Photo: Ardenmachro · CC BY-SA 4.0Violent crime per resident is higher in East Palo Alto than in 91% of U.S. towns
Each of the two towns on its borders with figures records less crime per resident. The overall Safety Grade is C− (#323 of 416 graded towns in California), which means more crime per resident than 85% of U.S. towns, judged on crimes its police reported from 2023 to 2025. The crimes the grade counts fell 21% per resident from 2023 to 2025. Its police logs show 5.8 violent crimes and 18.6 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents a year, while in the rest of California the numbers are 4.8 and 21.4.
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. “Rest of CA” is every other California city and town in the FBI’s tables; the U.S. figure is the FBI’s national estimate as published, averaged over the three years. The FBI publishes no national homicide or robbery rate in our data, so those compare with all U.S. cities and towns in its tables.
What stands out about safety in East Palo Alto
2 of the 2 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 2 California towns on East Palo Alto’s borders, 2 have a Safety Grade: Menlo Park (C+), Palo Alto (C−). Neighbors ↓
Reported crime is falling
Crime reported per resident fell from 2023 to 2025 by more than ordinary year-to-year swings, on the grade’s own score. Trend ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind East Palo Alto’s grade
Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Both violent and property crime are higher than in most U.S. towns; property crime is the closer of the two to typical.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | East Palo Alto property | Rest of California property | East Palo Alto violent | Rest of California violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 23.1 | 24.8 | 6.4 | 5.1 |
| 2023 | 21.1 | 25.0 | 5.9 | 5.4 |
| 2024 | 19.2 | 20.8 | 6.1 | 4.9 |
| 2025 | 15.7 | 18.5 | 5.5 | 4.3 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
Reported crime per resident fell from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings. Per 1,000 residents, 2022–2025, against the rest of California.
Crime in East Palo Alto per 1,000 residents
Violent crime per 1,000 residents, 2025
Property crime per 1,000 residents, 2025
Crimes reported to police in 2025 per resident; one person can be the victim of more than one, and some reports involve visitors.
And about 6 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | East Palo Alto | Rest of California | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 6.4 | 5.1 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 5.9 | 5.4 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 6.1 | 4.9 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 5.5 | 4.3 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
East Palo Alto’s police reported 493 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 5.8 per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.8 in the rest of California and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
620 crimes reported in 2025
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
161 violent and 459 property, as reported to the FBI by East Palo Alto’s police.
10 people died in crashes on East Palo Alto’s roads in 2019–2023
East Palo Alto had 10 fatal crashes in five years, in which 10 people died; 4 were pedestrians. 1 died in crash on an Interstate.
That is 6.9 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, above the median for California towns of 25,000–100,000 people (5.6, 231 towns).
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.
East Palo Alto and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| East Palo Alto | C− | 5.8 | 18.6 |
| Menlo Park | C+ | 2.2 | 16.9 |
| Palo Alto | C− | 1.9 | 29.0 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
California towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| East Palo Alto | C− | 5.8 | 18.6 |
| Atascadero | B | 1.8 | 9.0 |
| Belmont | B− | 1.7 | 12.8 |
| Suisun City | C | 3.5 | 15.0 |
| Monterey | C− | 4.0 | 16.6 |
| Ridgecrest | C− | 6.0 | 9.6 |
The five graded California towns closest to East Palo Alto’s population (28,872), by grade.
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.
- One number for all of East Palo Alto. A town-wide rate doesn’t show where incidents happen, and that can differ a lot from one part of town to another.
- Visitors count too. Incidents involving people who work, shop or visit are counted against East Palo Alto’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (29,143 in 2025); our figure for East Palo Alto is 28,872 (2025 Census estimate).
- 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 East Palo Alto
Is East Palo Alto, CA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, East Palo Alto reports more crime per resident than 85% of U.S. towns, a C− Safety Grade and #323 of 416 in California. Its police reported 5.8 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.8 in the rest of California and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in East Palo Alto?
5.8 violent and 18.6 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of California reports 4.8 and 21.4; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
How many homicides were there in East Palo Alto in 2025?
East Palo Alto’s police reported 0 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 0.0 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is East Palo Alto safer than Menlo Park?
Menlo Park reports less crime per resident than East Palo Alto: Menlo Park grades C+ for safety and East Palo Alto C−. Menlo Park’s police reported 2.2 violent and 16.9 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices East Palo Alto?
East Palo Alto’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “East Palo Alto”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
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Please don’t name or describe individuals. In an emergency, call 911.
Neighbors looking out for each other in East Palo Alto.
Crime: 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. 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.