71fit
Downtown
$3K median rent
Rainey, Sixth, and the warehouse blocks live here. Highest walk score, highest nightlife, and a crime rate inflated by visitors.
NightlifeWalk 100Safety 0
Austin/Central East Austin
43fit
Central East Austin
Official planning area: Central East Austin
Data vintage. ACS 2024 5-year · APD Sep 2025 – Aug 2026 · OSM Aug 2026 · updated Sep 2026
East of I-35, north of Cesar Chavez. Rapid change, strong food, mixed housing, and a walk to downtown.
east austin
Best in Austin for familiesWalkable AustinUnder $2,500 rent
Why this score
Safety
58
17 violent · 217 property · 41.7 per 1k (Sep 2025 – Aug 2026)+8 vs city set
Schools
13
Rating 6.2 / 10 nearby-41 vs city set
Walk
29
OSM: 6 groceries · 11 cafes · 56 transit · 18 parks+11 vs city set
Cost
89
$2,472 ACS median vs your rent budget-8 vs city set
Vibe
21
OSM: 11 cafes · 49 restaurants · 19 bars · 18 parks+7 vs city set
Commute to work
From Central East Austin, a typical weekday is 17 min to Downtown, 19 min to UT campus, 29 min to The Domain. Not live traffic.
Downtown is the fastest of these three job centers from here.
Downtown
17 min
Rainey, Sixth, Capitol · -3 min vs the city-set median · fastest of these three
UT campus
19 min
Forty Acres · -1 min vs the city-set median
The Domain
29 min
North Burnet tech · +3 min vs the city-set median
Minutes are baked from neighborhood geography to three job centers — not Google, not this hour’s traffic.
Cost of living
The ACS median rent is $2,472 — every occupied rental mixed together, not the 1-bed in the window.
That is 27% of median household income — under the 30% HUD line. A household at this area’s median income ($110K) could “afford” about $2,755 a month at 30% of pay.
63% of households rent. Median home value is $671,103.
ACS median rent
$2,472
30% income budget
$2,755
Rent / income
27%
Median home
$671,103
Rent since 2014
ACS 5-year median gross rent for Austin city. Up 71% since 2014. Central East Austin is 43% above the 2024 city median.
Overlapping 5-year ACS windows (B25064), not asking rent. Census does not publish a rent series for each official neighborhood, so the line is the city place. The dashed mark is this area’s ACS 2024 median.
HUD treats 30% of income as the cost-burden line. We do not split ACS rent into 1-bed vs 2-bed. Method.
Within a walk
Within a short walk of this official planning area: 6 groceries, 11 cafes, 18 parks, and 56 transit stops.
Daily errands and coffee are realistic on foot. Parks are close — 18 mapped parks in that radius. Transit is dense (56 stops or stations).
11 cafes and 49 restaurants make this one of the busier food pockets in the Austin set.
OpenStreetMap, 800 meters. Not a Walk Score license. More groceries than 15 of the other 19 areas in this city.
Population
5,612
Median age
32.5
Median income
$110K
Renters
63%
Bachelor+
68%
Violent / 1k
3.0
Property / 1k
38.7
ACS 2024 5-year (2020-2024) · 2 census tracts · APD Sep 2025 – Aug 2026 · OSM 2026-08-31
Nightlife
Crime is APD Part I reports per 1,000 ACS residents — not a judgment of who lives here. Home and rent figures are ACS medians, not live MLS. Read the method.
On the ground
What it is like to live here, beyond the scores.
North of Cesar Chavez and east of I-35, Central East Austin is the fast-change slice: food that draws the rest of the city, mixed housing, and a walk to downtown that still crosses a highway. List prices here have caught up with the reputation. The creative-community story in East Austin roundups is this polygon as much as it is Cesar Chavez.
Rapid infill means the block you tour in March is not the block you move into in October. Safety and cost scores will move with that. Come for restaurants and a shorter commute to the core. Stay if you like watching a neighborhood rewrite itself; leave if you wanted the Mueller plan or the Hyde Park freeze-frame.
Compiled from Zillow neighborhood guides, 5280 Magazine, Chicago and San Francisco resident guides, Mpls With Love, Eastside LA reporting, Seattle Times coverage, Boston planning-neighborhood writing, and local writing, 2025–2026. Editorial — not part of the fit score.
Reported here lately
City 311 service requests in this official unit, last 14 days. This is what neighbors filed with the city — not a chat thread, and not part of the fit score.
124 reports
- Parking Violation Enforcement23
- Code Officer17
- Outdoor Commercial Venue Music14
- Garbage7
- Compost6
- Parking Violation Enforcement
- Tree Issue Right of Way
- Compost
- Vehicle Abatement Report
- Debris in Street
City of Austin 311 public data, last 14 days. Mapped to Neighborhood Planning Areas. No street addresses stored. Method.
On Reddit
Public posts from r/Austin that mention this neighborhood. Not Nextdoor, not people on this block, and not part of the fit score.
No r/Austin posts in this snapshot mentioned Central East Austin.
Last 90 days, snapshot 2026-09-01. Method.
Common questions
Straight answers from the numbers on this page.
Is Central East Austin safe?
Central East Austin is middle of the pack for Part I here (safety 58 vs city 50). APD logged 3.0 violent and 38.7 property incidents per 1,000 residents — 41.7 combined. Visitors count in those numbers. This is not a judgment of who lives here.
What is rent in Central East Austin?
ACS median rent is $2,472 — studios through large apartments mixed together. About 63% of households rent. Median home value is $671,103. Survey medians, not a listing you can message tonight.
Is Central East Austin walkable?
Walk is 29 here vs 18 for the Austin set — you will likely drive or ride for a weekly shop. Inside 800 meters: 6 groceries, 11 cafes, 56 transit stops, 18 parks. Not a Walk Score license.
Is Central East Austin good for families?
There is more night and visitor traffic in the mix — not the quietest family default. Nearby school rating is 6.2 / 10. Median age is 32.5. That rating is not your assigned campus.
How long is the commute from Central East Austin?
17 typical weekday minutes to Downtown. Not the app on your phone this hour. Other job centers are further down this page.
How many people live in Central East Austin?
About 5,612 people. Median income $110K. 68% have a bachelor's or higher.
What neighborhoods are next to Central East Austin?
East Cesar Chavez, Mueller, Govalle sit closest on this map. If you are choosing between two official planning areas, start with Central East Austin vs East Cesar Chavez.
Next door
Adjacent on the map, ranked with your weights.
Central East Austin vs East Cesar ChavezCentral East Austin vs MuellerCentral East Austin vs Govalle
44fit
Hyde Park
$2K median rent
Streetcar bungalows, porches, and a grocery you can walk to. The classic first stop for people who want central without downtown noise.
Family streetsWalk 9Safety 84
41fit
Mueller
$2K median rent
A planned town on the old airport: alleys, a lake loop, and a grocery at the center. Newer bones, family default.
Family streetsPlannedWalk 20Safety 5
31fit
East Cesar Chavez
$3K median rent
East of the highway, still close enough to walk downtown. Music, murals, and a nightlife score that is not subtle.
NightlifeWalk 20Safety 16
31fit
Govalle
$2K median rent
Further east, still in the city. More yard, fewer bars, a value contrast to Cesar Chavez.
Family streetsWalk 16Safety 26