Downtown West is a neighborhood of 5,220 residents in St. Louis, close to downtown · Updated November 2026
Is Downtown West in St. Louis safe?
Downtown West is among the higher-crime places in the US: an overall CrimeGrade™ of D-, with more crime than the neighborhoods where 92% of Americans live. Violent crime grades F and property crime C-. St. Louis as a whole grades F. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Downtown West run from C- to F, so check the map below.
D-
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 93 of 1,000Less safe than nearly all US neighborhoodsi What this means
8% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Downtown West as a whole, and 92% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Downtown West scores 93.
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 Downtown West, St. Louis, MO at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Downtown West in St. Louis, 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 Downtown West
Car thefts and thefts both run high. In Downtown West, each runs at more than triple the US rate: 21.0 car thefts and 77.1 thefts a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.7 and 13.1 nationally.
Thefts from cars happen on streets and sidewalks far more often than nationally. In St. Louis as a whole, 54% of reported thefts from cars happen on streets and sidewalks, against 18% nationally.
Crime rates and types in Downtown West
CrimeGrade™ estimates Downtown West has about 200 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, more than triple the rate for the US as a whole and about double the rate for St. Louis 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 Downtown West, about 39% of everything reported.
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 St. Louis
The St. Louis Police Department polices Downtown West; these figures cover St. Louis as a whole, 2022 to 2024.
In St. Louis as a whole, 56% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (56%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Streets and sidewalks (73%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Streets and sidewalks (54%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Streets and sidewalks (45%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Robbery
Streets and sidewalks (56%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Streets and sidewalks (45%)
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 Downtown West compares with nearby neighborhoods
Downtown West has less crime than 7 of its 10 nearest neighborhoods.
Two things set Downtown West apart: it has 9.0 bars and nightlife spots for every 1,000 residents, against 0.6 nationally, and 402 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole. Places like that tend to report more assault and robbery, and they run high here.
Bars and nightlifeBars, lounges, clubs and casinos. Places with more bars tend to report more assault and robbery.9.0 per 1,000 residentsUS: 0.6Higher than for 99% of residents of US city neighborhoods
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.402 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 99% 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. 89% of residents here live in walkable areas.A (86 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 88% 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.5.2 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher than for 99% 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 Downtown West
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Downtown West about $4,533 a year per household, more than triple 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 $65 million a year, or $12,526 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 Downtown West 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. Downtown West 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 Downtown West, St. Louis, MO average a SchoolGrade of F: 5% of students test proficient, against 12% projected for schools like them. Overall, they underperform expectations. See schools in Downtown West on SchoolGrade
