Top 10 Most Dangerous Neighborhoods in Los Angeles (2026)

Thinking about a move? Maybe an offer on a house, or just a long weekend in the city? One question tends to come up either way: which parts of LA are actually safe? Fair thing to ask. And the honest answer is that safety here is local. Really local. The most dangerous neighborhoods in Los Angeles can be a few miles from streets where crime barely registers, so a single label for the whole city won't tell you much about the block you care about.

The plan here is simple. Official numbers, comparisons in plain terms, a look at ten higher-crime areas inside LA city limits, plus clear steps for keeping your home, your car, and yourself out of trouble. The full LA crime rate and citywide stats help put these ten neighborhoods in context.

Table of Contents

• How We Ranked These Neighborhoods
• Is Los Angeles Safe
• How Dangerous Is Los Angeles
• Dangerous Neighborhoods in Los Angeles 2026
• Top 10 Most Dangerous Neighborhoods in Los Angeles
• What Makes Some LA Neighborhoods More Dangerous
• How to Stay Safe in High-Crime LA Neighborhoods
• Conclusion
• FAQs

How We Ranked These Neighborhoods

So you can judge the numbers for yourself, here's exactly how this list was built:

• Sources. Neighborhood-level counts are drawn from the City of Los Angeles open data portal (data.lacity.org, "Crime Data from 2020 to Present"), cross-checked against LAPD CompStat summaries. Citywide and peer-city comparisons use the FBI Crime Data Explorer (NIBRS).
• Boundaries. Neighborhood lines follow the LA Times "Mapping L.A." definitions, since the LAPD reports by division rather than by neighborhood name.
• Normalization. Raw incident counts are converted to a rate per 1,000 residents using U.S. Census ACS population estimates, so small, dense areas can be compared fairly against larger ones.
• What's counted. "Violent" covers offenses like homicide, robbery, and aggravated assault; "property" covers burglary, theft, and vehicle-related crime.
• Snapshot date. Figures reflect the most recent complete reporting year available at publication. Open-crime datasets are revised as reports are reclassified, so treat each rate as an approximate snapshot, not a precise count. LAPD completed its transition to NIBRS in 2024. Citywide totals in this article use LAPD's published 2024 end-of-year estimates; neighborhood rates use the open-data portal and may not match older FBI UCR citywide figures.

So you can judge the numbers for yourself, here's exactly how this list was built:

• Sources and period. Neighborhood-level counts are drawn from the City of Los Angeles Open Data Portal (data.lacity.org, "Crime Data from 2020 to Present"), cross-checked against LAPD CompStat summaries and LAPD's 2024 end-of-year estimates. Citywide and peer-city comparisons use the FBI Crime Data Explorer (NIBRS). Incident period: January 1 through December 31, 2024; LAPD's 2024 end-of-year crime statistics were published on March 17, 2025.
• Boundaries and scope. Neighborhood lines follow the LA Times "Mapping L.A." definitions, since the LAPD reports by division rather than by neighborhood name. This list covers Los Angeles city limits only; separate cities such as Compton and Inglewood are excluded because they report independently.
• Normalization. Raw incident counts are converted to rates per 1,000 residents using U.S. Census ACS population estimates, so small, dense areas can be compared fairly against larger ones. Citywide and peer-city comparisons are shown per 100,000 residents.
• What's counted. "Violent" covers offenses like homicide, robbery, and aggravated assault; "property" covers burglary, theft, and vehicle-related crime.
• Ranking order. This list is sorted by total reported crimes per 1,000 residents. Many so-called "most dangerous" rankings prioritize violent crime instead, which is why areas such as Chesterfield Square may rank higher on alternative lists. Both total and violent-crime metrics are highlighted below, so you can sort by whichever factor matters most to you.
• Data freshness. Open-crime datasets are revised as reports are reclassified, so treat each rate as an approximate snapshot, not a precise count. LAPD completed its transition to NIBRS in 2024; neighborhood rates from the open-data portal may not match older FBI UCR citywide figures. Data as of December 31, 2024; source publications through March 17, 2025; last verified June 2026.

A note on ranking order: this list is sorted by total reported crimes per 1,000 residents. Many so-called "most dangerous" rankings prioritize violent crime. This explains why areas such as Chesterfield Square, which has a high violent crime rate but a lower overall crime volume, frequently rank highest on alternative rankings. Both metrics are highlighted below, allowing you to sort by whichever factor you prioritize.

Is Los Angeles Safe

Yes. For most people, most of the time, it is. The thing to keep in mind is that the risk doesn't sit evenly across the map. Before we get to specific streets, recent LAPD CompStat and FBI NIBRS data gives a decent overview.

Per 100,000 residents, LA sees roughly 700+ violent crimes and around 1,400+ property crimes a year. Violent crime sits a little above the national average. Property crime makes up the larger part of the total. Both still come in under several big peer cities, Houston and Chicago included. The headlines don't always put it that way.

The spread is what counts. Two neighborhoods in the same ZIP code can look nothing alike on paper. That alone is why a street-level view beats any single citywide number.

How Dangerous Is Los Angeles

Stacked against other big metros, LA lands in a familiar middle band. Violent crime here runs lower than Chicago's, and a fair bit under Houston's. New York logs fewer violent incidents per person than any of them. None of which makes the cities the same. It just keeps your expectations honest.

Property crime is what really shapes LA's profile. Break-ins, stolen cars, petty theft. Together they cover a big slice of the index. They cluster, too, mostly around busy shopping strips, transit stops, and tourist spots. For most people, real exposure is to your things, not to you. Worth planning around.

Source: FBI Crime Data Explorer (NIBRS). Los Angeles figures cross-checked with LAPD CompStat. Rates per 100,000 residents; 2026 snapshot based on most recent complete reporting year.

alt: Grouped bar chart comparing 2026 violent and property crime rates per 100,000 residents in Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, and New York.

filename: Crime Rate Comparison Chart Four Major Us Cities 2026.PNG

Dangerous Neighborhoods in Los Angeles 2026

Here's the quick version, sorted by approximate total reported crime per 1,000 residents (highest first). Violent and property rates each get a column, so you can tell what's pushing the totals.

Source: City of Los Angeles Open Data (data.lacity.org), cross-checked with LAPD CompStat. Rates per 1,000 residents based on U.S. Census ACS estimates. Neighborhood boundaries per LA Times Mapping L.A.

Top 10 Most Dangerous Neighborhoods in Los Angeles

These ten come from the city open data portal and LAPD reporting, ordered to match the table above (highest total reported rate first). Each one sits inside LA city limits. Compton, Inglewood, and other separate cities are left off on purpose. They run their own police and report their own numbers, so they don't belong on an LA neighborhood list.

Downtown / Skid Row

Downtown is really two places at once. Sleek residential towers and packed office blocks sit right next to the Skid Row corridor, where hard social conditions push property and quality-of-life incidents up. Theft, break-ins, and larceny carry most of the weight here, far more than any, even spread of violence.

Boundaries matter a lot. A couple of blocks can separate the buzzy Arts District from somewhere very different. After dark, keep to the lit, busy streets, and hold your bag and phone close in the quiet gaps between them.

Chesterfield Square

Chesterfield Square often lands at the top of violent-crime rankings, and the math explains why. A small population, a heavy count of violent and property incidents, all in a tight footprint. The per-capita rate shoots up even when the actual numbers stay modest.

A large share is street-level property crime. Vehicle break-ins, over and over. Park around here and you'll want the car empty and the entry well lit. That alone takes you off the easy-target list.

Hollywood

Hollywood breaks the South LA pattern. Violent crime drops here. Property crime climbs, fed by the steady churn of tourists and nightlife. Pickpocketing, theft from cars, grab-and-go jobs. Most reports fall into those, peaking near the big attractions and after dark.

Keep your wallet and phone secured, not in a back pocket. Leave nothing visible in a parked car. Stay on the main, well-lit boulevards once it's late. The threat is mostly to your stuff, and plain attention covers most of it.

Harvard Park

Harvard Park sits right on the city's southern edge, and it reports violent and property incidents above the citywide line.

It's a dense grid. Almost everyone parks on the street, which keeps vehicle break-ins steady. With the risk so lopsided toward property, the small moves count most.

Park within sight of a light or camera. Don't leave electronics, bags, or tools showing through the glass. Those two habits cover what comes up most often.

Watts

Watts doesn't hide its history, and you can still spot it in the violent-crime numbers. Years of community investment have reshaped parts of it, though. The reported activity clusters in pockets rather than spreading out, so two nearby streets can feel very different.

It's mostly residential. Public housing developments, local safety programs, that sort of thing. Awareness does most of the work here. Know where you are, and skip the late-night shortcut through somewhere unfamiliar. A camera people can notice, or a little lighting at the property line, handles plenty of the opportunistic theft.

Vermont Square

Vermont Square is one of the older parts of South LA. Tight residential blocks, not much off-street parking. The crime mix leans property-side: theft from vehicles, the odd home burglary, a moderate violent rate alongside. Lighting is hit or miss, better on some blocks than others. Worth a look before you sign a lease or settle on a parking spot. A video doorbell or a motion light at the door is a cheap way to make a place look like more hassle than it's worth.

Hyde Park

Hyde Park has gotten more residential and better connected lately. Even so, its totals still sit above the city median.

Property crime leads, with vehicle theft and break-ins at the top of the local data. The shops along the main avenues pull in foot traffic, and some opportunistic theft rides along with it.

Lock the car, garage it when you can, clear out anything worth taking. That covers the usual case. A driveway camera leaves you a record for the times it doesn't.

Boyle Heights

Just east of the LA River, Boyle Heights is big, historic, and close-knit, with deep roots in food, culture, and street life. Its violent-crime rate is the lowest of the ten.

Property crime, vehicle theft especially, is what keeps it here. Like much of the city, it changes block by block.

The sensible move follows the data. Lock the car and the entry points, and put lighting or a camera where things tend to walk off.

Green Meadows

Green Meadows is quieter, mostly homes.

The violent and property rates still run above average, even if the raw totals stay smaller for its size. A lot of trouble follows the through streets, where parked cars and unattended property are the soft targets. Not much nightlife here. The risk pools around vehicles and entry points instead of any commercial drag.

Layering pays off: lock up, light the perimeter, point a camera at the path to your door.

Vermont Knolls

Sharing a border with several areas already on this list, Vermont Knolls fits the same mold, with property crime making up the larger share of reports.

It's a settled spot. Schools, parks, corner shops. Like its neighbors, the density and curbside parking keep vehicle theft common.

Stick to the basics that fit the pattern. Empty the car. Lock the side gates and back doors. Add a doorbell camera so you can check who's there before the door opens.

What Makes Some LA Neighborhoods More Dangerous

None of this is random. And none of it has to do with the people who live in these places. A handful of neutral, structural factors tend to nudge reported crime higher in certain spots.

Vacancy and disinvestment play in

Empty storefronts and idle lots leave blind spots, with few eyes around. That's exactly what opportunistic theft looks for. Income gaps add to it, since concentrated economic strain has long run alongside property crime.

Geography pulls weight too

Shopping strips, freeway on-ramps, transit corridors. They move huge numbers of people and cars through one area, and more movement means more openings for theft. Hollywood is the obvious example: heavy tourist and entertainment traffic lifts the larceny count even where violent crime stays low. Approach neighborhoods this way and you get much closer to reality than any worn-out stereotype.

How to Stay Safe in High-Crime LA Neighborhoods

Most of LA's risk lands on the property side, which is good news. A lot of it gives way to simple, proactive habits. No need to live on alert. Set up a few layers and let them do the quiet work.

Home and Property Safety

Picture home security as layers that start at the property line and work inward. Good lighting, clear sightlines, and a camera placed where someone would actually walk up. Those turn a house into a weak target, and they leave you a record if something happens. None of it has to be expensive or brand-specific. The principles matter more than the product.

If you do want gear, match it to the problem you actually have:

• Driveways and yards (the most common hit in these areas): a weatherproof camera with a wide view and motion tracking covers the spot where car break-ins happen. eufy's security cameras store footage locally, so you can skip a monthly plan; the eufyCam S4 pairs a wide lens with a PTZ lens that follows motion, and on-device AI sorts people from vehicles and pets to cut false alerts.

• Whole-property, wired setups: an NVR system records several cameras around the clock to a built-in drive, again with no subscription. For a long driveway, backyard, or corner lot where one camera is not enough, the eufy PoE NVR Security System S4 Max ties multiple 4K cameras into one system. Cameras hand off tracking as someone moves—so if they walk from the street to your side gate, you keep a clear view instead of losing them between blind spots. Everything records 24/7 to the built-in drive on your own NVR, with smart alerts that cut down false alarms from passing cars or wind-blown branches.

• Front door and packages: a video doorbell like the eufy Video Doorbell E340 lets you check the doorstep, and confirm deliveries, before you open up. One camera watches faces at the door; a second looks down at packages on the ground, so you can see exactly what was dropped off and whether someone picked it up. You get a clear 2K view day or night, two-way talk to tell a delivery driver where to leave a box, and phone alerts the moment someone steps on your porch.

Whatever you choose, one quick legal check: if your camera records audio, California's two-party consent rules can apply. Capturing private conversations may require consent.

When cameras alone are not enough, you can build an ExpertSecure system that covers doors, windows, and key rooms—not just the perimeter. Pick the outdoor cams, doorbell, and sensors that fit your home, and the hub ties them together with local AI that filters out most false alerts. Add optional 24/7 professional monitoring if you want a real person to verify an alarm and call for help when you cannot respond—while footage stays stored locally, not in the cloud.

Personal Safety and Vehicle Theft Prevention

Theft from and of vehicles tops the report list in these areas. That's why the small habits matter most.

• Show nothing through the windows. Not a bag, not a phone mount, not a stray cable. A car that looks empty usually gets skipped.
• Park where there's light, use a garage if one's handy, and take the extra second on the doors and windows.
• On foot, keep the phone and wallet zipped away rather than in a back pocket.
• And if a street feels off, trust that and take another way.

Transportation and Visiting

Riding Metro, or walking Downtown, Hollywood, and the other busy hubs after dark? Mostly it comes down to staying switched on.

• Keep to the crowded, well-lit platforms and sidewalks.
• Hold your things zipped and in front of you in a crush.
• Don't get lost in your phone inside a station.
• Going with someone at night, and sorting your route ahead of time, both cut the minutes you'd otherwise spend wandering an unfamiliar block.

Related Blogs

You might find these helpful:

• Is San Diego Safe?
• Top 10 Most Dangerous Neighborhoods in Chicago (2026)
• Los Angeles Crime Rate Explained & Your Safety Guide

Conclusion

Crime in Los Angeles is a local story, and once that clicks, it's genuinely reassuring. A few neighborhoods sit well above the city average. But most of that risk is property crime, the kind that responds to attention and a couple of smart layers. Learn the map. Adjust the habits. Lock down the house and the car. Do that and you've handled most of what's realistic. The dangerous neighborhoods in another major city follow a similar block-by-block pattern in Chicago. Heading down the coast, Southern California safety in San Diego follows a different pattern.

Disclaimer:

This article is for general information only and does not constitute legal, safety, or professional advice. Crime data and neighborhood conditions change over time and can differ block by block. Verify current local information through official sources before making housing, travel, or personal safety decisions. eufy is not responsible for any consequences arising from the use of this content.

A high reported-crime rate only describes criminal incidents within a geographic area, and such area-level incident data bears no correlation to the character, ethnicity, or demographics of local residents. Many neighborhoods mentioned in this article are long-standing, tight-knit communities. This guide is created purely to help you plan around safety risks for reference only, and it shall not be interpreted as a negative judgment intended to write off any neighborhood or the people living within it.

FAQs

What is the most dangerous neighborhood in Los Angeles?

It depends on how you measure. Sorted by total reported crime per 1,000 residents, the Downtown / Skid Row corridor sits at the top. Sorted by violent crime per capita, Chesterfield Square in South LA usually leads. Either way, the rankings move with the data, so treat any single name as a snapshot, not a permanent label.

What areas should you avoid in Los Angeles?

Don't write off whole neighborhoods. Think timing and location instead. Be sharper around the Skid Row corridor downtown, parts of South LA late at night, and the crowded tourist spots where pickpockets work. By day, with normal awareness, most areas are fine.

Is downtown Los Angeles safe?

Mostly, yes. Much of Downtown is safe and busy, the Arts District and financial core especially during business hours. Property crime is the main worry. Conditions shift block by block, so keep to busy, well-lit streets at night and your belongings close.

Is Koreatown safe?

Generally, yes. Koreatown is one of LA's densest, liveliest areas, busy day and night. Violent crime stays moderate. The packed streets do draw property crime and vehicle break-ins, though, so the basics still apply: lock up, and don't leave valuables in the car.

Is LA safer than Chicago or NYC?

LA's violent-crime rate runs below Chicago's and above New York's. All three have their safe and higher-crime pockets. The comparison that actually helps is neighborhood to neighborhood, not city to city, since local conditions swing widely everywhere.