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Data on this report is based on areas within the legal city boundary, outlined in black on the map. Any additional neighborhoods shown on the map are associated with the city by name and are included for reference only.


Palo Alto, CA crime analytics

Source & Methodology

Analytics built by:   Location, Inc.

Raw data sources:   18,000 local law enforcement agencies in the U.S.

Date(s) & Update Frequency:   Reflects 2022 calendar year; released from FBI in Oct. 2023 (latest available). Updated annually. Where is 2023 data?

Methodology:   Our nationwide meta-analysis overcomes the issues inherent in any crime database, including non-reporting and reporting errors. This is possible by associating the 9.4 million reported crimes in the U.S, including over 2 million geocoded point locations…. Read more about Scout's Crime Data

With a crime rate of 32 per one thousand residents, Palo Alto has one of the highest crime rates in America compared to all communities of all sizes - from the smallest towns to the very largest cities. One's chance of becoming a victim of either violent or property crime here is one in 32. Within California, more than 85% of the communities have a lower crime rate than Palo Alto.

Importantly, when you compare Palo Alto to other communities of similar population, then Palo Alto crime rate (violent and property crimes combined) is quite a bit higher than average. Regardless of how Palo Alto does relative to all communities in America of all sizes, when NeighborhoodScout compared it to communities of similar population size, its crime rate per thousand residents stands out as higher than most.

Now let us turn to take a look at how Palo Alto does for violent crimes specifically, and then how it does for property crimes. This is important because the overall crime rate can be further illuminated by understanding if violent crime or property crimes (or both) are the major contributors to the general rate of crime in Palo Alto.

From our analysis, we discovered that violent crime in Palo Alto occurs at a rate higher than in most communities of all population sizes in America. The chance that a person will become a victim of a violent crime in Palo Alto; such as armed robbery, aggravated assault, rape or murder; is 1 in 482. This equates to a rate of 2 per one thousand inhabitants.

In addition, NeighborhoodScout found that a lot of the crime that takes place in Palo Alto is property crime. Property crimes that are tracked for this analysis are burglary, larceny over fifty dollars, motor vehicle theft, and arson. In Palo Alto, your chance of becoming a victim of a property crime is one in 34, which is a rate of 30 per one thousand population.

Palo Alto Crime Data

total Crime Index

9

(100 is safest)


Safer than 9% of U.S. cities.

Palo Alto Annual Crimes

  Violent Property Total

Number of Crimes

137

1,956

2,093

Crime Rate
(per 1,000 residents)

2.08

29.63

31.71

Violent Crime

Violent Crime Comparison (per 1,000 residents)

20 15 10 5 0
2.08
4.99
National Median: 4
    Palo Alto
    California

Chances of Becoming a Victim of a Violent Crime

1 in 482

in Palo Alto

1 in 200

in California

Palo Alto Violent Crimes

Population: 66,010
Murder Rape Robbery Assault
Report Total 0 22 46 69
Rate per 1,000 0.00 0.33 0.70 1.05

United States Violent Crimes

Population: 333,287,557
Murder Rape Robbery Assault
Report Total 21,156 133,294 220,450 893,980
Rate per 1,000 0.06 0.40 0.66 2.68

Property Crime

Property Crime Comparison (per 1,000 residents)

100 75 50 25 0
29.63
23.43
National Median: 20
    Palo Alto
    California

Chances of Becoming a Victim of a Property Crime

1 in 34

in Palo Alto

1 in 43

in California

Property Crimes

Population: 66,010
burglary theft motor vehicle theft
Report Total 149 1,693 114
Rate per 1,000 2.26 25.65 1.73

United States Property Crimes

Population: 333,287,557
burglary theft motor vehicle theft
Report Total 899,293 4,672,363 942,173
Rate per 1,000 2.70 14.02 2.83

Palo Alto Crimes Per Square Mile

200 150 100 50 0
88
84
National Median: 27.0
    Palo Alto
    California