Southwest is a neighborhood of 33,200 residents in Reno, about 2 miles southwest of downtown · Updated November 2026
How common is violent crime in Southwest?
Southwest grades B+ for violent crime, with more of it than the neighborhoods where 75% of Americans live. Assaults make up 90% of it, and most of those are simple assaults, which involve no weapon and no serious injury. Reno as a whole grades B for violent crime.
B+
Violent crime CrimeGrade™
Safety score 695 of 1,000More violent crime than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
25% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more violent crime than Southwest as a whole, and 75% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a violent crime safety score of 860, a CrimeGrade™ of A. Southwest scores 695.
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 Southwest, Reno, NV at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Southwest in Reno, 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 Southwest
Reported rape stands out among neighborhoods graded B for violent crime. For the typical resident of a US neighborhood graded B for violent crime, the figure is 0.36 reported rapes a year per 1,000 residents; Southwest has 0.65.
How Southwest compares within Reno
Most of Southwest grades well for violent crime: 90% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 5% in areas graded D or F. Violent crime grades across Southwest run from A to F.
90%
A or B 90%C 5%D or F 5%
Share of residents, by the violent crime CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Southwest has less violent crime than 7 of the 10 neighborhoods in Reno. It covers much of the Northwest and Southwest areas and the South Central, Powning Addition, and Midtown areas.
Is violent crime going up in Reno?
Reported violent crime in Reno as a whole peaked in 2022 and has fallen 15% since, back near its 2019 level. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 5.6 to 5.3 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7). In 2024 alone, violent crime fell 13%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
RenoUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police departments that serve Reno. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Reno
Violent, US
2016
+27%
+4%
2017
+21%
+4%
2018
+17%
+0%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
+5%
+4%
2021
+3%
+6%
2022
+10%
+5%
2023
+8%
+2%
2024
-6%
-4%
Violent crime rates and types in Southwest
CrimeGrade™ estimates Southwest has about 13 reported violent crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, about the same as the US as a whole and 25% less than Reno 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 Southwest, 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 Reno
The Reno Police Department polices Southwest; these figures cover Reno as a whole, 2022 to 2024.
In Reno as a whole, 40% of aggravated assaults happen at a home, against 53% nationally. Robberies happen most often at stores and businesses: 44% of them.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Robbery
Stores and businesses (44%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (40%)
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 Southwest and nearby neighborhoods
Southwest has less violent crime than 7 of its 10 nearest neighborhoods.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from Southwest. Beside each violent crime CrimeGrade™ is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer).
Compared with neighborhoods of similar size and density, Southwest has more violent crime than 50% of them.
Among the traits that tend to go with violent crime, two set Southwest apart: it has 1.4 bars and nightlife spots for every 1,000 residents, against 0.6 nationally, and 15% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally. Places with many bars tend to report more assault and robbery, and they run high here.
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
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery.15% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 86% 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. 79% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D+ (20 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 72% 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 robbery. BestNeighborhood's Transit Grade for Southwest: D (13 of 100).3 trips an hourUS: noneLower than for 78% 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 Southwest
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, violent crime costs Southwest about $41 million a year, or $1,241 per resident. The costs that reach a bill, such as medical care, lost work and the justice system, come to about $9.0 million, or $272 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
Published research on what crime costs victims and communities
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.
