Mesa Forest is a neighborhood of 3,870 residents in Austin, about 7 miles north of downtown · Updated November 2026
Is Mesa Forest in Austin safe?
Yes. An overall CrimeGrade™ of A- means crime in Mesa Forest is low. Most US neighborhoods have little crime too, so Mesa Forest sits near the middle: 42% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime, and 58% in neighborhoods with less. Violent crime grades better than property crime here, A against B. Austin as a whole grades B. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Mesa Forest run from A to B, so check the map below.
A-
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 795 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
42% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Mesa Forest as a whole, and 58% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Mesa Forest scores 795.
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 Mesa Forest, Austin, TX at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Mesa Forest in Austin, 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
Crime rates and types in Mesa Forest
CrimeGrade™ estimates Mesa Forest has about 32 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 15% less than the US as a whole and 43% less than Austin 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 Mesa Forest, about 44% 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 Austin
The Austin Police Department polices Mesa Forest; these figures cover Austin as a whole, 2022 to 2024.
In Austin as a whole, 42% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often in parking lots and garages: 40% of them, against 31% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Stores and businesses (43%)
Night (midnight to 6 am)
Car theft
Parking lots and garages (44%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Parking lots and garages (40%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (34%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Robbery
Stores and businesses (39%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (49%)
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 Mesa Forest compares with nearby neighborhoods
Mesa Forest has the least crime of its 10 nearest neighborhoods.
Two things set Mesa Forest apart: it has 168 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole, and 16.3 stores and restaurants for every 1,000 residents, against 10.5 nationally. Places like that tend to report more theft and robbery, yet theft runs lower here than that would suggest.
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.168 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 94% of residents of US city neighborhoods
Tree coverThe share of land under tree canopy where people live. Leafy neighborhoods tend to report less robbery.28% where people liveUS: 21%Higher 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. 78% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.C- (26 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 62% 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.16.3 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 82% 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 Mesa Forest
Crime costs Mesa Forest about $751 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 38% less 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 $3.7 million a year, or $963 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 Mesa Forest 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 Mesa Forest, Austin, TX average a SchoolGrade of A+: 65% of students test proficient, against 59% projected for schools like them. Overall, they don't meet expectations. See schools in Mesa Forest on SchoolGrade
