South Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA Violent Crime Rates and Maps
South Los Angeles is a neighborhood of 262,500 residents in Los Angeles, about 5 miles southwest of downtown · Updated November 2026
How common is violent crime in South Los Angeles?
Violent crime is high in South Los Angeles: an F, with more violent crime than the neighborhoods where 97% of Americans live. Assaults make up 81% of it, and most of those are simple assaults, which involve no weapon and no serious injury. Los Angeles as a whole grades C for violent crime.
F
Violent crime CrimeGrade™
Safety score 0 of 1,000More violent crime than nearly all US neighborhoodsi What this means
3% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more violent crime than South Los Angeles as a whole, and 97% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a violent crime safety score of 860, a CrimeGrade™ of A. South Los Angeles scores 0.
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 South Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in South Los Angeles in Los Angeles, 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 South Los Angeles
Robberies and aggravated assaults both run high. In South Los Angeles, each runs at more than triple the US rate: 4.7 robberies and 10.0 aggravated assaults a year per 1,000 residents, against 0.62 and 2.6 nationally.
How South Los Angeles compares within Los Angeles
High violent crime is widespread across South Los Angeles: 89% of residents live in areas graded D or F, and 6% in areas graded A or B. Violent crime grades across South Los Angeles run from B+ to F.
89%
A or B 6%C 5%D or F 89%
Share of residents, by the violent crime CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
South Los Angeles has less violent crime than 5 of the 51 neighborhoods in Los Angeles. It covers much of the South Los Angeles area.
Violent crime rates and types in South Los Angeles
CrimeGrade™ estimates South Los Angeles has about 30 reported violent crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, more than double the rate for the US as a whole and 45% more than Los Angeles 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 South Los Angeles, about 81% of the total. Murder and rape are far rarer, but they account for 40% of the cost of violent crime here.
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 South Los Angeles and nearby neighborhoods
South Los Angeles has more violent crime than 7 of its 10 nearest neighborhoods. Morningside Park and Nevin have the least violent crime nearby.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from South Los Angeles. 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, South Los Angeles has more violent crime than 95% of them.
Tree cover, nightlife and walkability in South Los Angeles
Among the traits that tend to go with violent crime, two set South Los Angeles apart: it has tree cover over 1% of the land where people live, against 21% nationally, and 0.1 bars and nightlife spots for every 1,000 residents, against 0.6 nationally. Places with little tree cover tend to report more robbery, and it runs high here.
Tree coverThe share of land under tree canopy where people live. Leafy neighborhoods tend to report less robbery.1% where people liveUS: 21%Lower than for 90% of residents of US city neighborhoods
Bars and nightlifeBars, lounges, clubs and casinos. Places with more bars tend to report more assault and robbery.0.1 per 1,000 residentsUS: 0.6Lower than for 81% 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.B- (56 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 68% 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.93% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 78% 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 South Los Angeles
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, violent crime costs South Los Angeles about $1.17 billion a year, or $4,449 per resident. The costs that reach a bill, such as medical care, lost work and the justice system, come to about $235 million, or $896 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.
