48fit
Brentwood
$2K median rent
Bungalows between Crestview and Hyde Park. Slightly more cafes than Allandale, slightly less polish than Rosedale.
Family streetsWalk 19Safety 89
Austin/Downtown
71fit
Downtown
Official planning area: Downtown
Data vintage. ACS 2024 5-year · APD Sep 2025 – Aug 2026 · OSM Aug 2026 · updated Sep 2026
Rainey, Sixth, and the warehouse blocks live here. Highest walk score, highest nightlife, and a crime rate inflated by visitors.
downtown austinraineyrainey street6th streetsixth streetwarehouse district2nd street district
Best in Austin for familiesWalkable AustinUnder $2,500 rent
Why this score
Safety
0
232 violent · 1652 property · 173.7 per 1k (Sep 2025 – Aug 2026)-50 vs city set
Schools
0
Rating 5.8 / 10 nearby-54 vs city set
Walk
100
OSM: 19 groceries · 44 cafes · 82 transit · 38 parks+82 vs city set
Cost
81
$2,714 ACS median vs your rent budget-16 vs city set
Vibe
100
OSM: 44 cafes · 173 restaurants · 140 bars · 38 parks+86 vs city set
Commute to work
From Downtown, a typical weekday is 6 min to Downtown, 11 min to UT campus, 26 min to The Domain. Not live traffic.
Downtown is the fastest of these three job centers from here.
Downtown
6 min
Rainey, Sixth, Capitol · -14 min vs the city-set median · fastest of these three
UT campus
11 min
Forty Acres · -9 min vs the city-set median
The Domain
26 min
North Burnet tech · at 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 $2,714 — every occupied rental mixed together, not the 1-bed in the window.
That is 21% of median household income — under the 30% HUD line. A household at this area’s median income ($158K) could “afford” about $3,945 a month at 30% of pay.
60% of households rent. Median home value is $631,696.
ACS median rent
$2,714
30% income budget
$3,945
Rent / income
21%
Median home
$631,696
Rent since 2014
ACS 5-year median gross rent for Austin city. Up 71% since 2014. Downtown is 57% 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: 19 groceries, 44 cafes, 38 parks, and 82 transit stops.
Daily errands and coffee are realistic on foot. Parks are close — 38 mapped parks in that radius. Transit is dense (82 stops or stations).
44 cafes and 173 restaurants make this one of the busier food pockets in the Austin set.
OpenStreetMap, 800 meters. Not a Walk Score license. More groceries than 19 of the other 19 areas in this city.
Population
10,850
Median age
44.2
Median income
$158K
Renters
60%
Bachelor+
82%
Violent / 1k
21.4
Property / 1k
152.3
ACS 2024 5-year (2020-2024) · 4 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.
Downtown Austin packs Rainey Street bars, Warehouse District music, Sixth Street, the Capitol, and the lake trail into one planning area. Zillow calls the Walk Score a 99, which matches the high-rises and the fact that you can skip a car for daily life. Crime rates here are inflated by visitors — the same pattern as Chicago’s Loop or LA’s Downtown. Read the per-1k numbers as traffic, not as a verdict on who lives in the towers.
Rainey at 1 a.m. is a different neighborhood from the condo floors above it. If you work downtown and want the trail at lunch, this is the cleanest commute in the city. If you want a grocery that feels like a grocery, look at Mueller or Hyde Park. The lake is the redeeming amenity; the noise is the rent.
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.
473 reports
- Parking Violation Enforcement149
- Code Officer34
- Outdoor Commercial Venue Music30
- Traffic Signal - Maintenance22
- 311 E-Comm - Other16
- Parking Violation Enforcement
- Park Maintenance - Grounds Plumbing Issues
- 311 E-Comm - Other
- Parking Violation Enforcement
- Parking Violation Enforcement
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 Downtown.
Last 90 days, snapshot 2026-09-01. Method.
Common questions
Straight answers from the numbers on this page.
Is Downtown safe?
Downtown shows more Part I than most of this Austin set (safety 0 vs city 50). APD logged 21.4 violent and 152.3 property incidents per 1,000 residents — 173.7 combined. Visitors count in those numbers. This is not a judgment of who lives here.
What is rent in Downtown?
ACS median rent is $2,714 — studios through large apartments mixed together. About 60% of households rent. Median home value is $631,696. Survey medians, not a listing you can message tonight.
Is Downtown walkable?
Walk is 100 here vs 18 for the Austin set — a grocery run and a coffee on foot are realistic. Inside 800 meters: 19 groceries, 44 cafes, 82 transit stops, 38 parks. Not a Walk Score license.
Is Downtown good for families?
There is more night and visitor traffic in the mix — not the quietest family default. Nearby school rating is 5.8 / 10. Median age is 44.2. That rating is not your assigned campus.
How long is the commute from Downtown?
6 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 Downtown?
About 10,850 people. Median income $158K. 82% have a bachelor's or higher.
What neighborhoods are next to Downtown?
Hancock, Bouldin Creek, Brentwood sit closest on this map. If you are choosing between two official planning areas, start with Downtown vs Hancock.
Next door
Adjacent on the map, ranked with your weights.
Downtown vs HancockDowntown vs Bouldin CreekDowntown vs Brentwood
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
43fit
Bouldin Creek
$2K median rent
West of South Congress: cottages, food trailers, and the SoCo strip on the doorstep.
NightlifeWalk 28Safety 21
43fit
Central East Austin
$2K median rent
East of I-35, north of Cesar Chavez. Rapid change, strong food, mixed housing, and a walk to downtown.
NightlifeWalk 29Safety 58
36fit
Hancock
$2K median rent
Between campus and Hyde Park. Golf course, student spillover, and a short walk to the Forty Acres.
Near UTWalk 9Safety 47