Spectrum is a neighborhood of 15,100 residents in Irvine, about 4 miles east of downtown · Updated November 2026
How common is violent crime in Spectrum?
Spectrum has less violent crime than most US neighborhoods: an A+, safer than the neighborhoods where 73% of Americans live. Assaults make up 93% of it, and most of those are simple assaults, which involve no weapon and no serious injury. Irvine as a whole grades A for violent crime.
A+
Violent crime CrimeGrade™
Safety score 927 of 1,000Less violent crime than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
73% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more violent crime than Spectrum as a whole, and 27% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a violent crime safety score of 860, a CrimeGrade™ of A. Spectrum scores 927.
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 Spectrum, Irvine, CA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Spectrum in Irvine, 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 Spectrum
Simple assaults are uncommon. Spectrum has simple assaults at a small fraction of the US rate: 1.9 a year per 1,000 residents, against 9.7 nationally.
How Spectrum compares within Irvine
Every part of Spectrum where people live grades A or B for violent crime on the national scale. Violent crime grades across Spectrum run from A+ to A.
100%
A or B 100%
Share of residents, by the violent crime CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Spectrum has less violent crime than 11 of the 24 neighborhoods in Irvine. It covers much of the Woodbury, El Toro Marine Air Station, and Portola Springs areas and the El Camino Real and Spectrum areas.
Is violent crime going up in Irvine?
Reported violent crime in Irvine as a whole has risen 24% since 2019. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 0.7 to 0.8 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7). Violent crime changed little from 2023 to 2024.
Violent crime, change since 2019
IrvineUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police departments that serve Irvine. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Irvine
Violent, US
2016
-13%
+4%
2017
-6%
+4%
2018
-13%
+0%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
-27%
+4%
2021
+9%
+6%
2022
+35%
+5%
2023
+32%
+2%
2024
+24%
-4%
Violent crime rates and types in Spectrum
CrimeGrade™ estimates Spectrum has about 2.4 reported violent crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 82% less than the US as a whole and 46% less than Irvine 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 Spectrum, 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 Irvine
The Irvine Police Department polices Spectrum; these figures cover Irvine as a whole, 2022 to 2024.
In Irvine as a whole, 45% of aggravated assaults happen at a home, against 53% nationally. Robberies happen most often at stores and businesses: 40% of them.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Robbery
Stores and businesses (40%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Aggravated assault
Homes (45%)
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; they are over one in five for burglary, car theft, theft from cars, vandalism, robbery, aggravated assault.
Violent crime in Spectrum and nearby neighborhoods
Of the 10 neighborhoods closest to Spectrum, 6 have less violent crime. Portola Springs and Northwood Point have the least.
Among the traits that tend to go with violent crime, two set Spectrum apart: it has 5 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole, and a Walk Grade of D- (8 of 100) on BestNeighborhood, against 21 for the US as a whole. Places like that tend to report less robbery.
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more robbery.5 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 98% 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. 100% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D- (8 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 95% of residents of US city neighborhoods
Transit serviceBuses and trains an hour at the evening rush. Places with busy transit tend to report more robbery. BestNeighborhood's Transit Grade for Spectrum: D- (10 of 100).4 trips an hourUS: noneLower 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.81% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 68% 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 Spectrum
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, violent crime costs Spectrum about $3.1 million a year, or $204 per resident. The costs that reach a bill, such as medical care, lost work and the justice system, come to about $690,000, or $46 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
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.
