Center is a neighborhood of 9,910 residents in Portland, about 3 miles east of downtown · Updated November 2026
Is Center in Portland safe?
Crime in Center is high by national standards, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of C+. Most US neighborhoods have little crime: 81% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime than Center. Violent crime grades better than property crime here, B+ against D-. Portland as a whole grades C. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Center run from B to D+, so check the map below.
C+
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 525 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
19% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Center as a whole, and 81% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Center scores 525.
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 crime than most US neighborhoods.
How to read the map: each area's color compares its crime with the people, homes and cars there, on one national scale, from green for the least crime 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 Center, Portland, OR at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Center in Portland, 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 in Center
Vehicle theft at about triple the US rate. Center has 8.1 car thefts a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.7 nationally.
Crime rates and types in Center
CrimeGrade™ estimates Center has about 59 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 58% more than the US as a whole and 23% less than Portland as a whole.
Overall crime
Violent crime
Property crime
Reported crimes a year, per 1,000 residents. These figures include simple assaults and vandalism, which the FBI's violent and property crime rates leave out.
Theft is the most common crime in Center, about 43% of everything reported, but assault costs more, because each one does more harm.
Each CrimeGrade™ compares a crime with what it affects: people for assaults and robbery, homes for burglary, parked cars for vehicle theft. 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 crime happens in Portland
The Portland Police Department polices Center; these figures cover Portland as a whole, 2022 to 2024.
In Portland as a whole, 34% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often on streets and sidewalks: 35% of them, against 18% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Stores and businesses (46%)
Night (midnight to 6 am)
Car theft
Streets and sidewalks (62%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Streets and sidewalks (35%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Streets and sidewalks (30%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Robbery
Stores and businesses (51%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Streets and sidewalks (41%)
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.
How Center compares with nearby neighborhoods
Center has less crime than 9 of its 10 nearest neighborhoods; only Alameda has less.
Two things set Center apart: it has tree cover over 31% of the land where people live, against 21% nationally, and 3.4% of its homes standing empty, against 7.1% nationally. Places like that tend to report less robbery.
Tree coverThe share of land under tree canopy where people live. Leafy neighborhoods tend to report less robbery.31% where people liveUS: 21%Higher than for 91% 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.3.4% of homesUS: 7.1%Lower than for 84% 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 and assault.B- (52 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 65% of residents of US city neighborhoods
Show all 4
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.72 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 81% 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 crime costs Center
Crime costs Center about $1,442 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 20% more than the US figure of $1,205.
Cost of crime per resident, per year
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, which comes almost entirely from violent crime, the full cost comes to about $16 million a year, or $1,621 per resident.
How CrimeGrade™ works
A CrimeGrade™ shows how much crime an area has compared with the rest of the country, from A+ for the least crime to F for the most. Every neighborhood in the US is graded on the same scale, so a B in Center means the same as a B anywhere else.
CrimeGrade™ starts from the crimes people report to police and measures each kind of crime against what it affects: people for assaults, homes for burglaries, parked cars for car thefts.
The rates on this page count crimes for every 1,000 people who live here, the way police departments report them.
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.
Schools in Center, Portland, OR average a SchoolGrade of A+: 53% of students test proficient, against 48% projected for schools like them. Overall, they greatly exceed expectations. See schools in Center on SchoolGrade
