Last Updated: July 2026
Safest and Most Dangerous Neighborhoods in Austin, TX (2026 Update)
Austin’s reputation as a livable, family-friendly city is well-earned — but like any major American city with more than a million residents, its safety profile varies dramatically depending on where you are. The same metro area that includes communities with some of the lowest crime rates in Texas also contains neighborhoods where violent crime runs two to five times higher than the city average. Understanding how crime is actually distributed across Austin — and what the current data shows by neighborhood — matters whether you are relocating for a technology job, deciding where to raise children, evaluating a lease in a neighborhood you are not familiar with, or simply trying to understand the city you already live in.
Austin’s Overall Crime Picture in 2025-2026
Austin’s overall crime profile has improved significantly in recent years. According to 2025 data from the Austin Police Department, the city’s violent crime rate stood at approximately 370 incidents per 100,000 residents — a figure that represents a 12 percent decline from 2023 to 2025 and continues a downward trend that began after the 2021 peak. Homicides dropped to 50 by mid-November 2025, down from 72 in 2024 and 75 in 2023 — a significant reduction that reflects the city’s concentrated law enforcement efforts in high-crime corridors.
Where Austin stands out as a persistent challenge is property crime rather than violent crime. Vehicle theft, catalytic converter theft, and burglary are concentrated in specific areas and have proved more stubborn than the violent crime decline. The overall crime cost per Austin resident runs approximately $404 per year, which is sixty dollars less than the national average and $151 less than the Texas state average — a meaningful indicator that Austin, despite its size, performs better than many comparable large cities when the full picture is considered.
The geographic pattern in Austin is consistent across multiple data sources. The northwest and west parts of the city carry significantly lower crime rates than the central, east, and southeast areas. Your chance of being a victim of crime in Austin ranges from approximately 1 in 24 in the central neighborhoods to 1 in 47 in the west — a nearly two-to-one difference determined almost entirely by which part of the city you are in.
The Safest Neighborhoods in Austin
Circle C Ranch — Southwest Austin
Circle C Ranch consistently ranks as the safest neighborhood in Austin based on comprehensive crime data. Located in southwest Austin near MoPac and Slaughter Lane, it is a master-planned community that earns an A-minus grade for violent crime and a B-plus grade for property crime — both dramatically better than Austin’s citywide averages. Violent crime here is among the lowest of any neighborhood in the city, and property crime falls well below both the Austin and national averages. The community’s design contributes to its safety profile — well-lit streets, active neighborhood watches, HOA oversight, and an almost exclusively residential character with limited commercial foot traffic. Circle C Ranch also benefits from proximity to Violet Crown Trail and access to highly rated Austin ISD and Eanes ISD campuses, making it a consistent first choice for families relocating from other Texas cities and from out of state.
Westlake Hills
Westlake Hills — a small incorporated city within the Austin metro, not merely a neighborhood — has its own police department separate from APD, with faster response times and a higher officer-to-resident ratio than the broader Austin force. Violent crime rates in Westlake Hills fall well below not just the Austin average but the national average, and property crime is minimal relative to the city as a whole. Located west of downtown along the shores of Lake Austin, Westlake Hills is home to the Eanes Independent School District — consistently one of the highest-rated school districts in Texas — and commands some of the highest real estate prices in the metro. Its combination of suburban character, independent law enforcement, established community infrastructure, and proximity to downtown makes it one of the most sought-after addresses in Central Texas for families who prioritize both safety and access to the city.
Northwest Hills
Northwest Hills sits firmly inside Austin city limits but feels like a well-established suburb — a characteristic that contributes directly to its safety profile. The neighborhood has long-term residents, deep community networks, active neighborhood watch programs that have been in place for decades, and relatively low commercial activity. Violent crime in Northwest Hills runs significantly below the Austin citywide average, and property crime is similarly well below the city norm. Its location in northwest Austin — an area that consistently ranks as the safest quadrant of the city — and its access to highly regarded AISD schools make it a perennial favorite for families who want inside-the-loop Austin living without the crime concentrations of central and east Austin.
Tarrytown
Tarrytown is located approximately three miles northwest of downtown Austin — close enough to be genuinely urban but established enough to have maintained the stable, low-crime character that defines it. Its streets are walkable, its housing stock is well-kept, and its residents tend to stay for years, producing the community cohesion that characterizes Austin’s safest neighborhoods. Tarrytown ranks fourth safest overall among Austin neighborhoods on multiple comparative data platforms and earns strong safety grades for both violent and property crime. It is one of the more expensive areas in the city — a real estate reality that correlates with lower crime in virtually every urban market — but for Austin residents who prioritize central location with genuine safety, Tarrytown occupies a position that few neighborhoods in the city match.
Steiner Ranch
Steiner Ranch is a large master-planned community in northwest Austin, situated between Lake Austin and Lake Travis in an area that is geographically insulated from the city’s higher-crime corridors. The community encompasses multiple subdivisions under a coordinated HOA structure that includes community security patrols, controlled access points, and active management of common areas — all of which contribute to a crime profile well below the Austin average. Steiner Ranch is not close to downtown — a longer commute is the consistent trade-off that residents accept — but for families willing to make that exchange for lower crime rates, top-rated Leander ISD schools, lake access, and a genuinely quieter residential environment, it offers a combination that few Austin neighborhoods can replicate. Crime data consistently places Steiner Ranch among the safest communities in the entire Austin metro.
Mueller
Mueller is a planned urban village built on the site of Austin’s former Robert Mueller Municipal Airport, located about three miles northeast of downtown. Its design is intentional: walkable streets, mixed-use development, abundant parks and green space, and a community structure that encourages resident engagement and familiarity. That design philosophy produces a safety profile that places Mueller in the top third of Austin neighborhoods for both violent and property crime, despite its relatively central location. It is significantly more affordable than Westlake Hills or Tarrytown and attracts a mix of young families, professionals, and long-term Austin residents who want urban walkability without the crime concentrations of east Austin. Mueller also benefits from proximity to UT Austin, Dell Children’s Medical Center, and the Bartholomew District Park.
Other Consistently Safe Areas
Hyde Park, anchored by a neighborhood association that has been active since 1974 and located just north of UT Austin, offers low violent crime despite its dense, central Austin location. Cedar Park, Round Rock, and Pflugerville in the northern suburbs consistently produce crime rates below both the Austin city average and the national average, with highly regarded school districts and the suburban infrastructure that supports stable communities. Rollingwood, like Westlake Hills, is an incorporated city within the metro with its own police department and consistently low crime rates.
The Most Dangerous Neighborhoods in Austin
Rundberg / North Lamar Corridor
The Rundberg area — centered around Rundberg Lane and North Lamar Boulevard in north Austin — has historically been and remains Austin’s most consistently high-crime corridor. The area encompasses a concentration of older motel properties, high-density apartment complexes with rapid tenant turnover, and commercial strip development that creates the conditions associated with elevated crime in urban markets across the country. Violent crime and property crime both run significantly above Austin averages, and APD has maintained focused enforcement operations in this corridor for years. Redevelopment pressure from Austin’s northward growth has produced some changes in recent years, but the Rundberg corridor remains the address that appears most consistently at the top of Austin’s high-crime lists when measured against current APD data.
East Riverside / Riverside
Located southeast of downtown along Riverside Drive and the East Riverside corridor, this area carries a violent crime rate of approximately 1,552 per 100,000 residents — 232 percent higher than the Austin citywide average and 501 percent higher than the national average. It is the most concentrated pocket of violent crime in the Austin geography based on per-capita data. The area has significant student population tied to nearby UT Austin and St. Edward’s University, high density apartment development, and substantial commercial activity including bars and entertainment venues that contribute to nighttime crime concentrations. Property crime — particularly vehicle theft and break-ins — is among the highest in the city. East Riverside is undergoing development pressure as the broader Austin real estate market has pushed investment southward, but the crime profile remains dramatically elevated relative to the Austin average as of current data.
St. Johns
St. Johns, a historic northeast Austin neighborhood established as a Freedmen’s community in the 1890s, carries a violent crime rate of approximately 1,435 per 100,000 residents — 207 percent higher than the Austin average and 443 percent higher than the national figure. Residents and community organizations note concerns about inadequate street lighting, high rates of vehicle break-ins, and elevated nighttime risk in certain blocks. Redevelopment efforts focused on affordable housing and park improvements have brought investment to St. Johns, and those efforts may over time produce the improvements in safety that accompany neighborhood stabilization. Current data, however, places it among the highest-crime neighborhoods in Austin, and the elevated violent crime rate is the most significant factor in that characterization.
MLK Corridor / East Austin
The Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard corridor in east Austin carries a violent crime rate of approximately 1,366 per 100,000 residents — 193 percent higher than Austin’s citywide average and 233 percent higher than the national figure. The area is influenced by its active nightlife concentration, the proximity of bar and entertainment district activity along East Sixth Street, and the historical underinvestment in the infrastructure that supports community safety. East Austin as a broader geography has transformed dramatically since 2015 — rapid development, rising property values, and significant demographic change have altered much of its character — but the crime concentrations in specific blocks along the MLK corridor remain elevated based on current APD incident data.
Montopolis and East Riverside-Oltorf
Montopolis, in southeast Austin near the Colorado River, and the East Riverside-Oltorf area are consistently identified in current crime data as concentrated property crime zones — particularly for vehicle theft, catalytic converter theft, and residential burglary. Montopolis is a historically lower-income community that has seen investment pressure from Austin’s growth but retains elevated property crime rates that make it a consistent presence on Austin’s high-crime lists. The East Riverside-Oltorf area encompasses both the elevated violent crime of the broader Riverside corridor and the concentrated property crime that makes this part of southeast Austin the city’s most challenging from a combined crime standpoint.
Georgian Acres and Johnston Terrace
Georgian Acres and Johnston Terrace, both located in north Austin, appear consistently in Austin crime data as elevated-risk neighborhoods for both property and violent crime. Their north Austin locations place them in the general geographic area of the Rundberg corridor, and their crime profiles reflect the elevated rates that characterize that part of the city relative to the northwest and west areas that consistently outperform the city average.
How to Research Crime in Your Specific Austin Neighborhood
The neighborhood-level data above provides useful context, but crime rates within specific Austin neighborhoods can vary significantly by block, and they change over time as development, APD policing strategies, and demographics shift. The most reliable tools for researching crime in a specific Austin area are the following.
The Austin Police Department Crime Viewer at austintexas.gov provides reported incidents by type and location on an interactive map that can be filtered by date range, crime category, and geographic area. This is the most current and most granular crime data available for Austin and reflects actual APD incident reports rather than statistical estimates or data aggregated from older sources.
CrimeGrade.org aggregates crime data by neighborhood and assigns letter grades from A to F based on crime rates relative to national averages. It provides a useful comparative view across Austin neighborhoods and allows direct comparison of specific areas you are evaluating for a home purchase or lease.
DoorProfit’s Austin Crime Map at doorprofit.com provides an interactive neighborhood-level crime visualization updated through 2026, with safety grades across 173 analyzed Austin neighborhoods and the ability to compare specific streets and zip codes.
NeighborhoodScout and AreaVibes both compile neighborhood-level crime statistics from FBI uniform crime reporting data and local law enforcement sources, with the caveat that their data typically lags current conditions by one to two years.
What Austin’s Crime Picture Means Beyond the Data
Austin’s safety story in 2025 and 2026 is genuinely more positive than it has been in years — declining violent crime, significantly reduced homicides, and a property crime profile that costs residents less per capita than the national average. That improvement is real and reflects both APD’s concentrated enforcement efforts in high-crime corridors and the broader effect of Austin’s continued development and economic growth on neighborhood stability.
What the data also shows is that the improvement is not evenly distributed. A resident of Circle C Ranch or Westlake Hills lives in a community where crime is rare and serious violent incidents are genuinely uncommon. A resident of East Riverside or Rundberg lives in a neighborhood where the statistical reality is dramatically different. That geographic variation — not the citywide average — is the number that actually matters for the decisions most Austin residents are making about where to live, where to send their children, and how to evaluate the risk of a particular address. If you or a family member has been affected by a crime in Austin — whether as a victim navigating the criminal justice process for the first time, as someone injured through another person’s negligence, or as a person facing criminal charges in Travis County — Barton and Associates represents clients throughout the Austin metro and Travis County. Our criminal defense attorneys appear in Travis County courts regularly and are available around the clock at 512-843-3476. Our personal injury attorneys handle cases arising from accidents, assaults, and negligent security incidents across the Austin area. The consultation is free and confidential.
Understanding where crime is concentrated in Austin is the first step toward making informed decisions about your safety and your family’s. The data exists and is updated regularly — using it is a matter of knowing where to look and how to interpret what you find.
