What are the safest neighborhoods in Los Angeles?

Safety is a relative term. The obvious answers are always the most expensive neighborhoods. Los Angeles today is a safe city. I always advise buyers to sit in their car on a friday or saturday night in front of a prospective house. You'll know rather quickly if you can live there. On the other hand, if you're buying a 15 million dollar home in Brentwood, you're safe !

Here's some food for thought. According to the LA Times Neighborhood Mapping Project the safest neighborhoods in LA with violent crime rates of virtually 0 are: Acton, Bel-Air, Hidden Hills, West San Dimas. (There are a few others but I think they are not actually populared areas, like the Santa Monica Mountains).

They also had Century City just above that, which surprised me. Not because Century City has so much crime but because it doesn't seem like one of the safest places in LA.

Here is the link for those that want to check it out for themselves: http://projects.latimes.com/mapping-la/neighborhoods/violent-crime/neighborhood/list/

The valley is relatively safe because it's mostly families. Within that, I would say, Burbank, Toluca Lake and Sherman Oaks. Also, Santa Monica north of Wilshire is quite safe. But, it's a big city so crime is pretty much everywhere.

newhall, canyon country, Saugus, Stevenson ranch, castaic, Valencia. Pretty much anywhere in the Santa Clarita valley is safe.

Manhattan Beach is known for being the safest of the beach cities. The Manhattan Beach Village is a gated community within Manhattan Beach that offers condos, townhouses, and single family estate homes. There is great security here along with pools, tennis courts, and a golf course nearby.

San Marino, La Canada, Bel Air, Pacific Palisades, Palos Verdes, Manhattan Beach, Beverly Hills, and Hidden Hills.

The Palos Verdes Peninsula is one of the safest areas in the country. Its somewhat remote location makes it an undesirable area for unwelcome visitors .

Palos Verdes is one of the safest neighborhoods in L.A. Due to it's seculsion.

Palisades Highlands in Pacific Palisades. This place is so remote, only their residents go there. It's super expensive. Tha Palos Verdes Peninsula is very safe.

The Palos Verdes Peninsula is one of the safest places in Los Angeles County. The crimes are published weekly in the Peninsula News on Thursdays. It's usually crimes of property such as car break ins or vandalism. Many law enforcement officers live here because the crime is so low. They don't like to take their jobs home with them! The cities located on the Palos Verdes Peninsula are Palos Verdes Estates, Rolling Hills, Rolling Hills Estates and Rancho Palos Verdes.

Yeah, Burbank, Toluca Lake, Sherman Oaks -- these are safe. The valley as a whole, is not "safe," and while it's not bad, there are lots of Latino gangs throughout most of it. Glendale is right next to Burbank, and it's just as safe, if you do well enough keeping out of the way of the idiot drivers who seem to live there. Santa Monica is also amazingly safe south of Wilshire, all the way to Venice. Pacific Palisades, Brentwood, Westwood, and Beverly Hills are so insular and exclusive, you wouldn't believe you can drive twenty minutes to see bullet holes in street signs.

There's a lot of places that are perfectly safe in LA. But if you want to live in a city, you need to realize that there will be crime, unless you can afford to live in a place like the palisades.