Safety index · Ward 2, Washington, D.C. · data through November 2026
Is Downtown Washington, D.C. safe?
Downtown records a high level of reported crime for Washington, D.C.. Its SafeRoute safety index is 27 out of 100 — 29 points below the citywide median of 56, ranking 122nd of 132 D.C. neighborhoods — based on 1,255 incidents reported to the DC Metropolitan Police within 1 km of the neighborhood center over the 9 months to November 2026.
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 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 73% of reports — rather than violence against strangers, though the full mix below is worth a look.
Incidents spread across the day here — roughly 29% of severity-weighted reports come in the evening (6 p.m.–midnight) and 15% overnight.
Where incidents cluster
What's reported here
| Other theft | 914 · 73% | |
| Vehicle crime | 229 · 18% | |
| Robbery | 53 · 4% | |
| Violent crime | 43 · 3% | |
| Burglary | 16 · 1% |
When it happens
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 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 StoreNearby areas
- Mount Vernon Square24/100 · High risk
- Chinatown29/100 · Elevated
- Penn Quarter32/100 · Elevated
- Connecticut Avenue/
K Street 30/100 · Elevated - Mount Vernon Triangle27/100 · Elevated
Common questions
Is Downtown safe at night?
Elevated overall (safety index 27/100). About 44% of severity-weighted incidents in Downtown 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?
Other theft — 914 of 1,255 incidents (73%) reported within 1 km of the neighborhood center over the 9 months to November 2026.
How is the Downtown 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.