Sunnyvale is a city of 152,100 in Santa Clara County, about 8 miles west of downtown San Jose · Updated November 2026
How common is violent crime in Sunnyvale?
Violent crime in Sunnyvale sits near the national middle: an A, safer than the neighborhoods where 58% of Americans live. Assaults make up 84% of it, and most of those are simple assaults, which involve no weapon and no serious injury.
A
Violent crime CrimeGrade™
Safety score 889 of 1,000About as much violent crime as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
58% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more violent crime than Sunnyvale as a whole, and 42% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a violent crime safety score of 860, a CrimeGrade™ of A. Sunnyvale scores 889.
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 Sunnyvale, CA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Sunnyvale, 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 Sunnyvale
Simple assault runs low. Sunnyvale has 3.1 simple assaults a year per 1,000 residents, less than half the US rate of 9.7.
Where violent crime is lowest and highest in Sunnyvale
Every part of Sunnyvale where people live grades A or B for violent crime on the national scale. Violent crime grades across Sunnyvale run from A+ to A-.
100%
A or B 100%
Share of residents, by the violent crime CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
1South Los Altos, southwestAggravated assaults run about 40% lower here than in the rest of Sunnyvale.A921
2Gavello Glen & Raynor Park, southClose to the rest of Sunnyvale on most crimes.A897
4Sunnyvale West, westRobberies run about 50% higher here than in the rest of Sunnyvale.A885
5Lakewood & San Miguel, northeastClose to the rest of Sunnyvale on most crimes.A877
6Snail, northRobberies run about 40% lower here than in the rest of Sunnyvale.A876
7Heritage District & Lowlanders, centralRobberies run about 80% higher here than in the rest of Sunnyvale.A866
Neighborhood areas of Sunnyvale, 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 Sunnyvale?
Reported violent crime in Sunnyvale has risen 39% since 2019. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 1.7 to 2.4 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7). Violent crime changed little from 2023 to 2024.
Violent crime, change since 2019
SunnyvaleUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Sunnyvale. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Sunnyvale
Violent, US
2016
-38%
+4%
2017
-29%
+4%
2018
-2%
+0%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
-13%
+4%
2021
+23%
+6%
2022
+28%
+5%
2023
+48%
+2%
2024
+39%
-4%
Violent crime rates and types in Sunnyvale
CrimeGrade™ estimates Sunnyvale has about 5.5 reported violent crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 59% less than the US as a whole and 54% less 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 Sunnyvale, about 84% 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 Sunnyvale
Sunnyvale has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Sunnyvale, 40% 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 (40%)
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.
Violent crime in Sunnyvale and nearby cities
Of the 10 cities closest to Sunnyvale, 6 have less violent crime. Cupertino and Los Altos have the least.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from Sunnyvale. 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, Sunnyvale is safer than 95% of them.
Among the traits that tend to go with violent crime, two set Sunnyvale apart: it has 67% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally, and 71 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole. It also combines many jobs with busy transit: places with both tend to report more robbery than places with only one of them, and it runs high here.
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery.67% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 89% of US city residents
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more robbery.71 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 87% of US city residents
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. 53% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.C (35 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 85% of US city residents
Show all 4
Transit serviceBuses and trains an hour at the evening rush. Places with busy transit tend to report more robbery. BestNeighborhood's Transit Grade for Sunnyvale: C- (28 of 100).7 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 76% 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 Sunnyvale
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, violent crime costs Sunnyvale about $79 million a year, or $521 per resident. The costs that reach a bill, such as medical care, lost work and the justice system, come to about $18 million, or $119 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
$2.7 million
$17
Rape
$2.5 million
$16
Robbery
$2.8 million
$18
Assault
$10 million
$67
Total
$18 million
$119
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. Sunnyvale is the other kind of example: few people work in, shop in or visit it, so its crime per resident looks lower than its CrimeGrade™ suggests.
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.
