Central Arlington is a neighborhood of 21,800 residents in Arlington, close to downtown · Updated November 2026
Is Central Arlington in Arlington safe?
Crime in Central Arlington is moderate, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of B-. Most US neighborhoods have little crime: 80% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime than Central Arlington. Violent crime grades B- and property crime C+. Arlington as a whole grades B. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Central Arlington run from B+ to D, so check the map below.
B-
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 544 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
20% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Central Arlington as a whole, and 80% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Central Arlington scores 544.
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 Central Arlington, Arlington, TX at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Central Arlington in Arlington, 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 Central Arlington
Reported rape at more than triple the US rate. Central Arlington has 1.6 reported rapes a year per 1,000 residents, against 0.38 nationally.
How Central Arlington compares within Arlington
Low crime is the norm across Central Arlington: 55% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 5% in areas graded D or F. Grades across Central Arlington run from B+ to D; every part of Central Arlington has more crime than the typical US neighborhood.
55%40%
A or B 55%C 40%D or F 5%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Central Arlington has less crime than 1 of the 6 neighborhoods in Arlington. It covers much of the Central Arlington area.
Is crime going up in Arlington?
Reported violent crime in Arlington as a whole peaked in 2021 and has fallen 19% since, back near its 2019 level. Property crime is down 16% from 2019. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 5.3 to 4.8 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 28 to 24 (US: 18). Neither changed much from 2023 to 2024.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
ArlingtonUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police departments that serve Arlington. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Arlington
Violent, US
Property, Arlington
Property, US
2016
+4%
+4%
+10%
+15%
2017
-1%
+4%
+14%
+12%
2018
-11%
+0%
+6%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
+6%
+4%
-8%
-8%
2021
+11%
+6%
-7%
-10%
2022
+9%
+5%
-12%
-6%
2023
-9%
+2%
-10%
-7%
2024
-10%
-4%
-16%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Central Arlington
CrimeGrade™ estimates Central Arlington has about 86 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, more than double the rate for the US as a whole and 78% more than Arlington 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.
The largest share of crime reported in Central Arlington is assault, about 37% of the total. It also makes up the largest share of what crime costs here.
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 Arlington
The Arlington Police Department polices Central Arlington; these figures cover Arlington as a whole, 2022 to 2024.
In Arlington as a whole, 55% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often at homes: 39% of them, against 34% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (55%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Homes (36%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Homes (39%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (50%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Robbery
Stores and businesses (36%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (54%)
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 Central Arlington compares with nearby neighborhoods
Of the 10 neighborhoods closest to Central Arlington, 7 have less crime. North Westchester Meadows and Southwest Arlington have the least.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from Central Arlington. Beside each overall CrimeGrade™ is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer).
Compared with neighborhoods of similar size and density, Central Arlington is safer than 60% of them.
Transit, empty homes and walkability in Central Arlington
One thing sets Central Arlington apart: it has 12.2% of its homes standing empty, against 7.1% nationally. Places like that tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson, and burglary and vandalism run high here.
Transit serviceBuses and trains an hour at the evening rush. Places with busy transit tend to report more theft and robbery. BestNeighborhood's Transit Grade for Central Arlington: F (0 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 95% 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.12.2% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 87% 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.C (38 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 54% of residents of US city neighborhoods
Show all 4
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.2.1 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher than for 87% 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 Central Arlington
Crime costs Central Arlington about $2,945 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, more than double 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 $67 million a year, or $3,058 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 Central Arlington 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. Central Arlington 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
Published research on what crime costs victims and communities
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 Central Arlington, Arlington, TX average a SchoolGrade of D-: 35% of students test proficient, against 27% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in Central Arlington on SchoolGrade
