Waterfront, Santa Barbara, CA Violent Crime Rates and Maps
Waterfront is a neighborhood of 6,840 residents in Santa Barbara, close to downtown · Updated November 2026
How common is violent crime in Waterfront?
Waterfront grades B for violent crime, with more of it than the neighborhoods where 78% of Americans live. Assaults make up 91% of it, and most of those are simple assaults, which involve no weapon and no serious injury. Santa Barbara as a whole grades A- for violent crime.
B
Violent crime CrimeGrade™
Safety score 652 of 1,000More violent crime than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
22% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more violent crime than Waterfront as a whole, and 78% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a violent crime safety score of 860, a CrimeGrade™ of A. Waterfront scores 652.
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 Waterfront, Santa Barbara, CA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Waterfront in Santa Barbara, 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 Waterfront
Aggravated assaults and simple assaults both run high. In Waterfront, each runs at more than triple the US rate: 13.8 aggravated assaults and 35.1 simple assaults a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.6 and 9.7 nationally.
Violent crime rates and types in Waterfront
CrimeGrade™ estimates Waterfront has about 54 reported violent crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, more than triple the rate for the US as a whole and about triple the rate for Santa Barbara 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 Waterfront, about 91% 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 Santa Barbara
The Santa Barbara Police Department polices Waterfront; these figures cover Santa Barbara as a whole, 2022 to 2024.
In Santa Barbara as a whole, 33% of aggravated assaults happen at a home, against 53% nationally. Robberies happen most often on streets and sidewalks: 40% of them.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Robbery
Streets and sidewalks (40%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Aggravated assault
Streets and sidewalks (37%)
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.
Violent crime in Waterfront and nearby neighborhoods
Waterfront has more violent crime than 9 of its 10 nearest neighborhoods. Las Positas and Riviera have the least violent crime nearby.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from Waterfront. 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, Waterfront is safer than 60% of them.
Among the traits that tend to go with violent crime, two set Waterfront apart: it has 10.7 bars and nightlife spots for every 1,000 residents, against 0.6 nationally, and 256 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole. Places like that tend to report more assault and robbery, and they run high here.
Bars and nightlifeBars, lounges, clubs and casinos. Places with more bars tend to report more assault and robbery.10.7 per 1,000 residentsUS: 0.6Higher than for 99% of residents of US city neighborhoods
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more robbery.256 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 97% 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 (61 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 72% of residents of US city neighborhoods
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 Waterfront: C (35 of 100).1 trips an hourUS: noneLower than for 85% 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 Waterfront
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, violent crime costs Waterfront about $27 million a year, or $3,932 per resident. The costs that reach a bill, such as medical care, lost work and the justice system, come to about $6.5 million, or $949 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. Waterfront is a good example: many people work in, shop in or visit it, so its crime per resident looks worse 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.
