Safety index · New Orleans · data through September 2026
Is Desire Area safe?
Desire Area shows a typical level of dispatched 911 calls for New Orleans. Its SafeRoute safety index is 61 out of 100 — 5 points above the citywide median of 56, ranking 27th of 70 New Orleans neighborhoods — based on 281 incidents dispatched to the NOPD within 1 km of the neighborhood center over the 8 months to September 2026.
DATA THROUGH SEPTEMBER 2026 · 8 MONTHS OF DATA
The 0–100 scale is calibrated to New Orleans — a typical New Orleans neighborhood sits near 56. It ranks Desire Area against other neighborhoods here, and cannot be read against a score in another city.
The largest dispatched category here is violent crime (25% of calls) — worth taking seriously when walking at night; the full mix is broken down below.
Incidents spread across the day here — roughly 34% of severity-weighted calls come in the evening (6 p.m.–midnight) and 18% overnight.
Where incidents cluster
What police were called to here
| Violent crime | 71 · 25% | |
| Weapons possession | 52 · 19% | |
| Criminal damage & arson | 35 · 12% | |
| Vehicle crime | 51 · 18% | |
| Other theft | 36 · 13% | |
| Burglary | 18 · 6% |
When it happens
Severity-weighted share of crime-related 911 calls by time of day, from NOPD dispatch timestamps.
Walking in Desire Area at night?
SafeRoute scores every walking route against the same live crime data on this page — and shows how much of each route runs on lit streets. Pick the safer way, share your walk, and check in when you arrive. Free, no account.
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Common questions
Is Desire Area safe at night?
Moderate overall (safety index 61/100). About 52% of severity-weighted incidents in Desire Area 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 Desire Area?
Violent crime — 71 of 281 incidents (25%) dispatched within 1 km of the neighborhood center over the 8 months to September 2026.
How is the Desire Area 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.