Central is a neighborhood of 22,800 residents in Tacoma, close to downtown · Updated November 2026
How common is violent crime in Central?
Violent crime is high in Central: a D+, with more violent crime than the neighborhoods where 91% of Americans live. Assaults make up 90% of it, and most of those are simple assaults, which involve no weapon and no serious injury. Tacoma as a whole grades C for violent crime.
D+
Violent crime CrimeGrade™
Safety score 289 of 1,000More violent crime than nearly all US neighborhoodsi What this means
9% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more violent crime than Central as a whole, and 91% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a violent crime safety score of 860, a CrimeGrade™ of A. Central scores 289.
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, Tacoma, WA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Central in Tacoma, 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
Aggravated assault at more than triple the US rate. Central has 9.8 aggravated assaults a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.6 nationally.
How Central compares within Tacoma
Areas graded C for violent crime are home to 45% of residents in Central; 12% live in areas graded A or B and 43% in areas graded D or F. Violent crime grades across Central run from B- to F.
12%45%43%
A or B 12%C 45%D or F 43%
Share of residents, by the violent crime CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Central has less violent crime than 3 of the 10 neighborhoods in Tacoma. It covers much of the Central and New Tacoma areas.
Is violent crime going up in Tacoma?
Reported violent crime in Tacoma as a whole has risen 24% since 2019. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 8.6 to 11 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7). In 2024 alone, violent crime fell 15%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
TacomaUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police departments that serve Tacoma. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Tacoma
Violent, US
2016
+11%
+4%
2017
-5%
+4%
2018
+2%
+0%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
-0%
+4%
2021
+42%
+6%
2022
+89%
+5%
2023
+46%
+2%
2024
+24%
-4%
Violent crime rates and types in Central
CrimeGrade™ estimates Central has about 28 reported violent crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, about double the rate for the US as a whole and 36% more than Tacoma 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 90% 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 Tacoma
The Tacoma Police Department polices Central; these figures cover Tacoma as a whole, 2022 to 2024.
In Tacoma as a whole, 32% of aggravated assaults happen at a home, against 53% nationally. Robberies happen most often at stores and businesses: 48% of them.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Robbery
Stores and businesses (48%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Aggravated assault
Streets and sidewalks (39%)
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 more violent crime than 7 of its 10 nearest neighborhoods. Waller and Northeast Tacoma have the least violent crime nearby.
Among the traits that tend to go with violent crime, one sets Central apart: it has 67 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole. Places like that tend to report more robbery, and it runs high here.
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more robbery.67 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 79% of residents of US city neighborhoods
Tree coverThe share of land under tree canopy where people live. Leafy neighborhoods tend to report less robbery.18% where people liveUS: 21%Higher than for 76% 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- (50 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 64% of residents of US city neighborhoods
Show all 4
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery.28% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 73% 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 $77 million a year, or $3,360 per resident. The costs that reach a bill, such as medical care, lost work and the justice system, come to about $16 million, or $685 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.
