Photo: Mercurywoodrose · CC BY-SA 3.0Hayward sees more crime per resident than nine in ten U.S. towns
Among its 4 neighbors with figures, 3 record less crime per resident. Hayward’s letter for safety is D, worked out from crimes its police reported over 2023 to 2025: #371 of 416 graded towns in California, and #242 of 325 U.S. cities over 100,000. The rate the grade counts dropped 34% from 2023 to 2025. The yearly rates were 5.3 violent crimes and 34.0 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents, set against 4.8 and 21.3 in the rest of California.
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 Hayward
3 of the 4 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 8 California towns on Hayward’s borders, 4 have a Safety Grade: Pleasanton (C+), Fremont (C), Union City (C−), San Leandro (D). Castro Valley, Fairview, Cherryland and San Lorenzo are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own. Neighbors ↓
Homicides: above U.S. cities overall
Hayward’s police reported 7 homicides to the FBI in 2025. Over 2023–2025 that is 6.2 per 100,000 residents a year, 1.5 times the rest of California (4.2) and about the same as all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables (5.7). Violent crime ↓
Robberies: above the rest of California
164 robberies per 100,000 residents a year over 2023–2025 (201 reported in 2025), above the rest of California (123) and 2.1 times all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables (79.4). Violent crime ↓
Against other big cities
Among the 325 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, Hayward reports less crime per resident than 26% (#242). Places like it ↓
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 Hayward’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; violent crime is the closer of the two to typical.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Hayward property | Rest of California property | Hayward violent | Rest of California violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 29.0 | 24.8 | 3.6 | 5.1 |
| 2023 | 39.4 | 24.9 | 6.6 | 5.4 |
| 2024 | 36.6 | 20.8 | 4.8 | 4.9 |
| 2025 | 26.2 | 18.4 | 4.4 | 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.
Homicides and robberies
Show as a table
| Year | Hayward | Rest of California | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 5.8 | 5.6 | 7.7 |
| 2023 | 6.5 | 4.9 | 6.8 |
| 2024 | 7.8 | 4.2 | 5.7 |
| 2025 | 4.4 | 3.4 | 4.6 |
Homicides per 100,000 residents
Show as a table
| Year | Hayward | Rest of California | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 154 | 135 | 95.5 |
| 2023 | 191 | 141 | 90.6 |
| 2024 | 174 | 127 | 81.9 |
| 2025 | 128 | 101 | 66.0 |
Robberies per 100,000 residents
Hayward’s police reported 7 homicides, 201 robberies and 688 violent crimes in all to the FBI in 2025. By year, against the rest of California and all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables.
Crime in Hayward 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 4 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
4,815 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.
688 violent and 4,127 property, as reported to the FBI by Hayward’s police.
48 people died in crashes on Hayward’s roads in 2019–2023
Hayward had 44 fatal crashes in five years, in which 48 people died; 20 were pedestrians and 4 were cyclists. 10 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is 6.0 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, below the median for California towns of 100,000+ people (7.7, 76 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.
Hayward and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hayward | D | 5.3 | 34.0 |
| Castro Valley | — | — | — |
| Fairview | — | — | — |
| Cherryland | — | — | — |
| Union City | C− | 4.5 | 24.0 |
| San Lorenzo | — | — | — |
| Fremont | C | 1.7 | 22.9 |
| Pleasanton | C+ | 1.2 | 16.8 |
| San Leandro | D | 5.8 | 42.8 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Castro Valley, Fairview, Cherryland and San Lorenzo are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own.
California towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hayward | D | 5.3 | 34.0 |
| Sunnyvale | C | 2.3 | 18.9 |
| Corona | C | 2.4 | 18.1 |
| Salinas | C− | 5.1 | 14.7 |
| Palmdale | C− | 5.1 | 17.4 |
| Pomona | D | 6.8 | 26.5 |
The five graded California towns closest to Hayward’s population (157,113), 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 Hayward. A citywide rate doesn’t show where incidents happen, and that can differ a lot from one part of the city to another.
- Visitors count too. Incidents involving people who work, shop or visit are counted against Hayward’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (157,399 in 2025); our figure for Hayward is 157,113 (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 Hayward
Is Hayward, CA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Hayward reports more crime per resident than 92% of U.S. towns, a D Safety Grade and #371 of 416 in California. Its police reported 5.3 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 Hayward?
5.3 violent and 34.0 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of California reports 4.8 and 21.3; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
How many homicides were there in Hayward in 2025?
Hayward’s police reported 7 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 4.4 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Hayward safer than Union City?
Union City reports less crime per resident than Hayward: Union City grades C− for safety and Hayward D. Union City’s police reported 4.5 violent and 24.0 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Hayward?
Hayward’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Hayward”. 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 Hayward.
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.