Safety index · New Orleans · data through November 2026
Is Central Business District, New Orleans safe?
Central Business District records a high level of dispatched 911 calls for New Orleans. Its SafeRoute safety index is 13 out of 100 — 43 points below the citywide median of 56, ranking 67th of 69 New Orleans neighborhoods — based on 4,276 incidents dispatched to the NOPD within 1 km of the neighborhood center over the 10 months to November 2026.
DATA THROUGH NOVEMBER 2026 · 10 MONTHS OF DATA
The 0–100 scale is calibrated to New Orleans — a typical New Orleans neighborhood sits near 56. It ranks Central Business District against other neighborhoods here, and cannot be read against a score in another city.
Most of what police were called to here is property-related — other theft alone is 38% of calls — rather than violence against strangers, though the full mix below is worth a look.
Incidents spread across the day here — roughly 28% of severity-weighted calls come in the evening (6 p.m.–midnight) and 23% overnight.
Where incidents cluster
What police were called to here
| Other theft | 1,607 · 38% | |
| Violent crime | 1,239 · 29% | |
| Vehicle crime | 562 · 13% | |
| Sexual offences | 192 · 4% | |
| Criminal damage & arson | 174 · 4% | |
| Drugs | 154 · 4% |
When it happens
Severity-weighted share of crime-related 911 calls by time of day, from NOPD dispatch timestamps.
Is New Orleans safe at night? See which neighborhoods see the most reported crime after dark →
Walking in Central Business District 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
- Iberville12/100 · High risk
- French Quarter13/100 · High risk
- Lower Garden District38/100 · Elevated
- Central City20/100 · High risk
- Tulane - Gravier29/100 · Elevated
Common questions
Is Central Business District safe at night?
High risk overall (safety index 13/100). About 52% of severity-weighted incidents in Central Business District are dispatched 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 Central Business District?
Other theft — 1,607 of 4,276 incidents (38%) dispatched within 1 km of the neighborhood center over the 10 months to November 2026.
How is the Central Business District safety index calculated?
SafeRoute weights each crime-related 911 call the NOPD was dispatched to by severity (violence weighs more than shoplifting), sums the last available period within 1 km of the neighborhood center, and normalizes against citywide rates onto a 0–100 scale — higher is safer. New Orleans is scored on dispatch calls rather than filed reports, because NOPD's report series carries no location data — so a call here means police were sent, not that an offense was confirmed. It is not a guarantee of safety. The scale is calibrated within New Orleans, so scores compare neighborhoods to each other and cannot be read against another city's.