Photo: Us Census Bureau · Public domainWho polices Highlands, and what they report
Highlands has no police department of its own: it’s an unincorporated community (a census-designated place) in San Mateo County. The San Mateo 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 Highlands alone, and no Safety Grade.
What stands out about safety in Highlands
Policed by the county
Highlands is a census-designated place, with no town government. Crimes there are reported to the FBI inside the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office’s totals for the county. County police ↓
Counts, not rates
The FBI doesn’t publish how many people the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office covers, so its totals can’t be turned into a per-resident rate or a grade for Highlands. County police ↓
The nearest graded towns
The closest California towns with their own police figures are Hillsborough (B+, 3 mi), Belmont (B−, 3 mi), San Mateo (C, 3 mi). Nearby towns can differ a lot from Highlands. Nearest ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office reports
Crimes reported to the FBI for the whole area the department covers, by year.
Reports to the FBI for the parts of San Mateo County without police of their own, which include Highlands.
Property crimes
Violent crimes
2025 offenses reported by the San Mateo 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.
The nearest California towns with a Safety Grade
Each town’s own police figures, per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
| Town | Grade | Distance | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hillsborough | B+ | 3 mi | 1.0 | 6.3 |
| Belmont | B− | 3 mi | 1.7 | 12.8 |
| San Mateo | C | 3 mi | 2.5 | 17.6 |
| Burlingame | C | 5 mi | 1.8 | 22.1 |
| Foster City | B+ | 6 mi | 0.6 | 8.3 |
| Redwood City | C− | 7 mi | 4.4 | 17.5 |
Straight-line distance from the center of Highlands. Nearby towns can differ a lot from Highlands.
Three people died in crashes on Highlands’s roads in 2019–2023
Highlands had 3 fatal crashes in five years, in which three people died. Most of these deaths (2 of 3) were on an Interstate passing through, so they say more about through-traffic than about the town’s own streets.
That is about what is typical for California towns of 2,500–5,000 people: at their median rate (7.0 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Highlands’s size would see about 1 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Highlands’s own rate (24.5) 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.
Highlands and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Mateo | C | 2.5 | 17.6 |
| Hillsborough | B+ | 1.0 | 6.3 |
| Baywood Park | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Baywood Park is an unincorporated community (a census-designated place) with no police department of its own.
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 Highlands
Is Highlands, CA safe?
There is no Safety Grade for Highlands. Highlands has no police department of its own: it’s an unincorporated community (a census-designated place) in San Mateo County. The San Mateo 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 Highlands alone, and no Safety Grade. The nearest California towns with a grade are Hillsborough (B+, 3 mi), Belmont (B−, 3 mi), San Mateo (C, 3 mi).
Who polices Highlands?
The San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office. Highlands is an unincorporated community, and the department reports to the FBI for the parts of San Mateo County without police of their own.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Highlands.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
Please don’t name or describe individuals. In an emergency, call 911.
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.