748 per person, which is $486 more than in Santa Barbara.
In Plumas Lake, CA, crime costs $105 per person, which is $157 less than in Santa Barbara

2025 Projected Violent Crime Cost by Type

The table below breaks the violent-crime total into its four offenses for Santa Barbara, with the projected cost per resident.

Crime	Cost to Santa Barbara	Cost per Santa Barbara Resident
Murder	$8.06 million	$66
Rape/Sexual Assault	$3.92 million	$32
Robbery	$4.40 million	$36
Assault	$15.5 million	$127
Total Cost of Violent Crime	$31,870,048	$262

The Human Cost of Violent Crime in Santa Barbara, CA

Much of what violent crime costs never reaches a bill. Pain, trauma, and lost quality of life for victims and their families typically outweigh the medical and legal totals above. Research-based methods put a figure on that harm so it can be compared across places. By those methods, the human cost of violent crime in Santa Barbara totals $78,746,104 ($647 per resident). Added to the tangible costs, the full estimate reaches $110,616,151 ($909 per resident). This human toll is what sets violent crime apart from property crime in Santa Barbara, CA, where the loss is mostly replaceable property. All Cost of Crime figures come from scholarly research on the cost of crime. Read more about our methodology here.

Interpreting the Violent Crime Maps

Violent crime rates are measured per resident, so places packed with visitors after dark read high even when few people live there. Bars, clubs, event venues, and transit hubs draw the crowds where assaults and robberies cluster. How strongly this shows on the map depends on the commercial base; the southeast part of the city has more retail establishments. A red block full of bars and venues does not mean the homes around it are dangerous.

Transit stations show the same effect: large moving crowds, few residents, so per-capita violent crime reads high. Before judging a residential street, weigh both the per-capita rate and the total count of incidents, and note what draws crowds nearby.

The interactive maps load faster on a solid connection. Compare high speed internet in Santa Barbara, CA at ISP Reports.

Santa Barbara Violent Crime Breakdown

The table below shows which offenses feed the Violent Crime Grade above, each as crimes per 1,000 Santa Barbara residents in a standard year.

Crime Type	Crime Rate
Assault	4.434
Robbery	1.149
Rape	0.5306
Murder	0.0352
Total Violent Crime	6.149 (D-)

Individual Santa Barbara Crime Maps & Stats

Crime Maps and Rates for Nearby Cities

Compared to surrounding cities, the rate of violent crime in Santa Barbara is higher. The table below shows Crime Grades for cities close to Santa Barbara.

Nearby City	Overall Crime Grade	Violent Crime Grade	Property Crime Grade
Montecito, CA	D	D	D-
Isla Vista, CA	C+	D	C-
Goleta, CA	C-	D+	D
Summerland, CA	C	D-	D+
Ellwood, CA	C	C	D+
Toro Canyon, CA	C-	D-	D
Carpinteria, CA	C	D	D+
Meiners Oaks, CA	D	D-	D-
Oak View, CA	C-	D	D+
Mira Monte, CA	C	D	D

Crime Maps and Rates for City with Similar Populations

Santa Barbara is higher versus other cities of the same size for violent crime. The table below compares crime in cities with comparable overall population in the city‘s boundaries.

Similar City	Overall Crime Grade	Violent Crime Grade	Property Crime Grade
Baton Rouge, LA	D	D-	D-
Baytown, TX	C-	D+	D+
Atascocita, TX	C-	C-	C-
Auburn, AL	C	C+	C+
Aurora, CO	D-	D	D
Alhambra, CA	C-	D+	D+
Apple Valley, CA	C-	D+	D+
Anchorage, AK	D+	F	F
Antioch, CA	C-	D+	D+
Bayamon, PR	D-	D-	D-

Considering only the violent crime rate, Santa Barbara is less safe than the California state average and less safe than the national average.

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All maps and statistics above are projections, not certainties, and provided without guarantee free of charge. Verify all info before making any decisions based on the data.