Southwest is a neighborhood of 19,800 residents in Columbus, about 4 miles southwest of downtown · Updated November 2026
Is Southwest in Columbus safe?
With an overall CrimeGrade™ of B-, Southwest has moderate crime by national standards. Most US neighborhoods have less: 77% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime. Violent crime grades B- and property crime B. Columbus as a whole grades C. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Southwest run from A- to D, so check the map below.
B-
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 596 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
23% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Southwest as a whole, and 77% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Southwest scores 596.
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 Southwest, Columbus, OH at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Southwest 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 Southwest
Thefts from cars happen in parking lots and garages far more often than nationally. In Columbus as a whole, 58% of reported thefts from cars happen in parking lots and garages, against 31% nationally.
How Southwest compares within Columbus
Most of Southwest grades well: 70% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 8% in areas graded D or F. Grades across Southwest run from A- to D; every part of Southwest has more crime than the typical US neighborhood.
70%22%
A or B 70%C 22%D or F 8%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Southwest has less crime than 30 of the 46 neighborhoods in Columbus. It covers much of the Greater Hilltop and Westland 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 Southwest
CrimeGrade™ estimates Southwest has about 65 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 74% more than the US as a whole and close to 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.
Theft is the most common crime in Southwest, about 33% 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 Columbus
The Columbus Police Department polices Southwest; these figures cover Columbus as a whole, 2022 to 2024.
In Columbus as a whole, 59% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% 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 Southwest compares with nearby neighborhoods
Southwest has less crime than 8 of its 10 nearest neighborhoods; only Pinnacle Club and Downtown Columbus have less.
Parking lots, walkability and density in Southwest
Two things set Southwest apart: it has 5.5 parking-lot spaces per resident, against 2.0 nationally, and a Walk Grade of D- (10 of 100) on BestNeighborhood, against 21 for the US as a whole. Places with a lot of parking-lot space 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.5.5 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher 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. 93% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D- (10 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 92% of residents of US city neighborhoods
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery and car theft.15% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 85% of residents of US city neighborhoods
Show all 4
Transit serviceBuses and trains an hour at the evening rush. Places with busy transit tend to report more theft and robbery. BestNeighborhood's Transit Grade for Southwest: D (13 of 100).2 trips an hourUS: noneLower than for 80% 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 Southwest
Crime costs Southwest about $1,976 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 64% more 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 $46 million a year, or $2,302 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 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. Southwest 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
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 Southwest, Columbus, OH average a SchoolGrade of D-: 39% of students test proficient, against 28% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in Southwest on SchoolGrade
