Photo: Lights and freedom · CC BY-SA 4.0Castro Valley has no grade of its own; San Leandro, 5 miles away, is the nearest that does
A 10-mile radius takes in 7 places that are graded. Castro Valley has no police department of its own: it’s an unincorporated community (a census-designated place) in Alameda County. The Alameda County Sheriff’s Office reports to the FBI for the parts of the county without police of their own, so there are no figures for Castro Valley alone, and no Safety Grade.
What stands out about safety in Castro Valley
Policed by the county
Castro Valley is a census-designated place, with no town government. Crimes there are reported to the FBI inside the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office’s totals for the county. County police ↓
Counts, not rates
The FBI doesn’t publish how many people the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office covers, so its totals can’t be turned into a per-resident rate or a grade for Castro Valley. County police ↓
The nearest graded towns
The closest California towns with their own police figures are San Leandro (D, 5 mi), Hayward (D, 6 mi), Union City (C−, 8 mi). Nearby towns can differ a lot from Castro Valley. Nearest ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office reports
Reports to the FBI for the parts of Alameda County without police of their own, which include Castro Valley.
Property crimes
Violent crimes
2025 offenses reported by the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office
Counts, not rates: the FBI doesn’t publish how many people each agency covers. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, Tables 10–11.
Crimes reported to the FBI for the whole area the department covers, by year.
The nearest California towns with a Safety Grade
| Town | Grade | Distance | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Leandro | D | 5 mi | 5.8 | 42.8 |
| Hayward | D | 6 mi | 5.3 | 34.0 |
| Union City | C− | 8 mi | 4.5 | 24.0 |
| San Ramon | B | 8 mi | 1.1 | 10.0 |
| Danville | A− | 9 mi | 0.7 | 5.7 |
| Dublin | C+ | 9 mi | 1.5 | 16.7 |
Straight-line distance from the center of Castro Valley. Nearby towns can differ a lot from Castro Valley.
Each town’s own police figures, per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Six people died in crashes on Castro Valley’s roads in 2019–2023
Castro Valley had 6 fatal crashes in five years, in which six people died; 2 were pedestrians. Most of these deaths (4 of 6) were on an Interstate passing through, so they say more about through-traffic than about the town’s own streets.
That is fewer than is typical for California towns of 25,000–100,000 people: at their median rate (5.6 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Castro Valley’s size would see about 18 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Castro Valley’s own rate (1.8) is context, not a ranking.
Deaths are counted where the crash happened, not where the people lived: a highway through town adds through-traffic deaths, and residents’ own risk on roads elsewhere isn’t here. Town rates sit below state and U.S. rates because a third of fatal crashes happen outside any town. Road safety is described here and is not part of the Safety Grade. Source: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 2019–2023.
Castro Valley and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hayward | D | 5.3 | 34.0 |
| Fairview | — | — | — |
| Ashland | — | — | — |
| Oakland | D− | 23.3 | 74.9 |
| San Leandro | D | 5.8 | 42.8 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Fairview and Ashland are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own.
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- It’s reported crime. Only incidents reported to and recorded by police appear here. Many crimes are never reported to police.
- A county agency covers a wide area. Its totals mix many communities, so they say little about any one of them.
- Gaps are real gaps. A missing year means the department didn’t report a full year, not that nothing happened.
How the grade is calculated, for every town: How TownRatings grades safety →
Questions about safety in Castro Valley
Is Castro Valley, CA safe?
There is no Safety Grade for Castro Valley. The nearest California towns with a grade are San Leandro (D, 5 mi), Hayward (D, 6 mi), Union City (C−, 8 mi).
Who polices Castro Valley?
The Alameda County Sheriff’s Office. Castro Valley is an unincorporated community, and the department reports to the FBI for the parts of Alameda County without police of their own.
Heads-up board
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
Please don’t name or describe individuals. In an emergency, call 911.
Neighbors looking out for each other in Castro Valley.
Crime: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program, Crime Data Explorer: offenses known to law enforcement by city, and state and national rates. Counts are crimes reported to police, not convictions. The Safety Grade is our own summary of that data, not an official rating. Road deaths: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 2019–2023. This isn’t an official statement of public safety. In an emergency, call 911.