Safest Neighborhoods in Austin: Map + Best Areas (2026 Data)

The safest neighborhoods in Austin are in Northwest Austin from Great Hills to Avery Ranch, in Southwest Austin from Oak Hill to Circle C and in the older central neighborhoods north and west of the UT campus, such as Tarrytown, Rosedale, Allandale and Hyde Park. Between October 2025 and September 2026, 18 of the 74 neighborhoods with at least 2,500 residents recorded fewer than 2.1 violent crimes per 1,000 people, half the city rate of 4.1. Those 18 neighborhoods hold 39% of Austin’s population and 12% of its violent crime.

Safest neighborhoods in Austin: Windsor Road, West Austin Neighborhood Group (Tarrytown and Deep Eddy) and Rosedale west of Lamar. Hyde Park, North University and West University around UT. Crestview, Allandale and Brentwood in North Central Austin. Great Hills / Balcones, Jollyville / Milwood, Avery Ranch / Anderson Mill and Lake Austin / Westlake in the northwest. Circle C / Southwest Austin, Barton Creek / Westlake, West Oak Hill, East Oak Hill and Brodie Lane / Southpark in the southwest.

Northwest Austin has the lowest combined rate of the five parts of town: 1.3 violent crimes per 1,000 residents. Across the city, violent crime other than sexual assault fell 9% from the previous 12 months. The UT campus is not ranked because University of Texas Police record its crime.

Map of the safest neighborhoods in Austin

On this map dark green means fewer than 3 violent crimes per 1,000 residents and pale green means 3 to 5.5. Tan covers 5.5 to 8.5, and rose is 8.5 or more. The ranking below uses a lower cutoff than dark green: half the city rate, or 2.1. Grey marks Old Enfield, which has too few residents for a rate, and the towns inside and around Austin with their own police, such as West Lake Hills, Rollingwood and Sunset Valley. The buttons zoom to Downtown & Central, North, Northwest, East and South & West. Switch to Theft & robbery for property crime, and tap or hover over a neighborhood for its counts.

Violent crimeTheft & robbery

All AustinDowntown & CentralNorthNorthwestEastSouth & West

Violent crime per 1,000 residents

Safest (under 3)Average (3–5.5)Above average (5.5–8.5)Higher crime (8.5+ per 1,000)Few residents

Thefts & robberies per area

600+300–599150–299Under 150

Tap or hover a neighborhood to see its crime numbers.

Table of Contents

• Safest neighborhoods in Austin
• Best neighborhoods in Austin
• Safe areas in Austin for tourists
• Is Circle C safe?
• Is Hyde Park safe?
• Is Zilker safe?
• Low numbers that mislead
• Where crime is higher
• Safest suburbs of Austin
• Tips for choosing a neighborhood
• How this map was made
• FAQ

Safest neighborhoods in Austin

The table lists the 15 neighborhoods of 2,500 or more residents with the lowest violent crime rates. In a neighborhood of 3,000 people one crime moves the rate by about 0.3, so the top of the list is a group, not a strict order. Three more neighborhoods fall under the safe line: East Oak Hill (1.7), North University (1.9) and Brentwood (2.0). Several of Austin’s areas are large: Jollyville / Milwood and Great Hills / Balcones each have close to 60,000 residents.

Tarrytown, Rosedale and the central west side

Windsor Road is the only neighborhood in Austin with no violent crime in the 12 months: its 3,287 residents recorded 0 murders, rapes, robberies or aggravated assaults. The planning area takes in Bryker Woods and Pemberton Heights east of MoPac, with the Shoal Creek Greenbelt and Pemberton Castle inside it. West Austin Neighborhood Group, on the other side of MoPac, covers Tarrytown and Deep Eddy along Exposition Boulevard and Lake Austin Boulevard. It rates 0.5 with 10,544 residents. Rosedale, between West 45th Street, North Lamar Boulevard and Burnet Road with Shoal Creek Boulevard through the middle, rates 1.5.

Crestview, Allandale and Brentwood

Three neighborhoods line Burnet Road north of Rosedale. Crestview, between Anderson Lane, Burnet Road, Justin Lane and North Lamar, rates 1.3, the lowest in North Austin. Allandale, west of Burnet Road up to Anderson Lane, rates 1.5. Brentwood, between Burnet Road, North Lamar, 45th Street and Justin Lane, rates 2.0, just under the safe line. Crestview is mostly bungalows and ranch houses.

Hyde Park and the UT neighborhoods

Hyde Park (1.6) and North University (1.9) sit north of the campus between Guadalupe Street and Duval Street. West University, the West Campus student district between Guadalupe and North Lamar, rates 1.5 with 20,517 residents, most of them students. North University has only 4,801 residents, so one or two crimes move its place in the list. UT Police extended their patrol area in West Campus to North Lamar in August 2025, so part of its crime may be recorded by the university rather than by APD.

Northwest Austin

Jollyville / Milwood is the largest area in Austin, with 60,727 residents between Spicewood Springs Road, RM 620 and Parmer Lane, and it rates 1.4. Great Hills / Balcones, along RM 2222, Spicewood Springs Road and Mesa Drive, rates 1.2. Avery Ranch / Anderson Mill, around Lakeline Mall and Avery Ranch Boulevard, rates 1.6. Lake Austin / Westlake, along RM 620 and RM 2222 with River Place Boulevard inside it, rates 1.1.

Circle C, Oak Hill and Southwest Austin

Circle C / Southwest Austin has 44,864 residents and a rate of 0.5, the lowest of any area with more than 20,000 people. Barton Creek / Westlake, along Southwest Parkway and Bee Caves Road, rates 0.9. West Oak Hill (1.2) and East Oak Hill (1.7) both border William Cannon Drive and Southwest Parkway. Brodie Lane / Southpark, between Brodie Lane, Manchaca Road and Slaughter Lane, rates 1.7.

Best neighborhoods in Austin

The best neighborhoods in Austin depend on the reason for the move or the trip. A visitor wants short rides to the sights, a family wants parks and pools, and a renter wants a price that fits. The four groups below use the same crime figures.

Best neighborhoods for visitors

Zilker (2.1) and Old West Austin (2.3) have low violent crime rates and sit next to downtown. Both rate about half the city average, though Old West Austin records more thefts per resident than the city. Visit Austin places the Carpenter Hotel in the Zilker area, a few blocks from Zilker Park. Old West Austin holds Clarksville, founded in 1871 by the freedman Charles Clark, and West 6th Street runs through it. Visitors who want shopping and a hotel pool can stay at the Domain in North Burnet, which rates 3.5 but recorded 579 thefts, more than two and a half times the city’s rate per resident. The MetroRail Red Line runs from the Domain’s Kramer station to downtown on weekdays and Saturdays, with no Sunday trains. A local CapMetro bus ride costs $1.25 and a day pass $2.50 until fares rise on January 10, 2027.

Best neighborhoods for families

Circle C has Circle C Ranch Metropolitan Park, a 590-acre park on Slaughter Creek with trails, sports fields and a disc golf course, and the Veloway, a 3.1-mile loop for cyclists. Tarrytown has Deep Eddy Pool, with free entry, and the Howson Branch library on Exposition Boulevard. Hyde Park has Shipe Pool on Avenue G, Allandale has the Yarborough Branch library on Hancock Drive, and Brentwood has Brentwood Park, just over 9 acres with tennis courts, ball fields and a playscape.

Best neighborhoods for young professionals

Crestview has a MetroRail stop at North Lamar and Airport Boulevard, opened in 2010, and the Midtown Commons development beside it, so it pairs a low rate with a train to downtown. Hyde Park, laid out in 1891, has a historic district on the National Register, the Elisabet Ney Museum and walking distance to the campus. Clarksville is the oldest surviving freedmen’s town west of the Mississippi. Travis Heights, the South River City neighborhood east of South Congress, rates 3.2, below the city average but above the safe line.

Best affordable safe neighborhoods

West Oak Hill and Crestview are among the more affordable low-crime areas. Census Bureau estimates for 2020 to 2024 put median home values in West Oak Hill’s tracts between $532,000 and $682,000 and in Crestview at about $640,000, with median rents near $1,800 to $1,900 a month. North Shoal Creek, west of Burnet Road below Anderson Lane, rates 3.4, below the city average but above the safe line, and has a cheaper tract: a median rent near $1,550 and home value near $494,000. At the other end, Old West Austin’s main tract has a median home value near $1.3 million, and the Tarrytown and Windsor Road tracts run $1.1 million to $1.75 million. All figures are Census tract medians, and tracts do not follow neighborhood lines.

Safe areas in Austin for tourists

The Capitol, Congress Avenue, 6th Street, Rainey Street and the Convention Center are all inside Downtown, which recorded 1,517 thefts, about five times the city’s theft rate per resident, on a rate that divides by 13,663 residents and leaves out visitors. The safe areas in Austin for tourists are around it: Zilker Park, Barton Springs Pool and the Lady Bird Lake trail to the southwest, where thefts from parked cars are the main risk, and the UT museums to the north. The Blanton Museum of Art, the Harry Ransom Center and the LBJ Presidential Library are on the campus, where UT Police patrol.

Is Circle C safe?

Yes. Circle C / Southwest Austin recorded 22 violent crimes in 12 months among 44,864 residents, a rate of 0.5, about an eighth of the city’s. Theft is low too: 259 thefts, about a quarter of the city’s rate per resident. The area on the map is larger than Circle C Ranch itself. The master-planned community, annexed by Austin in 1997, has about 15,000 residents and the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center on its east side. The rest of the area is the southern part of Oak Hill and the subdivisions around it.

Is Hyde Park safe?

Yes. Hyde Park recorded 10 violent crimes for a rate of 1.6, under half the city’s, and 134 thefts, about the city rate per resident. The historic neighborhood runs from 38th Street to 45th Street between Guadalupe Street and Duval Street. Hancock, its neighbor to the east, rates 2.8 but recorded about twice the city’s thefts per resident.

Is Zilker safe?

The Zilker neighborhood rates 2.1, the line where the safest list ends. Zilker Park itself is in Barton Hills, which rates 2.8. Barton Hills recorded 306 thefts, more than one and a half times the city rate per resident, because the park, more than 350 acres, and Barton Springs Pool draw crowds that the resident count leaves out. A bigger share of those thefts were from vehicles than in the city as a whole, so leave nothing in sight in the park lots.

Low numbers that mislead

UT rates 0.5 with 7,412 residents and would rank near the top. UT Police have primary responsibility for university property, and the campus block group has only a few dozen APD reports of any kind in a year, so the area is not ranked. Windsor Road’s zero is real: its block groups show few reports of any crime. With 3,287 residents, though, one assault would lift it to about 0.3, still the lowest rate in the city.

Old Enfield, next to Clarksville, has 1,136 residents and no rating. Barton Creek / Westlake and Old West Austin have low violent rates and more thefts per resident than the city. Great Hills / Balcones, around the Arboretum, recorded the most thefts from vehicles of any Austin neighborhood.

Where crime is higher

East Austin has the highest combined rate, 6.9 violent crimes per 1,000 residents, followed by Downtown & Central at 5.5 and North Austin at 5.3. The highest rates are in Downtown, East Cesar Chavez, the Rundberg Lane area and Riverside. Our areas to avoid in Austin guide covers those 15 neighborhoods.

Safest suburbs of Austin

In 2025 FBI figures, the suburban departments below averaged 1.53 violent crimes per 1,000 residents, a little over a third of Austin’s 4.23. On the population each department reports, Leander ranks lowest of the larger suburbs, then Hutto and Cedar Park. Two smaller towns west of the city are too small for the table: Lakeway reported 13 violent crimes in 2025 for 19,009 residents and Bee Cave 8 for 8,356.

Murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault reported to the FBI by each agency, per 1,000 residents of the population the agency reports. Source: FBI Crime Data Explorer. Agencies that report no complete year are left out.

Tips for choosing a neighborhood

• Visit the street after dark and on a weekend before signing a lease.
• Switch the map to Theft & robbery before booking a hotel near a mall or a park. Shopping areas such as the Domain and the Arboretum have the most thefts in the low-crime part of the city.
• Price the commute. Circle C and Avery Ranch sit at the city’s edges, and the walkable central neighborhoods cost the most.
• Without a car, stay near a MetroRail station or a Route 801 stop on North Lamar or South Congress.
• Call 9-1-1 in an emergency. For non-emergency police reports call 3-1-1, or 512-974-2000 from outside Austin; since November 1, 2026, 3-1-1 answers from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.

How this map was made

The ranking uses the Austin Police Department’s public NIBRS offense records for October 2025 through September 2026. Violent crime is murder, rape and other forcible sex offenses, robbery and aggravated assault, counted once per victim. APD records each crime by census block group, so neighborhood counts are split among the blocks of each group by 2020 Census population, and each rate divides by that population. The areas are the city’s neighborhood planning areas in the center and larger areas grouped by council district in the rest of the city. Only areas with 2,500 or more residents are ranked, and UT is left out for the campus reason above. Crimes recorded by UT Police and by the Texas Department of Public Safety at the Capitol are not in APD’s file. The suburban rates come from the FBI’s Crime Data Explorer and the housing costs from the Census Bureau’s 2020-2024 American Community Survey.

We ranked the safest neighborhoods in Milwaukee, Houston, San Diego and San Francisco.

FAQ