Every city has safe neighborhoods and dangerous neighborhoods. We believe you should know which neighborhoods in San Diego are the safest before you move.
Every year, more than 30 million Americans move. Sometimes, it’s for a job, other times it’s to escape the big city. But no matter where you move, you want a neighborhood that’s family friendly, clean, and most importantly, safe.
We’ve analyzed the FBI crime report’s data on violent and property crimes for every single neighborhood in San Diego. Then, we calculated your chances of being the victim of a crime in each one.
What San Diego neighborhoods can you leave your doors unlocked at night? Here’s the list.
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is California’s statewide median.
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How we determined the safest San Diego hoods in 2026
You can ask people which neighborhoods are the safest, or you can look at the unbiased raw data. We choose data.
Instead of relying on speculation and opinion, we used Saturday Night Science to analyze the numbers from the FBI’s most recent crime report for every neighborhood in San Diego.
To be more specific, we analyzed the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report. We then ran an analysis to calculate each neighborhood’s property and violent crimes per capita. We used the following criteria:
- Total Crimes Per Capita
- Violent Crimes Per Capita
- Property Crimes Per Capita
We then ranked each neighborhood with scores from 1 to 85 in each category, where 1 was the safest.
Next, we averaged the rankings for each neighborhood to create a safe neighborhood index.
Finally, we crowned the neighborhood with the lowest safest neighborhood index the “Safest City Neighborhood In San Diego.” We’re lookin’ at you, Nestor.
We updated this article for 2026. Skip to the end to see the list of all the neighborhoods in the city, from safest to most dangerous.
The full plate
Detailed list of the safest neighborhoods to live in San Diego for 2026
Click any column to sort. Search by neighborhood name.
| Rank | Neighborhood | Crime Per 100K |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nestor | |
| 2 | Egger Highlands | |
| 3 | Miramar | |
| 4 | Tierrasanta | |
| 5 | Carmel Valley | |
| 6 | Rancho Bernadino | |
| 7 | Rancho Penasquitos | |
| 8 | Valencia Park | |
| 8 | Gaslamp Quarter | |
| 10 | Scripps Ranch | |
| 10 | Bay Ho | |
| 12 | Jomacha-Lomita | |
| 13 | Bay Terrace | |
| 14 | Old Town | |
| 15 | Mira Mesa | |
| 16 | South Park | |
| 17 | San Carlos | |
| 18 | Darnall | |
| 19 | Roseville | |
| 20 | Mission Bay | |
| 21 | Sabre Springs | |
| 22 | North City | |
| 23 | Lincoln Park | |
| 24 | Lake Murray | |
| 25 | Allied Gardens | |
| 26 | La Jolla Village | |
| 27 | Del Mar Heights | |
| 28 | Sky Line | |
| 29 | North Clairemont | |
| 30 | Encanto | |
| 31 | Paradise Hills | |
| 32 | University City | |
| 32 | Bario Logan | |
| 34 | Midtown | |
| 35 | Clairemont Mesa | |
| 36 | Mountain View | |
| 37 | La Jolla | |
| 38 | Bay Park | |
| 39 | Linda Vista | |
| 40 | Wooded Area | |
| 41 | Del Cerro | |
| 42 | Carmel Mountain | |
| 43 | Balboa Park | |
| 44 | Webster | |
| 45 | Oak Park | |
| 46 | Gateway | |
| 47 | Park West | |
| 48 | City Heights West | |
| 49 | West University Heights | |
| 50 | Mount Hope | |
| 51 | Moreno Mission | |
| 52 | City Heights East | |
| 53 | North Hills | |
| 54 | Serra Mesa | |
| 55 | Talmadge | |
| 56 | Memorial | |
| 57 | Chollas View | |
| 58 | Sorrento Valley | |
| 59 | College Area | |
| 60 | Southcrest | |
| 61 | San Ysidro | |
| 62 | Ocean Beach | |
| 63 | Alta Vista | |
| 64 | Core | |
| 64 | Horton Plaza | |
| 66 | Rolando | |
| 67 | Emerald Hills | |
| 68 | Palm City | |
| 69 | Normal Heights | |
| 70 | Pacific Beach | |
| 71 | El Cerritos | |
| 72 | Grantville | |
| 73 | Kensington | |
| 74 | Grant Hill | |
| 75 | Bird Land | |
| 76 | Columbia | |
| 76 | Cortez Hill | |
| 78 | Little Italy | |
| 79 | Torrey Pines | |
| 80 | Kearny Mesa | |
| 81 | Mission Valley | |
| 81 | Marina | |
| 81 | Midtown District | |
| 84 | Loma Portal | |
| 85 | East Village |
Source: FBI UCR. All 85 San Diego neighborhoods.
Summary
Summary: The safest places in San Diego
Looking at the data, you can tell that Nestor is as safe as they come, according to science and data.
The safest neighborhoods in San Diego are Nestor, Egger Highlands, Miramar, Tierrasanta, Carmel Valley, Rancho Bernadino, Rancho Penasquitos, Valencia Park, Gaslamp Quarter, and Scripps Ranch.
But as most California residents would agree, almost every place here has its safe and not safe parts. So make sure you’re informed ahead of time.
We ranked the neighborhoods from safest to most dangerous in the chart below. Not sold on California? Take the two-minute Find Your Place quiz and see which state actually fits you.
Questions and answers
Safest Neighborhoods In San Diego FAQs
What is the safest neighborhood in San Diego?
Nestor is the safest neighborhood in San Diego for 2026, based on FBI crime data. Egger Highlands and Miramar are next.
What are the safest neighborhoods in San Diego?
The safest neighborhoods in San Diego are Nestor, Egger Highlands, Miramar, Tierrasanta, Carmel Valley, Rancho Bernadino, Rancho Penasquitos, Valencia Park, Gaslamp Quarter, and Scripps Ranch. We ranked all 85 neighborhoods in the city.
How do you measure neighborhood safety?
Neighborhoods are ranked on violent and property crimes per capita, using FBI crime data mapped to each neighborhood. The lowest combined crime rate wins.
Which neighborhood ranked last for safety?
East Village posts the highest crime rate of the 85 San Diego neighborhoods we scored. Our separate worst neighborhoods in San Diego ranking digs into that end of the list.
Does a low crime rate guarantee safety?
No. Crime rates are averages across a whole neighborhood, and conditions change block by block and hour by hour. The numbers tell you where the odds are best, not that anywhere is risk-free.
