Safety · Palo Alto
Palo Alto, CA crime & safety
Palo Alto's reported crime rate is above California's. Most reported incidents are property crimes, mainly thefts. 107 violent crimes were reported in 2025.
Crime reported to police, trends and how Palo Alto compares with the towns next door, from FBI data.
TownTapestry Safety GradeNew
C−
Palo Alto’s Safety Grade: C-
Palo Alto reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 80% report less.
B-Violent crimeDProperty crime→Steady since 2023
All U.S. towns we grade (6,620)Safer than 20%
More reported crimeLess reported crime
California towns we grade (420)Safer than 30%
Places of 25,000–100,000 people (1,259)Safer than 24%
High confidence. Built on 6,100 incidents over 3 years; ordinary year-to-year swings wouldn't change the grade.
How the Safety Grade works
- One score, from FBI data. Property crimes + 4 × violent crimes reported to police, per resident, pooled over the FBI’s latest 3 years (2023–2025). Violent crime counts four times as much because it matters more to how safe a place feels. It’s the same score behind our Safest towns in CA ranking.
- Graded on a national curve. Every U.S. town and city with 1,000+ residents that reported all 3 years (6,620 places) is lined up by score: A+ top 5%A next 10%A- next 10%B B+ to B−, next 30%C C+ to C−, next 30%D D and D−, bottom 15%
- Violent and property sub-grades use the same curve on each rate alone.
- Trend compares 2025 with 2023 and only says “improving” or “rising” when the change is bigger than normal year-to-year swings.
- Not graded: towns under 1,000 people, and towns missing any of the 3 years.
- What it can’t see: unreported crime, traffic safety, or which part of town incidents happen in. Towns with a campus, highway or big shopping center count incidents involving visitors. It’s our own summary of public data, not an official rating.
Reported crime, 2025
Palo Alto at a glance
Violent crime
1.6
per 1,000 residents · California 4.3
Property crime
28.6
per 1,000 residents · California 18.2
Incidents reported
2,034
107 violent · 1,927 property
Since 2022
▼ 5%
change in reported property crime
Violent crime per 1,000
Property crime per 1,000
Trend
Reported crime per 1,000 residents, 2022–2025
Palo AltoCalifornia
Solid lines: property crime · dashed: violent crime.
Show as a table
| Year | Palo Alto property | California property | Palo Alto violent | California violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 30 | 23.9 | 2.1 | 5 |
| 2023 | 28 | 23.7 | 2.1 | 5.3 |
| 2024 | 30.3 | 19.9 | 2.1 | 4.8 |
| 2025 | 28.6 | 18.2 | 1.6 | 4.3 |
What gets reported
2025, by type
Larceny / theft
1,671
Burglary
184
Vehicle theft
72
Aggravated assault
74
Robbery
21
Rape
12
Homicide
0
Arson
15
Offenses reported to police, not convictions.
Who keeps Palo Alto safe
Local public safety
👮 Palo Alto Police DepartmentReports its crime counts to the FBI — the figures on this page.
🚨 EmergenciesCall 911. For non-emergency numbers, alerts and preparedness, see the town guide.
Next door
Palo Alto and its neighbors
Reported crime per 1,000 residents in each town's latest year. * = a count, for towns under 1,000 people. Grade: the Safety Grade; — = not graded.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Palo Alto | C- | 1.6 | 28.6 | 2025 |
| Menlo Park | C+ | 1.8 | 15.3 | 2025 |
| Los Altos | B+ | 0.4 | 10.2 | 2025 |
| Mountain View | C- | 2.1 | 23.9 | 2025 |
| Los Altos Hills | A- | 0.2 | 3.6 | 2025 |
| East Palo Alto | C- | 5.5 | 15.7 | 2025 |
No town figures in the FBI's data: Stanford, Portola Valley.
How to read these numbers
What this data can and can't tell you
- It's reported crime. Only incidents reported to and recorded by police appear here. Many thefts and some assaults are never reported.
- Small numbers swing. In a town of about 67,500, a handful of incidents moves the rate noticeably from year to year. The trend matters more than any one year.
- Visitors count too. Towns with a campus, highway, beach or shopping center see incidents involving people who don't live there, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Gaps are real gaps. A missing year means the department didn't report a full year, not that nothing happened.
Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program, Crime Data Explorer: offenses known to law enforcement by city, 2025, and state and national rates. Counts are crimes reported to police, not convictions. This isn't an official statement of public safety — in an emergency, call 911.