South Side, Columbus, OH Property Crime Rates and Maps
South Side is a neighborhood of 15,200 residents in Columbus, about 3 miles southeast of downtown · Updated November 2026
How common is property crime in South Side?
South Side grades D+ for property crime, with more of it than the neighborhoods where 87% of Americans live. Theft makes up 43% of it. Burglary, the crime most likely to reach into a home, grades D-, and vehicle theft grades C+. Columbus as a whole grades C+ for property crime.
D+
Property crime CrimeGrade™
Safety score 265 of 1,000More property crime than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
13% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more property crime than South Side as a whole, and 87% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a property crime safety score of 823, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. South Side scores 265.
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 South Side, Columbus, OH at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in South Side in Columbus, 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 South Side
Burglaries and car thefts both run high. In South Side, each runs at more than triple the US rate: 10.4 burglaries and 10.8 car thefts a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.4 and 2.7 nationally.
Thefts from cars happen in parking lots and garages far more often than nationally. In Columbus as a whole, 58% of reported thefts from cars happen in parking lots and garages, against 31% nationally.
How South Side compares within Columbus
High property crime is widespread across South Side: 79% of residents live in areas graded D or F, and the rest in areas graded C. Property crime grades across South Side run from C to F.
21%79%
C 21%D or F 79%
Share of residents, by the property crime CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
South Side has less property crime than 12 of the 46 neighborhoods in Columbus. It covers much of the Far South, South Side, and Southside Columbus areas and the Brice-Tussing, Near Southside, and Eastland areas.
Is property crime going up in Columbus?
Reported property crime in Columbus as a whole has fallen 23% since 2019. Burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts went from about 34 to 26 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 18). In 2024 alone, property crime fell 19%.
Property crime, change since 2019
ColumbusUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police departments that serve Columbus. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Property, Columbus
Property, US
2016
+21%
+15%
2017
+18%
+12%
2018
+8%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
-3%
-8%
2021
+2%
-10%
2022
+6%
-6%
2023
-4%
-7%
2024
-23%
-15%
Property crime rates and types in South Side
CrimeGrade™ estimates South Side has about 81 reported property crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, about triple the rate for the US as a whole and 74% more than Columbus 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 South Side, about 43% of the total, followed by vandalism and vehicle theft.
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 Columbus
The Columbus Police Department polices South Side; these figures cover Columbus as a whole, 2022 to 2024.
In Columbus as a whole, 59% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Car thefts happen most often at homes: 33% of them, against 33% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (59%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Homes (33%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Theft from cars
Parking lots and garages (58%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Vandalism
Parking lots and garages (34%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Shares of the crimes reported to police, 2022 to 2024. Reports with no time recorded are left out of the times.
Property crime in South Side and nearby neighborhoods
South Side has less property crime than 5 of its 10 nearest neighborhoods.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from South Side. 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, South Side has more property crime than 77% of them.
Parking lots, empty homes and walkability in South Side
Among the traits that tend to go with property crime, two set South Side apart: it has 4.3 parking-lot spaces per resident, against 2.0 nationally, and 16.4% of its homes standing empty, against 7.1% nationally. Places like that tend to report more theft, and it runs high here.
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.4.3 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher than for 97% of residents of US city neighborhoods
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson.16.4% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher 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.C+ (47 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 62% of residents of US city neighborhoods
Show all 4
Transit serviceBuses and trains an hour at the evening rush. Places with busy transit tend to report more theft. BestNeighborhood's Transit Grade for South Side: C- (28 of 100).3 trips an hourUS: noneLower than for 74% 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 South Side
Property crime costs South Side about $9.3 million a year, or $615 per resident and about $1,457 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. South Side 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.
