South San Francisco's safest neighborhood costs less than average

Westborough, the hillside neighborhood west of Interstate 280, is South San Francisco's safest by a clear margin. It scores 4.5 out of 5 on Houseberry's South San Francisco safety ranking, and its typical home, about $1.15 million in October 2026, costs a little less than the city's.

That second number is the surprise. In most Bay Area cities, the safest neighborhood is also one of the priciest. In South City, the six neighborhoods that score above the city's average sit within about $220,000 of each other, while their safety scores run from 4.5 down to 2.7. Buyers here are not paying much extra for a higher score. If safety is your first filter, that makes South San Francisco unusually easy to shop.

The city as a whole averages 2.6 out of 5 on Houseberry's scale, below San Bruno (3.4) and Millbrae (3.3). That average is dragged down by the industrial and biotech districts along and east of Highway 101, where few people live.

South San Francisco's 6 safest neighborhoods

1. Westborough, 4.5

2. Winston-Serra, 4.0

3. Paradise Valley, 3.5

4. Sign Hill, 3.0

5. Sunshine Gardens, 3.0

6. Avalon, 2.7

Six, because six neighborhoods score above the city's 2.6 average. The table puts each next to its October 2026 typical home price from Houseberry's neighborhood price histories.

1. Westborough, 4.5

Westborough is the 1960s and 1970s tract development on the slope between I-280 and Skyline Boulevard, built out in rows of two-story homes with garages underneath. Westborough Boulevard is the spine, Westborough Park sits at Galway Drive, and Skyline College is just over the San Bruno line.

It is the best all-around pick in the city. Westborough scores 4.1 overall, the highest in South San Francisco, with a 3.8 on schools and a 3.8 on amenities. Prices rose about 6 percent in 12 months, from about $1.08 million to $1.15 million. The trade-off is weather. This is fog country, and the wind off the Pacific gap is real.

2. Winston-Serra, 4.0

Winston-Serra takes in the Winston Manor and Serra Highlands tracts on the hills near Hickey Boulevard and Junipero Serra Boulevard, along the Daly City line. Elkwood Park, also called Winston Manor Park, is its neighborhood park.

At about $1.32 million, it costs roughly $170,000 more than Westborough for a half-point lower safety score. Its price was flat over the past year.

3. Paradise Valley, 3.5

Paradise Valley sits on the east side of town along Hillside Boulevard, on the lower slopes of San Bruno Mountain, with Paradise Valley Park at Hillside and School Street. It scores 3.5 on safety, and its typical home ran about $1.17 million in October 2026, down from about $1.23 million a year earlier.

4. Sign Hill, 3.0

Sign Hill is named for the hillside letters that spell out "South San Francisco The Industrial City," visible from 101. Its homes climb the streets north of downtown toward Sign Hill Park at the top of Poplar Avenue. It scores 3.0 on safety and 3.6 on amenities, since downtown's Grand Avenue is a short walk downhill. Schools score 2.5.

5. Sunshine Gardens, 3.0

Sunshine Gardens is a neighborhood of postwar single-family homes and small yards. It ties Sign Hill at 3.0 and costs about the same, roughly $1.18 million.

6. Avalon, 2.7

Avalon is centered on Avalon Drive, with Avalon Park on Dorado Way. It is the most expensive neighborhood Houseberry tracks in the city, about $1.37 million in October 2026, and it scores 2.7 on safety, just above the city average.

Why the price barely tracks the score

Put the priced neighborhoods on one chart and the pattern is flat. Westborough at 4.5 and Sign Hill at 3.0 cost within $50,000 of each other. Avalon, at 2.7, costs more than either. Our read is that South City buyers shop on commute, house size and which side of the hill gets sun, and the safety difference has not been priced in. That is good news for a buyer who puts safety first: the safest neighborhood in town is not the most expensive one.

The bottom of the ranking needs context. Five districts score 1.9, and four of them, Gateway, Lindenville, Oyster Point and South Airport, are mostly biotech campuses, warehouses, hotels and the airport edge. A score built on reported crime counts the incidents that happen there whether or not many people live there. Downtown, which Houseberry's page currently spells "Downtown Soth San Francisco," scores 2.2, and El Camino scores 2.5 at about $780,000, the cheapest priced neighborhood in the city.

How Houseberry scores safety

Houseberry's safety score rates each neighborhood from 1 to 5 using reported crime data, compared against California-wide averages, so a 4.5 in Westborough means the same thing as a 4.5 in San Mateo or Oakland. Scores were updated in November 2026. Prices are the typical home prices from each neighborhood page's 12-month history. Several neighborhoods use city-level data for their value figures, and the five 1.9 districts have no neighborhood-level price, so we left them out of the price comparison.

The city's own trend is down. The South San Francisco Police Department reported for 2024 that robberies fell 61 percent, residential burglaries fell 20 percent, vehicle burglaries fell 27 percent and the city recorded no homicides. The San Mateo Daily Journal covered the same numbers.

Questions people ask about South San Francisco safety

Is South San Francisco safe? Its residential neighborhoods range widely. Westborough scores 4.5 and Winston-Serra 4.0. The citywide average, 2.6, includes business districts with few residents, which pull it down.

What is the safest neighborhood in South San Francisco? Westborough, at 4.5 out of 5, with the highest overall score in the city, 4.1.

Is Oyster Point safe? Oyster Point scores 1.9. It is mostly biotech campuses, offices and the marina, with few residents, so the score reflects a business district more than a residential one.

Is downtown South San Francisco safe? Downtown around Grand Avenue scores 2.2. Sign Hill, just uphill, scores 3.0.

Is South San Francisco safer than San Bruno or Daly City? San Bruno averages 3.4 on Houseberry's scale and Millbrae 3.3, both above South City's 2.6. Westborough, at 4.5, outscores both of those city averages.

Before you make an offer, check the exact block on South San Francisco's safety ranking and the full South San Francisco neighborhood rankings. Here, the safest neighborhood is also one of the better deals.

Sources

• Houseberry, South San Francisco neighborhood safety ranking, November 2026
• Houseberry, South San Francisco city guide, October 2026 prices
• City of South San Francisco, South San Francisco reports significant crime reduction in 2024
• San Mateo Daily Journal, South City sees a drop in crime