Central Southwest is a neighborhood of 34,300 residents in Houston, about 10 miles southwest of downtown · Updated November 2026
Is Central Southwest in Houston safe?
Crime in Central Southwest is high, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of D+. Most US neighborhoods have far less: 89% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime than Central Southwest. Property crime grades better than violent crime here, C+ against D-. Houston as a whole grades C-. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Central Southwest run from C+ to F, so check the map below.
D+
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 276 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
11% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Central Southwest as a whole, and 89% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Central Southwest scores 276.
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 Southwest, Houston, TX at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Central Southwest in Houston, 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 Southwest
Robbery at about triple the US rate. Central Southwest has 2.1 robberies a year per 1,000 residents, against 0.62 nationally.
Car thefts happen in parking lots and garages far more often than nationally. In Houston as a whole, 48% of reported car thefts happen in parking lots and garages, against 23% nationally.
How Central Southwest compares within Houston
High crime is widespread across Central Southwest: 65% of residents live in areas graded D or F, and the rest in areas graded C. Grades across Central Southwest run from C+ to F; every part of Central Southwest has more crime than the typical US neighborhood.
35%65%
C 35%D or F 65%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Central Southwest has less crime than 25 of the 63 neighborhoods in Houston. It covers much of the Medical, Central Southwest, and Rice areas.
Is crime going up in Houston?
Reported violent crime in Houston as a whole peaked in 2020 and has fallen 14% since, back near its 2019 level. Property crime is down 5% from 2019. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults stayed at about 11 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts went from about 44 to 42 (US: 18). Neither changed much from 2023 to 2024.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
HoustonUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police departments that serve Houston. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Houston
Violent, US
Property, Houston
Property, US
2016
-6%
+4%
-1%
+15%
2017
+1%
+4%
-5%
+12%
2018
-5%
+0%
-8%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
+18%
+4%
-3%
-8%
2021
+14%
+6%
-4%
-10%
2022
+4%
+5%
+3%
-6%
2023
-1%
+2%
+1%
-7%
2024
+1%
-4%
-6%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Central Southwest
CrimeGrade™ estimates Central Southwest has about 59 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 58% more than the US as a whole and 19% less than Houston 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.
Assault is the most common crime in Central Southwest, about 37% of everything reported, and it also accounts for 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 Houston
The Houston Police Department polices Central Southwest; these figures cover Houston as a whole, 2022 to 2024.
In Houston as a whole, 53% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often in parking lots and garages: 55% of them, against 31% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (53%)
Night (midnight to 6 am)
Car theft
Parking lots and garages (48%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Parking lots and garages (55%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (43%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Robbery
Stores and businesses (38%)
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 Southwest compares with nearby neighborhoods
Of the 10 neighborhoods closest to Central Southwest, 7 have less crime. Shadow Creek Ranch and West University have the least.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from Central Southwest. 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 Southwest has more crime than 80% of them.
Parking lots, walkability and empty homes in Central Southwest
Two things set Central Southwest apart: it has a Walk Grade of D (12 of 100) on BestNeighborhood, against 21 for the US as a whole, and 3.3% of its homes standing empty, against 7.1% nationally. Places like that tend to report less theft and assault, yet theft and assault run higher here than that would suggest.
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.2.4 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher than for 90% 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. 90% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D (12 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 88% 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.3.3% of homesUS: 7.1%Lower than for 85% of residents of US city neighborhoods
Show all 4
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft and car theft.5.0 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower than for 78% 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 Southwest
Crime costs Central Southwest about $2,917 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 $122 million a year, or $3,566 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 Southwest 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 Central Southwest, Houston, TX average a SchoolGrade of D+: 40% of students test proficient, against 20% projected for schools like them. Overall, they greatly exceed expectations. See schools in Central Southwest on SchoolGrade
