SAFEROUTE

Safety index · Ward 6, Washington, D.C. · data through November 2026

Is Downtown East, Washington, D.C. safe?

Downtown East records more reported crime than most Washington, D.C. neighborhoods. Its SafeRoute safety index is 46 out of 100 — 10 points below the citywide median of 56, ranking 88th of 132 D.C. neighborhoods — based on 500 incidents reported to the DC Metropolitan Police within 1 km of the neighborhood center over the 9 months to November 2026.

46/100
Elevated
SafeRoute safety index for the area within 1 km of the center of Downtown East — higher is safer. 88th of 132 D.C. neighborhoods.

DATA THROUGH NOVEMBER 2026 · 9 MONTHS OF DATA

The 0–100 scale is calibrated to Washington, D.C. — a typical Washington, D.C. neighborhood sits near 56. It ranks Downtown East against other neighborhoods here, and cannot be read against a score in another city.

Most of what's reported here is property-related — other theft alone is 59% of reports — rather than violence against strangers, though the full mix below is worth a look.

Reported incidents here skew to daytime and evening hours — only about 15% of severity-weighted reports fall overnight (midnight–6 a.m.).

Where incidents cluster

Massachusetts Avenue NorthwestK Street Northwest neighborhood center 500 m N ↑
1 dot = 1 report · darker = more severe · rings every 250 m from the neighborhood center500 incidents reported within 1 km of the Downtown East center · DC Police data through November 2026 · basemap © OpenStreetMap contributors. Reports cluster toward the north-west of the map — the area immediately around the neighborhood center is comparatively quiet.
Open Downtown East on the live interactive map →

What's reported here

Other theft
294 · 59%
Vehicle crime
132 · 26%
Robbery
42 · 8%
Violent crime
21 · 4%
Burglary
9 · 2%
Sexual offences
2 · 0%

When it happens

6a–6p6p–12a12a–6aMON–FRI6a–6p6p–12a12a–6aSAT–SUN

Severity-weighted share of reported incidents by time of day, from police incident timestamps.

Is Washington, D.C. safe at night? See which neighborhoods see the most reported crime after dark →

Walking in Downtown East at night?

SafeRoute scores every walking route against the same official crime data on this page — and shows how much of each route runs on lit streets. Compare the routes and share your walk. Free, no account.

Get SafeRoute on the App Store

Nearby areas

Common questions

Is Downtown East safe at night?

Elevated overall (safety index 46/100). About 47% of severity-weighted incidents in Downtown East are reported between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. At night, prefer lit, busier streets — a block or two of detour often avoids the clusters on the map above.

What is the most common crime in Downtown East?

Other theft — 294 of 500 incidents (59%) reported within 1 km of the neighborhood center over the 9 months to November 2026.

How is the Downtown East safety index calculated?

SafeRoute weights each incident reported to the DC Metropolitan Police by severity (violence weighs more than shoplifting), sums the last available period within 1 km of the neighborhood center, and normalizes against citywide crime rates onto a 0–100 scale — higher is safer. It describes reported crime only; it is not a guarantee of safety. The scale is calibrated within Washington, D.C., so scores compare neighborhoods to each other and cannot be read against another city's.