Central State is a neighborhood of 4,240 residents in Schenectady, close to downtown · Updated November 2026
Is Central State in Schenectady safe?
Central State is among the higher-crime places in the US: an overall CrimeGrade™ of D+, with more crime than the neighborhoods where 88% of Americans live. Violent crime grades D+ and property crime C-. Schenectady as a whole grades B. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Central State run from C+ to F, so check the map below.
D+
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 288 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
12% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Central State as a whole, and 88% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Central State scores 288.
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 State, Schenectady, NY at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Central State in Schenectady, 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 State
Car thefts are less common than in most D-graded neighborhoods. Central State has 2.6 car thefts a year per 1,000 residents; for the typical resident of a D-graded US neighborhood, the figure is 6.5.
Thefts and aggravated assaults both run high. In Central State, each runs at more than double the US rate: 32.0 thefts and 5.9 aggravated assaults a year per 1,000 residents, against 13.1 and 2.6 nationally.
Crime rates and types in Central State
CrimeGrade™ estimates Central State has about 96 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, more than double the rate for the US as a whole and 83% more than Schenectady 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 State is assault, about 38% 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 Schenectady
The Schenectady Police Department polices Central State; these figures cover Schenectady as a whole, 2022 to 2024.
In Schenectady as a whole, 66% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often on streets and sidewalks: 40% of them, against 18% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (66%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Streets and sidewalks (44%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Streets and sidewalks (40%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (52%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Robbery
Streets and sidewalks (41%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (53%)
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 State compares with nearby neighborhoods
Of the 10 neighborhoods closest to Central State, 7 have less crime. Campus Area and Buckingham Lake-Crestwood have the least.
Empty homes, nightlife and walkability in Central State
Two things set Central State apart: it has 0.1% of its homes standing empty, against 7.1% nationally, and 1.4 bars and nightlife spots for every 1,000 residents, against 0.6 nationally. Places with few empty homes tend to report less burglary, vandalism and arson, yet burglary and vandalism run higher here than that would suggest.
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson.0.1% of homesUS: 7.1%Lower than for 99% of residents of US city neighborhoods
Bars and nightlifeBars, lounges, clubs and casinos. Places with more bars tend to report more assault and robbery.1.4 per 1,000 residentsUS: 0.6Higher 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. 68% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.C- (30 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 56% of residents of US city neighborhoods
Show all 4
Tree coverThe share of land under tree canopy where people live. Leafy neighborhoods tend to report less robbery.20% where people liveUS: 21%Higher than for 79% 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 State
Crime costs Central State about $2,735 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 $14 million a year, or $3,285 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 State 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
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 State, Schenectady, NY average a SchoolGrade of D-: 43% of students test proficient, against 52% projected for schools like them. Overall, they underperform expectations. See schools in Central State on SchoolGrade
