The 10 Safest San Diego, CA Neighborhoods To Live In For 2022


We used science and data to determine which neighborhoods in San Diego are the safest places to live.

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We analyzed every possible crime metric to determine which neighborhoods in San Diego are the safest.

Every year, more than 30 million Americans move. Sometimes, its for a job, other times its to escape the big city. But no matter where you move, you want a neighborhood thats family friendly, clean, and most importantly, safe.

Weve analyzed the FBI crime reports 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.

In which San Diego neighborhoods can you leave your doors unlocked at night? Heres the list. For a more detailed breakdown for each neighborhood, keep reading.

So, which neighborhood is the safest in San Diego in 2022? That would be Nestor. Thats according to the most recent FBI crime data, which takes into account everything from thefts and robberies to assaults and murders.

If you want to dig down deeper into each neighborhood's statistics, as well as our methodology, take a look below. Some of these neighborhoods are the best places to live in San Diego.

If you dont see a neighborhood youre looking for in our top ten, scroll down to the bottom, where we have all San Diego neighborhoods listed in order from safest to most dangerous. Read on to see how we determined the places around San Diego that deserve a little bragging rights or maybe you're interested in the worst neighborhoods in San Diego.

For more California reading, check out:

Safest Neighborhoods In San Diego

The 10 Safest Neighborhoods To Live In San Diego For 2022

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 16,126
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 15
Property Crime Per 100k: 46
More on Nestor: Homes For Sale | Data

Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 9,877
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 25
Property Crime Per 100k: 83
More on Egger Highlands: Homes For Sale | Data

Overall SnackAbility

9
/10

Population: 36,364
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 86
Property Crime Per 100k: 535
More on Scripps Ranch: Homes For Sale | Data

Scripps Ranch San Diego, CA

Overall SnackAbility

9
/10

Population: 44,185
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 86
Property Crime Per 100k: 719
More on Rancho Bernadino: Homes For Sale | Data

Overall SnackAbility

9.5
/10

Population: 14,559
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 81
Property Crime Per 100k: 765
More on Sabre Springs: Homes For Sale | Data

Sabre Springs San Diego, CA

Overall SnackAbility

9
/10

Population: 63,341
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 114
Property Crime Per 100k: 641
More on Rancho Penasquitos: Homes For Sale | Data

Overall SnackAbility

9
/10

Population: 12,743
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 57
Property Crime Per 100k: 822
More on North City: Homes For Sale | Data

Overall SnackAbility

9
/10

Population: 20,893
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 82
Property Crime Per 100k: 793
More on Tierrasanta: Homes For Sale | Data

Overall SnackAbility

9.5
/10

Population: 39,559
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 95
Property Crime Per 100k: 754
More on Carmel Valley: Homes For Sale | Data

Overall SnackAbility

9
/10

Population: 9,210
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 214
Property Crime Per 100k: 497
More on Alta Vista: Homes For Sale | Data

Methodology: How We Determined The Safest San Diego Hoods In 2022

You can ask people which neighborhoods are the safest, or you can just look at the unbiased raw data. So, instead of relying on speculation and opinion, we analyzed the hard numbers from the FBIs most recent crime report (published in September of 2019) for every neighborhood in San Diego.

To be more specific, we analyzed the FBIs Uniform Crime Report. We then ran an analysis to calculate each neighborhoods property and violent crimes based on the demographics of the area and reported crime. We used two key 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.

And finally, we crowned the neighborhood with the lowest safest neighborhood index the "Safest City Neighborhood In San Diego." We're lookin' at you, Nestor.

Read on below to learn more about what it's like to live in the safest places San Diego. Or skip to the end to see the list of all the neighborhoods in the city from safest to most expensive.

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.

But as most California residents would agree, almost every place here has its safe and not safe parts. So just make sure you're informed ahead of time.

For more California reading, check out:

Detailed List Of The Safest Neighborhoods To Live In San Diego For 2022

Rank Neighborhood Crime Per 100K
1 Nestor 41
2 Egger Highlands 108
3 Scripps Ranch 601
4 Rancho Bernadino 765
5 Sabre Springs 856
6 Rancho Penasquitos 765
7 North City 889
8 Tierrasanta 925
9 Carmel Valley 829
10 Alta Vista 701
11 Wooded Area 1,119
12 San Carlos 1,066
13 Bay Terrace 1,025
14 Roseville 1,159
15 Mira Mesa 1,130
16 Paradise Hills 1,060
17 Bay Ho 1,198
18 Del Mar Heights 1,209
19 Lake Murray 1,110
20 La Jolla Village 1,379
21 South Park 1,398
22 University City 1,416
23 Darnall 1,339
24 Jomacha-Lomita 1,355
25 North Clairemont 1,510
26 Clairemont Mesa 1,516
27 Sorrento Valley 1,662
28 Allied Gardens 1,574
29 Sky Line 1,461
30 Mission Bay 1,885
31 Linda Vista 1,693
32 Bario Logan 1,722
33 La Jolla 1,897
34 Bay Park 1,734
35 Chollas View 1,649
36 Encanto 1,729
37 Gateway 1,841
38 Del Cerro 2,136
39 Grant Hill 1,808
40 Carmel Mountain 1,961
41 Valencia Park 1,853
42 Webster 1,793
43 Serra Mesa 2,227
44 West University Heights 2,398
45 Gaslamp Quarter 2,295
46 Southcrest 2,071
47 Mount Hope 2,273
48 Moreno Mission 2,455
49 Tijuana River Valley 2,386
50 Grantville 2,472
51 Normal Heights 2,556
52 Talmadge 2,598
53 City Heights West 2,387
54 Mountain View 2,295
55 North Hills 2,690
56 Loma Portal 2,671
57 Emerald Hills 2,483
58 City Heights East 2,684
59 Core 2,865
60 College Area 2,976
61 Oak Park 2,828
62 Lincoln Park 2,926
63 Palm City 3,112
64 Rolando 3,063
65 San Ysidro 3,175
66 El Cerritos 3,007
67 Park West 3,652
68 Balboa Park 3,673
69 Torrey Pines 4,592
70 Kensington 3,746
71 Bird Land 3,668
72 Ocean Beach 3,832
73 Pacific Beach 4,726
74 Midtown 4,392
75 Old Town 4,614
76 Memorial 4,353
77 Cortez Hill 6,917
78 Columbia 7,905
79 Horton Plaza 6,888
80 Mission Valley 10,019
81 Little Italy 8,379
82 Midtown District 10,465
83 Marina 10,481
84 East Village 12,673
85 Kearny Mesa 13,278

Editor's Note: We updated this article for 2022. This is our second time ranking the safest neighborhoods to live in San Diego.

About Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar has been in the real estate business for almost ten years now. He originally worked for Movoto Real Estate as the director of marketing before founding HomeSnacks.

He believes the key to finding the right place to live comes down to looking at the data, reading about things to do, and, most importantly, checking it out yourself before you move.

If you've been looking for a place to live in the past several years, you've probably stumbled upon his writing already.

You can find out more about him on LinkedIn or his website.