About HoodSafe & Methodology
HoodSafe provides neighborhood-level crime safety data for 50 major US cities. Our goal is to help residents, homebuyers, and travelers make informed decisions about where to live and visit.
Data Sources
Real-Time City Portal Data 10 Cities
We pull crime data directly from official city open data portals:
| City | Source | Data Coverage |
|---|---|---|
| New York | NYPD CompStat | Full yearly crime counts |
| Los Angeles | data.lacity.org | Yearly + neighborhoods |
| Chicago | data.cityofchicago.org | Yearly + neighborhoods |
| Dallas | dallasopendata.com | Yearly + divisions |
| Austin | data.austintexas.gov | Yearly + council districts |
| San Francisco | data.sfgov.org | Yearly + neighborhoods |
| Seattle | data.seattle.gov | Yearly + precincts |
| Kansas City | data.kcmo.org | 2019 baseline, trend-adjusted |
| Detroit | data.detroitmi.gov | Real neighborhood names |
| Baltimore | data.baltimorecity.gov | Real neighborhood names |
FBI UCR Calibrated Estimates 40 Cities
For the remaining 40 cities, we use FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) data calibrated with local population and demographic factors to estimate neighborhood-level crime rates.
Safety Score Calculation
Our safety scores (1-100) are calculated using:
- Violent crime rate — homicide, assault, robbery, rape (weighted 60%)
- Property crime rate — burglary, theft, vehicle theft (weighted 30%)
- Trend analysis — year-over-year changes (weighted 10%)
Scores are normalized against national averages. A score of 50 represents the national median; higher is safer.
Update Frequency
- Real portal cities: Data updated quarterly when new reports are published
- FBI UCR cities: Updated annually with new FBI releases
- Last update: March 2026
Limitations
- Crime data depends on reporting rates, which vary by neighborhood and city
- Not all crimes are reported to police
- Neighborhood boundaries may differ from official designations
- Historical trends may not predict future safety