South San Francisco, CA Crime Map

South San Francisco Safety Overview

South San Francisco is a city of 66,878 residents that earns an overall crime grade of C-, a rating that reflects genuine variation across its 15 analyzed neighborhoods rather than uniform risk. That variation matters: 20% of neighborhoods scored an A, nearly 47% earned a B, and only one neighborhood — just 6.7% of the total — fell to a D. No neighborhood received an F. Taken together, 67% of South San Francisco's neighborhoods qualify as safe by letter-grade standards, while only 7% fall into the higher-crime tier. For a Bay Area city with a population density of 2,805 people per square mile and a median home value of $910,610, that distribution is a meaningful signal for anyone evaluating where to live, work, or invest.

Where Safety Stands Out — and Where It Doesn't

The city's safest neighborhoods are anchored by Winston-Serra, which holds a Grade A and serves a population of nearly 11,000 with a median household income of $124,193. Paradise Valley and Sign Hill both earned A-range grades as well, with median incomes of $99,031 and $99,549 respectively — suggesting a consistent relationship between economic stability and lower crime rates in those corridors. Westborough, the city's most populous neighborhood at 14,471 residents, also performs well with a B+ grade and a median income of $122,399. Sunshine Gardens rounds out the upper tier with a B+ of its own and a median income of $103,026. At the other end of the spectrum, Orange Park is the only neighborhood to receive a D grade, making it the clearest area of concern in the city. East of 101, the industrial zone running along the bay, scores a C+ — better than its reputation might suggest, but still worth noting for anyone spending extended time there.

How Crime Grades Are Distributed Across the City

Of the 15 neighborhoods analyzed, three earned an A, seven earned a B, four landed at C, and one reached D. That means more than two-thirds of the city sits in the A-to-B range, while roughly a quarter occupies the C tier — areas that aren't dangerous by most definitions but do show elevated incident rates compared to the city's safest pockets. The absence of any F-grade neighborhood is notable. South San Francisco does not have a neighborhood in acute crisis, and that distinguishes it from several comparable Bay Area cities. Still, the C- overall grade reflects the drag created by Orange Park and the mid-range C neighborhoods, which pull the citywide average below what the top performers alone would suggest.

Property Crime vs. Violent Crime Patterns

In South San Francisco, property crime — particularly vehicle break-ins and theft — tends to be more widespread than violent crime and is the primary driver of lower grades in commercial-adjacent neighborhoods like East of 101 and parts of Lindenville. Violent incidents are comparatively concentrated and less frequent overall, consistent with the city's low unemployment rate of 2.5% and a poverty rate of 6.8%, both of which correlate with reduced violent crime pressure. Downtown South San Francisco earned a B+ despite having the lowest median income among the top-ten safest neighborhoods at $57,711, which indicates that active policing and community density can offset income-related risk factors in mixed-use urban environments.

Using the Crime Map to Make Smarter Decisions

The interactive crime map on this page is built for the specific ways people actually engage with South San Francisco. Commuters who park near the Caltrain station or work in the biotech corridor east of Highway 101 can check incident patterns along their daily routes before choosing where to leave a vehicle or walk after hours. Home buyers comparing Westborough against Avalon — both B-range neighborhoods with different income profiles and population sizes — can layer crime data over listing searches to weigh safety alongside price. Renters evaluating units near El Camino Real or in Sunshine Gardens can use time-filtered views to understand whether incidents are isolated or recurring. The map doesn't replace judgment, but it replaces guesswork with data that's specific to South San Francisco's actual neighborhood boundaries and crime history.