Central, Cleveland, OH Violent Crime Rates and Maps
Central is a neighborhood of 12,700 residents in Cleveland, close to downtown · Updated November 2026
How common is violent crime in Central?
Central grades F for violent crime, with more of it than the neighborhoods where 98% of Americans live. Assaults make up 88% of it, and most of those are simple assaults, which involve no weapon and no serious injury. Cleveland as a whole grades F for violent crime.
F
Violent crime CrimeGrade™
Safety score 0 of 1,000More violent crime than nearly all US neighborhoodsi What this means
2% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more violent crime than Central as a whole, and 98% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a violent crime safety score of 860, a CrimeGrade™ of A. Central 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 violent crime than most US neighborhoods.
How to read the map: each area's color compares its violent crime with the people who spend time there, on one national scale, from green for the least to red for the most. Each area gets its own color, so a busy downtown or nightlife strip can show red while the homes around it stay green. The interactive maps load faster on a solid connection. Compare high speed internet in Central, Cleveland, OH at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Central in Cleveland, 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 about violent crime in Central
Reported rape stands out among neighborhoods graded F for violent crime. For the typical resident of a US neighborhood graded F for violent crime, the figure is 0.61 reported rapes a year per 1,000 residents; Central has 1.7.
Robberies and aggravated assaults both run high. In Central, each runs at more than triple the US rate: 5.3 robberies and 14.0 aggravated assaults a year per 1,000 residents, against 0.62 and 2.6 nationally.
How Central compares within Cleveland
High violent crime is widespread across Central: 91% of residents live in areas graded D or F, and the rest in areas graded C. Violent crime grades across Central run from C+ to F.
91%
C 9%D or F 91%
Share of residents, by the violent crime CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Central has less violent crime than 13 of the 34 neighborhoods in Cleveland. It covers much of the Downtown Cleveland, Central, and Hough areas and the Tremont, North Broadway, and Kinsmith areas.
Is violent crime going up in Cleveland?
Reported violent crime in Cleveland as a whole peaked in 2021 and has fallen 12% since, back near its 2019 level. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults stayed at about 15 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7). Violent crime changed little from 2023 to 2024.
Violent crime, change since 2019
ClevelandUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police departments that serve Cleveland. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Cleveland
Violent, US
2016
+10%
+4%
2017
-5%
+4%
2018
+2%
+0%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
+12%
+4%
2021
+15%
+6%
2022
+6%
+5%
2023
+10%
+2%
2024
+1%
-4%
Violent crime rates and types in Central
CrimeGrade™ estimates Central has about 63 reported violent crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, more than triple the rate for the US as a whole and close to Cleveland as a whole.
All violent crime
Assaults
Robbery
Reported crimes a year, per 1,000 residents. Violent crime here includes simple assaults, which the FBI's violent crime rate leaves out.
Assault is the most common violent crime in Central, about 88% of the total.
Each CrimeGrade™ here compares a violent crime with the people who spend time in an area, not only the people who live there. 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 violent crime happens in Cleveland
The Cleveland Police Department polices Central; these figures cover Cleveland as a whole, 2022 to 2024.
In Cleveland as a whole, 46% of aggravated assaults happen at a home, against 53% nationally. Robberies happen most often on streets and sidewalks: 39% of them.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Robbery
Streets and sidewalks (39%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (46%)
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.
Violent crime in Central and nearby neighborhoods
Central has less violent crime than 5 of its 10 nearest neighborhoods.
Among the traits that tend to go with violent crime, two set Central apart: it has 78 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole, and a Walk Grade of B (62 of 100) on BestNeighborhood, against 21 for the US as a whole. It also combines many jobs with busy transit: places with both tend to report more robbery than places with only one of them, and it runs high here.
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more robbery.78 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 83% 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 assault.B (62 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 72% of residents of US city neighborhoods
Transit serviceBuses and trains an hour at the evening rush. Places with busy transit tend to report more robbery. BestNeighborhood's Transit Grade for Central: C (33 of 100).20 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 71% 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.5% where people liveUS: 21%Lower than for 67% 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 violent crime costs Central
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, violent crime costs Central about $116 million a year, or $9,135 per resident. The costs that reach a bill, such as medical care, lost work and the justice system, come to about $23 million, or $1,784 per resident.
Billed cost of violent crime per resident, per year
How CrimeGrade™ works
The violent crime CrimeGrade™ covers murder, rape, robbery and assault, from A+ for the least crime to F for the most, on one scale for the whole country.
It weighs each violent crime against the people who spend time in an area, so a busy downtown is graded on its workers and visitors as well as its residents.
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.
