South Side is a neighborhood of 15,200 residents in Columbus, about 3 miles southeast of downtown · Updated November 2026
Is South Side in Columbus safe?
Crime in South Side is high, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of F. Most US neighborhoods have far less: 94% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime than South Side. Violent crime grades F and property crime D+. Columbus as a whole grades C. Its neighborhoods are much alike, from D to F; see the map below.
F
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 0 of 1,000Less safe than nearly all US neighborhoodsi What this means
6% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than South Side as a whole, and 94% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. South Side scores 0.
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 South Side, Columbus, OH at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in South Side in Columbus, 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 South Side
Reported rapes run high for an F-graded neighborhood. South Side has 1.9 reported rapes a year per 1,000 residents; for the typical resident of an F-graded US neighborhood, the figure is 0.55.
Burglaries and car thefts both run high. In South Side, each runs at more than triple the US rate: 10.4 burglaries and 10.8 car thefts a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.4 and 2.7 nationally.
How South Side compares within Columbus
Every part of South Side grades D or F on the national scale. Grades across South Side run from D to F; every part of South Side has more crime than the typical US neighborhood.
100%
D or F 100%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
South Side has less crime than 10 of the 46 neighborhoods in Columbus. It covers much of the Far South, South Side, and Southside Columbus areas and the Brice-Tussing, Near Southside, and Eastland areas.
Is crime going up in Columbus?
Reported crime in Columbus as a whole has fallen since 2019: violent crime is down 17% and property crime down 23%. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 5.2 to 4.3 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 34 to 26 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, violent crime fell 17% and property crime fell 19%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
ColumbusUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police departments that serve Columbus. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Columbus
Violent, US
Property, Columbus
Property, US
2016
+5%
+4%
+21%
+15%
2017
+1%
+4%
+18%
+12%
2018
-0%
+0%
+8%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
+20%
+4%
-3%
-8%
2021
+34%
+6%
+2%
-10%
2022
+3%
+5%
+6%
-6%
2023
+0%
+2%
-4%
-7%
2024
-17%
-4%
-23%
-15%
Crime rates and types in South Side
CrimeGrade™ estimates South Side has about 122 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, about triple the rate for the US as a whole and 73% more than Columbus 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 South Side, about 30% 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 Columbus
The Columbus Police Department polices South Side; these figures cover Columbus as a whole, 2022 to 2024.
In Columbus as a whole, 59% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often in parking lots and garages: 58% of them, against 31% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (59%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Homes (33%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Theft from cars
Parking lots and garages (58%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Vandalism
Parking lots and garages (34%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Robbery
Streets and sidewalks (28%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (50%)
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 South Side compares with nearby neighborhoods
Of the 10 neighborhoods closest to South Side, 6 have less crime. Downtown Columbus and Southwest have the least.
Parking lots, empty homes and walkability in South Side
Two things set South Side apart: it has 4.3 parking-lot spaces per resident, against 2.0 nationally, and 16.4% of its homes standing empty, against 7.1% nationally. Places like that tend to report more theft, and it runs high here.
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.4.3 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher than for 97% 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.16.4% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 95% 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+ (47 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 62% of residents of US city neighborhoods
Show all 4
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
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 South Side
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs South Side about $3,937 a year per household, about 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 $89 million a year, or $5,876 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 South Side 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 South Side, Columbus, OH average a SchoolGrade of F: 26% of students test proficient, against 19% projected for schools like them. Overall, they don't meet expectations. See schools in South Side on SchoolGrade
