Safety index · San Francisco · data through August 2026
Is Tenderloin safe?
Tenderloin records a high level of reported crime for San Francisco. Its SafeRoute safety index is 7 out of 100 — 43 points below the citywide median of 50, ranking 41st of 41 SF neighborhoods — based on 8,781 incidents reported to the SFPD within 1 km of the neighborhood center over the 8 months to August 2026.
DATA THROUGH AUGUST 2026 · 8 MONTHS OF DATA
The 0–100 scale is calibrated to San Francisco — a typical San Francisco neighborhood sits near 50. It ranks Tenderloin against other neighborhoods here, and cannot be read against a score in another city.
Most of what's reported here is property-related — drugs alone is 26% of reports — rather than violence against strangers, though the full mix below is worth a look.
Incidents spread across the day here — roughly 25% of severity-weighted reports come in the evening (6 p.m.–midnight) and 19% overnight.
Where incidents cluster
What's reported here
| Drugs | 2,279 · 26% | |
| Violent crime | 1,077 · 12% | |
| Other theft | 1,569 · 18% | |
| Criminal damage & arson | 563 · 6% | |
| Other | 1,212 · 14% | |
| Public order | 359 · 4% |
When it happens
Severity-weighted share of reported incidents by time of day, from police incident timestamps.
Walking in Tenderloin at night?
SafeRoute scores every walking route against the same live crime data on this page — and shows how much of each route runs on lit streets. Pick the safer way, share your walk, and check in when you arrive. Free, no account.
Get SafeRoute on the App StoreNearby areas
- Nob Hill12/100 · High risk
- South of Market11/100 · High risk
- Western Addition26/100 · Elevated
- Hayes Valley22/100 · High risk
- Chinatown27/100 · Elevated
Common questions
Is Tenderloin safe at night?
High risk overall (safety index 7/100). About 44% of severity-weighted incidents in Tenderloin are reported between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. At night, prefer lit, busier streets — a block or two of detour often avoids the clusters on the map above.
What is the most common crime in Tenderloin?
Drugs — 2,279 of 8,781 incidents (26%) reported within 1 km of the neighborhood center over the 8 months to August 2026.
How is the Tenderloin safety index calculated?
SafeRoute weights each incident reported to the SFPD by severity (violence weighs more than shoplifting), sums the last available period within 1 km of the neighborhood center, and normalizes against citywide crime rates onto a 0–100 scale — higher is safer. It describes reported crime only; it is not a guarantee of safety. The scale is calibrated within San Francisco, so scores compare neighborhoods to each other and cannot be read against another city's.