Santa Cruz is a city of 98,000 in Santa Cruz County and the main city of the Santa Cruz metro area, home to 264,900 · Updated November 2026
How common is violent crime in Santa Cruz?
Santa Cruz grades B+ for violent crime, with more of it than the neighborhoods where 72% of Americans live. Assaults make up 92% of it, and most of those are simple assaults, which involve no weapon and no serious injury.
B+
Violent crime CrimeGrade™
Safety score 717 of 1,000More violent crime than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
28% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more violent crime than Santa Cruz as a whole, and 72% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a violent crime safety score of 860, a CrimeGrade™ of A. Santa Cruz scores 717.
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 Santa Cruz, CA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Santa Cruz, 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 Santa Cruz
Aggravated assaults run high in Central Santa Cruz & Downtown Santa Cruz. In this part of central Santa Cruz, they run at more than double the rate in the rest of Santa Cruz.
Where violent crime is lowest and highest in Santa Cruz
Most of Santa Cruz grades well for violent crime: 91% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and the rest in areas graded C. Violent crime grades across Santa Cruz run from A+ to C-.
91%
A or B 91%C 9%
Share of residents, by the violent crime CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
1Westside, northwestAggravated assaults run at less than half the rate in the rest of Santa Cruz.A908
2Live Oak, eastSimple assaults run about 50% higher here than in the rest of Santa Cruz.B661
3Beach Hill, southAggravated assaults run about 70% higher here than in the rest of Santa Cruz.C+531
4Central Santa Cruz & Downtown Santa Cruz, centralRobberies run about 60% higher here than in the rest of Santa Cruz.C+512
Neighborhood areas of Santa Cruz, 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.
Is violent crime going up in Santa Cruz?
Reported violent crime in Santa Cruz peaked in 2021 and has fallen 19% since, back near its 2019 level. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults stayed at about 6.0 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7). Violent crime changed little from 2023 to 2024.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Santa CruzUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Santa Cruz. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Santa Cruz
Violent, US
2016
+35%
+4%
2017
+5%
+4%
2018
+0%
+0%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
-19%
+4%
2021
+25%
+6%
2022
+19%
+5%
2023
+8%
+2%
2024
+1%
-4%
Violent crime rates and types in Santa Cruz
CrimeGrade™ estimates Santa Cruz has about 16 reported violent crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 22% more than the US as a whole and 36% more than 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 Santa Cruz, about 92% 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 Santa Cruz and nearby cities
Santa Cruz has more violent crime than 7 of its 8 nearest cities. Felton and Ben Lomond have the least violent crime nearby.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from Santa Cruz. Beside each violent crime CrimeGrade™ is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer).
Compared with cities of similar size and density, Santa Cruz has more violent crime than 77% of them.
Among the traits that tend to go with violent crime, two set Santa Cruz apart: it has a Walk Grade of C (37 of 100) on BestNeighborhood, against 21 for the US as a whole, and 38% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally. Even so, 53% of residents in Santa Cruz live in car-dependent areas, where most errands take a car. Places like that tend to report more assault, and it runs high here.
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.C (37 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 87% of US city residents
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery.38% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 75% of US city residents
Transit serviceBuses and trains an hour at the evening rush. Places with busy transit tend to report more robbery. BestNeighborhood's Transit Grade for Santa Cruz: C- (29 of 100).5 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 70% of US city residents
Show all 4
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more robbery.43 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 51% of US city residents
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 Santa Cruz
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, violent crime costs Santa Cruz about $128 million a year, or $1,304 per resident. The costs that reach a bill, such as medical care, lost work and the justice system, come to about $30 million, or $303 per resident.
Billed cost of violent crime per resident, per year
How the cost breaks down
Pain and suffering are about 77% of that full cost.
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$6.1 million
$62
Rape
$2.3 million
$23
Robbery
$2.6 million
$26
Assault
$19 million
$191
Total
$30 million
$303
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.
