Oakland, CA Crime Map

Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions About Oakland Crime (2026)

Is Oakland safe in 2026?

Oakland's safety picture is genuinely mixed, and the numbers tell an interesting story. Across 129 analyzed neighborhoods, 47% earn a combined A or B grade — meaning nearly half the city qualifies as relatively safe by objective crime metrics. Another 26.4% of neighborhoods land in the C range, reflecting moderate risk. Only 26% of neighborhoods score D or F, concentrated in specific corridors rather than spread evenly across the city. The safest tier includes neighborhoods like Crocker Highlands (A), Upper Rockridge (A), Rockridge (A), and Piedmont Pines (A), all of which consistently post low incident rates. By contrast, Downtown Oakland and Chinatown both carry F grades, pulling down the city-wide overall crime grade to D-. The practical takeaway: where you are in Oakland matters enormously — a resident of Forestland (A-) experiences a fundamentally different safety environment than someone in Acorn or Oak Center (both F+).

What is the crime rate in Oakland, CA?

Oakland holds an overall crime grade of D-, which places it in the higher-risk tier among California cities. However, the city-wide neighborhood safety rating averages out to a moderate C when all 129 neighborhoods are weighted together — a distinction worth understanding. The grade distribution breaks down as follows: 19.4% of neighborhoods earn an A, 27.9% earn a B, 26.4% earn a C, 22.5% earn a D, and 3.9% earn an F. The five neighborhoods with the highest crime burden — Downtown Oakland, Chinatown, Acorn, Oak Center, and Lockwood-Tevis — skew the city-wide average significantly downward. Neighborhoods like Joaquin Miller Park (A) and Woodminster (A-), by contrast, report crime levels that rival some of the safest suburbs in the Bay Area. Oakland's unemployment rate of 6% and poverty rate of 14.6% are relevant context, as economic stress correlates with crime concentration in specific zip codes.

What are the safest neighborhoods in Oakland?

Based on 2026 crime data across all 129 analyzed neighborhoods, the ten safest areas in Oakland are:

1. Mills College — A+ (median income: $82,040; population: 714)
2. Oakland International Airport — A (median income: $111,159)
3. Piedmont Pines — A (median income: $193,016; population: 2,743)
4. Upper Rockridge — A (median income: $225,694; population: 6,709)
5. Joaquin Miller Park — A (median income: $202,612)
6. Crocker Highlands — A (median income: $242,243 — highest of any safe neighborhood)
7. Rockridge — A (median income: $136,260; population: 3,537)
8. Woodminster — A- (median income: $187,340)
9. Montclair Business Park — A- (median income: $143,297)
10. Forestland — A- (median income: $174,131; population: 2,541)

A clear pattern emerges: all top-10 safest neighborhoods carry median household incomes well above Oakland's city-wide median of $80,143, with Crocker Highlands reaching nearly triple that figure. These A-rated communities collectively represent 25 neighborhoods, or 19.4% of all areas analyzed. When combined with the 36 B-rated neighborhoods (27.9%), nearly half of Oakland's neighborhoods offer above-average safety conditions.

What are the most dangerous neighborhoods in Oakland?

Five neighborhoods carry the lowest crime grades in Oakland's 2026 analysis. Downtown Oakland and Chinatown both receive F grades — the lowest possible rating — reflecting consistently high incident volumes relative to their populations. Acorn, Oak Center, and Lockwood-Tevis each earn F+ grades, placing them just above the floor but still in the highest-risk tier. These five areas, while geographically distinct, share characteristics common to high-crime urban zones: proximity to transit corridors, higher population density, and income levels below the city median of $80,143. Together, the D and F neighborhoods account for 34 out of 129 analyzed areas, or 26.4% of the city. It is worth noting that even within these neighborhoods, crime is not uniformly distributed across every block or time of day.

Is Oakland a good place to live in 2026?

Oakland offers a genuinely compelling case for residents who research neighborhood-level data before committing. The city's median household income of $80,143 and median home value of $728,646 reflect a competitive, high-demand housing market — though median rent of $1,539 remains lower than San Francisco across the bay. With a population of 422,575 and a density of 2,917 people per square mile, Oakland is a dense, walkable city with strong cultural infrastructure. The 6% unemployment rate and 14.6% poverty rate point to economic inequality that concentrates in specific corridors. For households targeting neighborhoods graded B or above — which represent 47% of all analyzed areas — Oakland delivers urban amenities, Bay Area access, and relatively manageable crime risk. Neighborhoods like Rockridge (A), Upper Rockridge (A), and Forestland (A-) consistently attract families and professionals seeking safety without leaving the city. The city's overall D- crime grade reflects its highest-risk zones pulling down averages, but that grade does not describe the experience of living in its many safer communities.

How does Oakland's neighborhood crime distribution compare across grades?

Of the 129 Oakland neighborhoods analyzed for 2026, the grade breakdown is: A grade: 25 neighborhoods (19.4%); B grade: 36 neighborhoods (27.9%); C grade: 34 neighborhoods (26.4%); D grade: 29 neighborhoods (22.5%); F grade: 5 neighborhoods (3.9%). The largest single tier is B-rated neighborhoods at 27.9%, suggesting that a plurality of Oakland communities sit in a moderately safe range. The combined A+B share of 47% slightly outweighs the combined D+F share of 26.4%, meaning safer neighborhoods outnumber high-crime ones nearly 2-to-1 by count. The C-rated middle tier at 26.4% represents communities where situational awareness and time-of-day considerations meaningfully affect personal safety. This distribution underscores why neighborhood-specific research — rather than city-wide averages alone — is the most useful frame for evaluating Oakland's crime map.