CrimeMetric

Crime in Hayward, California

Major crime in Hayward is 1.9 times the U.S. rate per resident: 48% higher for persons crimes and 2.0 times for property crimes. Expected major crimes are up 3.9% from a year earlier.

Modeled estimates per resident, not counts of incidents. How we calculated this

Major crime
187
1.9 times the U.S. rate
1.6 times the California rate
up 3.9% in a year
Persons crimes
148
48% above the U.S. rate
10% above the California rate
up 3.1% in a year
Property crimes
195
2.0 times the U.S. rate
1.7 times the California rate
up 4.0% in a year
Social disorder
103
about the U.S. rate
about the California rate
up 7.6% in a year

Index: crimes per resident compared with the U.S., where 100 is the U.S. rate and 200 is twice it.

Check an address in Hayward

Crime by type

Motor vehicle theft stands out most, at 4.4 times the U.S. rate

Expected crimes per year in Hayward for each type, and the index against the U.S. rate per resident.

Citywide indexWhere the middle half of residents live

IndexPer year

Property crimes

Burglary117301

How crime varies across Hayward

The middle half of Hayward residents live in neighborhoods with a major-crime index between 103 and 174; the typical (median) resident's is 136. The citywide figure (187) is higher than that because crime concentrates in a smaller set of areas.

Map of Hayward, with its census block groups shaded by major-crime index band
Block groups shaded by major-crime index, in the bar's bands below; pale gray where fewer than 100 people live. Tap one to compare it. Highways and boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau.
  • 0–507.2%
  • 50–10015.2%
  • 100–20054.4%
  • 200–40018.5%
  • 400+4.7%

Share of residents by the index of their census block group, a neighborhood of roughly 600 to 3,000 people.

When it happens

Highest on weeknights

Major-crime index by time of week, against the U.S. rate for the same hours.

Monday to Friday, 6am to 6pm166
Sunday to Thursday nights, 6pm to 6am213
Saturday and Sunday, 6am to 6pm178
Friday and Saturday nights, 6pm to 6am196
Trend and outlook

Major crime rose 3.9% in a year; across California it fell 7.4%

Past yearBy 2031
Major crime+3.9%CA -7.4%-15.1%CA -14.1%
Persons crimes+3.1%CA -3.5%-10.3%CA -6.1%
Property crimes+4.0%CA -8.4%-15.9%CA -16.1%
Social disorder+7.6%CA -4.9%-11.6%CA -9.4%

Change in expected crimes, with California as a whole in gray. The past year uses the reporting agencies' year-to-date FBI data; 2031 is the model's projection.

Similar-size places

Hayward against U.S. places with 100,000 to 250,000 residents

41 of the 268 other places of this size have a higher major-crime index than Hayward; the middle of the group is 109. The 9 nearest in population:

Lakewood, CO158,515264
Columbia, SC155,222214
Hayward, CA157,006187
Salinas, CA157,954120
Bellevue, WA155,550104
Sunnyvale, CA158,186102
Joliet, IL155,74779
Meridian, ID156,41632

Major-crime index per resident, U.S. = 100; residents in gray.

Nearby places

Hayward has a higher major-crime index than all of its 8 nearest neighbors

The 8 nearest cities and towns we cover, by major-crime index. The closest, Fairview (3 mi), is 63% below Hayward's rate.

Hayward187
Newark8 mi171
Ashland4 mi153
Cherryland3 mi151
Union City4 mi123
Fairview3 mi70

Major-crime index per resident, U.S. = 100; distances between where residents live, in miles.

Questions about crime in Hayward

What are the most common crimes in Hayward?

By expected count, the most common persons and property crimes are theft from vehicle (about 1,291 a year), motor vehicle theft (about 1,089 a year) and other larceny (about 1,083 a year). Compared with the U.S., motor vehicle theft stands out most: 4.4 times the U.S. rate per resident.

How we calculated this

Each police agency's crimes, as reported to the FBI, are spread across the census block groups it serves using population, jobs, points of interest and, where available, local incident records. Hayward's figures add up its 98 block groups. The index compares crimes per resident with the U.S. rate.

  • Hayward's published incident records inform the estimate for every neighborhood.
  • 75.8% of residents live in block groups whose estimate has high confidence (80% interval within about 5x).
  • Rates are per resident, so places where many people work or visit but few live, such as downtowns, airports and stadiums, can read high.
  • Disorderly conduct and trespassing are modeled, because the FBI records them only through arrests.
  • Residents: 157,006. Model updated Oct 20, 2026. Release 2026-2026-10-20-2

Full method and validation·Data sources

Cite this page

CrimeMetric. "Crime in Hayward, California." Vorp Labs, model updated Oct 20, 2026. https://crimemetric.com/ca/hayward

Use these numbers in your product

Any U.S. address by API or MCP, free for 10,000 lookups a month.

Get a free API key

Nearest cities we publish

Major-crime index, U.S. = 100