Central Boulder, Boulder, CO Property Crime Rates and Maps
Central Boulder is a neighborhood of 21,400 residents in Boulder, close to downtown · Updated November 2026
How common is property crime in Central Boulder?
Property crime is high in Central Boulder: a B-, with more property crime than the neighborhoods where 76% of Americans live. Theft makes up 58% of it. Burglary, the crime most likely to reach into a home, grades B-, and vehicle theft grades B. Boulder as a whole grades B+ for property crime.
B-
Property crime CrimeGrade™
Safety score 571 of 1,000More property crime than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
24% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more property crime than Central Boulder as a whole, and 76% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a property crime safety score of 823, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Central Boulder scores 571.
Crime is concentrated in a small share of places, so most neighborhoods score high on the 0 to 1,000 scale. That is why a score in the 800s can still mean more property crime than most US neighborhoods.
How to read the map: each area's color compares its property crime with the homes, parked cars and people there, on one national scale, from green for the least to red for the most. Each area gets its own color, so a busy shopping center can show red while the homes beside it stay green. The interactive maps load faster on a strong connection. Compare high speed internet in Central Boulder, Boulder, CO at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Central Boulder in Boulder, and anyone thinking about buying or renting a home there.
Business and enterprise customers: this free map shows neighborhood areas. CrimeGrade™ business reports map crime at about 66-meter detail and estimate it for one address and type of business. See business reports
What stands out about property crime in Central Boulder
Burglaries and thefts both run high. In Central Boulder, each runs at about double the US rate: 4.8 burglaries and 23.8 thefts a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.4 and 13.1 nationally.
How Central Boulder compares within Boulder
Property crime changes a lot from one part of Central Boulder to the next: 49% of residents live in areas graded A or B, while 32% live in areas graded D or F. Property crime grades across Central Boulder run from A to F.
49%19%32%
A or B 49%C 19%D or F 32%
Share of residents, by the property crime CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Central Boulder has less property crime than 1 of the 9 neighborhoods in Boulder. It covers much of the Central Boulder and Washington Village areas and the Colorado University area.
Is property crime going up in Boulder?
Reported property crime in Boulder as a whole has fallen 12% since 2019. Burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts went from about 31 to 27 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 18). In 2024 alone, property crime fell 11%.
Property crime, change since 2019
BoulderUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police departments that serve Boulder. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Property, Boulder
Property, US
2016
-5%
+15%
2017
-10%
+12%
2018
+10%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
+21%
-8%
2021
+17%
-10%
2022
+12%
-6%
2023
-1%
-7%
2024
-12%
-15%
Property crime rates and types in Central Boulder
CrimeGrade™ estimates Central Boulder has about 41 reported property crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 71% more than the US as a whole and 22% more than Boulder as a whole.
All property crime
Burglary
Vehicle theft
Reported crimes a year, per 1,000 residents. Property crime here includes vandalism, which the FBI's property crime rate leaves out.
Theft is the most common property crime in Central Boulder, about 58% of the total, followed by vandalism and burglary.
Each CrimeGrade™ here compares a property crime with what it affects: homes for burglary and arson, parked cars for vehicle theft, people and parking for theft, homes and businesses for vandalism. Rates count crimes per 1,000 residents.
Select a crime's name to see its map above. CrimeGrade™ business reports map each crime at about 66-meter detail.
Where and when property crime happens in Boulder
The Boulder Police Department polices Central Boulder; these figures cover Boulder as a whole, 2022 to 2024.
In Boulder as a whole, 50% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Car thefts happen most often on streets and sidewalks: 30% of them, against 27% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (50%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Streets and sidewalks (30%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Theft from cars
Homes (40%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (33%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Shares of the crimes reported to police, 2022 to 2024. Reports with no time recorded are left out of the times.
Property crime in Central Boulder and nearby neighborhoods
Central Boulder has more property crime than 9 of its 10 nearest neighborhoods. South Boulder and North Boulder have the least property crime nearby.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from Central Boulder. Beside each property crime CrimeGrade™ is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer).
Compared with neighborhoods of similar size and density, Central Boulder has more property crime than 58% of them.
Night lighting, shops and walkability in Central Boulder
Among the traits that tend to go with property crime, two set Central Boulder apart: it has 30.6 stores and restaurants for every 1,000 residents, against 10.5 nationally, and 86 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole. Places like that tend to report more theft and car theft, and they run high here.
Lit at nightSatellite images show which neighborhoods are lit at night, a sign of busy streets and businesses. Brightly lit places tend to report more theft and vandalism.93% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 97% of residents of US city neighborhoods
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft and car theft.30.6 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 95% of residents of US city neighborhoods
Walk GradeBestNeighborhood's grade for getting through daily life on foot, traced along real walking routes to shops, schools and parks. Walkable places tend to report more theft.B- (52 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 66% of residents of US city neighborhoods
Show all 4
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft.86 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 85% of residents of US city neighborhoods
These traits tend to go with more or less crime; none of them causes it on its own. Sources: Census job counts and housing figures, OpenStreetMap and Overture business listings, CrimeGrade™ parking estimates, NASA night-light imagery, US Forest Service tree cover, EPA transit data and BestNeighborhood's Walk Grade.
What property crime costs Central Boulder
Property crime costs Central Boulder about $5.9 million a year, or $274 per resident and about $663 per household: the value of what is stolen or damaged, plus the police, courts and prisons that respond.
Cost of property crime per resident, per year
How CrimeGrade™ works
The property crime CrimeGrade™ covers burglary, theft, car theft, arson and vandalism, from A+ for the least crime to F for the most, on one scale for the whole country.
It weighs each property crime against what it affects: homes for burglary and arson, parked cars for car theft, and the people and parking around stores for theft.
The rates on this page count crimes for every 1,000 people who live here, the way police departments report them. Central Boulder is a good example: many people work in, shop in or visit it, so its crime per resident looks worse than its CrimeGrade™ suggests.
Comparisons with US neighborhoods use the Census Bureau's block groups, small areas of about 1,400 residents, and count the people who live in each. The figures count crimes reported to police; many crimes, shoplifting above all, never are. Behind the grades, CrimeGrade™ tested 21,607 factors from 125 data families. For business owners, paid CrimeGrade™ location reports estimate crime at a single address for each type of business.
Where the numbers come from
Crime reports that police departments file with the FBI
State crime records and city crime data, where they are published
These are estimates of reported crime for whole areas, not a record of what happened on any one street. CrimeGrade™ updates them once a year and provides them free and without guarantee. Check local sources before you rely on them for a decision.
