Data consists of specific Part I crimes (murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, theft, auto theft and arson) and Part II crimes (all other offenses) that would be of major concern to residents. WebLower than average crime rate Violent Crime Rate Over Time The violent crime rates and property crime rates were calculated by U.S. News using data from the Federal Bureau [304] Austin has a large network of private and alternative education institutions for children in PreK12th grade exists. How likely are you to become a victim of crime? In addition, the much larger Mansfield Dam was built by the LCRA upstream of Austin to form Lake Travis, a flood-control reservoir. [164] P. Terry's, an Austin-based fast food burger chain, has a loyal following among Austinites. [77] The lowest ever recorded temperature in the city was 2F (19C) on January 31, 1949. [80] When Austin received 0.04 inches (1mm) of ice on January 24, 2014, there were 278 vehicular collisions. [166] The city of Austin has the second-largest number of food trucks per capita in the United States. Austin is 146 miles (230km) northwest of Houston,[58] 182 miles (290km) south of Dallas[59] and 74 miles (120km) northeast of San Antonio. The results of these graphs are created after analyzing each of the cities in Texas and in the United States as a whole. [44], The postwar period saw dramatic population and economic growth. [17] Located in Central Texas within the greater Texas Hill Country, it is home to numerous lakes, rivers, and waterways, including Lady Bird Lake and Lake Travis on the Colorado River, Barton Springs, McKinney Falls, and Lake Walter E. Long. [120] Several Hindu temples exist in the Austin Metropolitan area with the most notable one being Radha Madhav Dham. [28][failed verification], When settlers arrived from Europe, the Tonkawa tribe inhabited the area. There is only a little crime in this area. [120] The second largest religion Austinites identify with is Islam (1.7%); roughly 0.8% of Americans nationwide claimed affiliation with the Islamic faith. In 18351836, Texans fought and won independence from Mexico. [35] In the late 19th century, Austin expanded its city limits to more than three times its former area, and the first granite dam was built on the Colorado River to power a new street car line and the new "moon towers". [218] Precourt negotiated an agreement with the City of Austin to build a $200million privately funded stadium on public land at 10414 McKalla Place,[219] following initial interest in Butler Shores Metropolitan Park and Roy G. Guerrero Colorado River Park. Despite support from the City Council, voters rejected light rail proposals in 2000[327] and 2014. Since Austin residents consumed an average of 120million gallons of water per day, the infrastructure was not able to keep up with demand. Night or day, it's a very safe place. In a public safety meeting earlier this month, Austin Police Chief Joseph Chacon said overall violent crime is down 5% percent for the year. Not safe at all. The Austin and Round Rock police departments and the Travis County Sheriff's Office, among other Central Texas law enforcement agencies, submitted 12 months of stats. Austin also has numerous smaller special interest or sub-regional newspapers such as the Oak Hill Gazette, Westlake Picayune, Hill Country News, Round Rock Leader, NOKOA, and The Villager among others. [48] However, as other new railroads were built through the region in the 1870s, Austin began to lose its primacy in trade to the surrounding communities. The Zilker Tree is lit in December along with the "Trail of Lights," an Austin Christmas tradition. Austin is the largest city in the United States to be served by only one Interstate Highway. The violent crime rate in Austin has increased by 16%, while the property crime rate in Austin has decreased by 2% year over year. The Missouri, Kansas & Texas (MKT) line followed close behind. [312] Despite Austin's explosive growth, it is only a medium-sized market (currently 38th) because the suburban and rural areas are not much larger than the city proper. Austin also hosted the MTV series, The Real World: Austin in 2005. 12 biotech and life science center in the United States[135] and in 2018, CBRE Group ranked Austin as #3 emerging life sciences cluster. As you can see, the daily crimes for Austin are 1.42 times more than the Texas average and 1.63 times more than the national level. [36] It was seen as a convenient crossroads for trade routes between Santa Fe and Galveston Bay, as well as routes between northern Mexico and the Red River. The cities of Belo Horizonte, Brazil and Elche, Spain were formerly sister cities, but upon a vote of the Austin City Council in 1991, their status was de-activated.[349]. [189] Austin is also home to the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum, which houses documents and artifacts related to the Johnson administration, including LBJ's limousine and a re-creation of the Oval Office. According to the 2020 United States census,[116] the racial composition of Austin was 72.6% White (48.3% non-Hispanic whites), 33.9% Hispanic or Latino, 7.8% African American, 7.6% Asian, 0.7% American Indian, 0.1% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, and 3.4% two or more races. Austin has a strong theater culture, with dozens of itinerant and resident companies producing a variety of work. It is common for a lengthy series of warm, dry, low-humidity days to be occasionally interrupted by very warm and humid days, and vice versa. [97], Lack of winterization in natural gas power plants, which supply a large amount of power to the Texas grid, and increased energy demand caused ERCOT and Austin Energy to enact rolling blackouts in order to avoid total grid collapse between February 15 and February 18. The Comanches and Lipan Apaches were also known to travel through the area. [22] Since the late 19th century, Austin has also been known as the "City of the Violet Crown", because of the colorful glow of light across the hills just after sunset.[23]. Approximately 7.2 square miles (18.6km2) of this area is water. [195] The gallery, which consists of the foundations of a failed multifamily development,[196] is a constantly-evolving canvas of graffiti and murals. The Austin Chronicle is Austin's alternative weekly, while The Daily Texan is the student newspaper of the University of Texas at Austin. Daily violent crimes in Austin are 1.10 times more than than Texas and 1.27 times more than the national mean. Data Catalog About Suggest a dataset Public Information Request Help Forum [16] The city is the cultural and economic center of the AustinRound Rock metropolitan statistical area, which had an estimated population of 2,295,303 as of July1, 2020[update], a roughly 84% increase from the year 2000. [345] Dockless electric scooters and bikes are banned from Austin city parks and the Ann and Roy Butler Trail and Boardwalk. Deed restrictions also played an important role in residential segregation. The number of daily crimes per 100,000 residents in Austin, Texas is displayed in the graph above. [130] Austin is considered to be a major center for high tech. Due to changes in the computerized programs used to capture statistical data, caution should be used when comparing data to prior years. The O. Henry House Museum hosts the annual O. Henry Pun-Off, a pun contest where the successful contestants exhibit wit akin to that of the author William Sydney Porter. According to the 2010 United States census,[115] the racial composition of Austin was 68.3% White (48.7% non-Hispanic whites), 35.1% Hispanic or Latino (29.1% Mexican, 0.5% Puerto Rican, 0.4% Cuban, 5.1% Other), 8.1% African American, 6.3% Asian (1.9% Indian, 1.5% Chinese, 1.0% Vietnamese, 0.7% Korean, 0.3% Filipino, 0.2% Japanese, 0.8% Other), 0.9% American Indian, 0.1% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, and 3.4% two or more races. ", "City of Austin Community Inventory Report", "Austin Treasures: First Year Firsts: 1839", "Map Showing the Distribution of the Slave Population of the Southern States of the United States", "Historical Census Statistics on Population Totals by Race, 1790 to 1990, and by Hispanic Origin, 1970 to 1990, for Large Cities and Other Urban Places in the United States", "History of the Cotton gin (postcard images)", "Distance from Austin, TX to Houston, TX", "Distance from Austin, TX to San Antonio, TX", "Downtown Development and Capitol View Corridors", "Austin History Center a division of the Austin Public Library: Frequently Asked Questions about Austin, Answer 4", "The surprising backstory of Austin's goal for 25,000 downtown residents", National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Cold leads to crashes, closings, cancellations: Schools close, flights fall through as freezing rain, sleet coat area, It's not always sweltering in Central Texas. city. "Non-Indexed" crime includes all other crime. Sex of Workers by Means of Transportation for Workplace Geography Universe: Workers 16 Years and Over", "Transit Mode Share Trends Looking Steady; Rail Appears to Encourage Non-Automobile Commutes", "2015 American Community Survey, 1-year estimates: Commuting Characteristics by Sex", "Car Ownership in U.S. Cities Data and Map", "Austin has some of the worst traffic congestion in the world, study finds", "Positive signs for financial future of Texas 130 tollway", "CAMPO Vote Derails Lone Star Rail Project", https://www.greyhound.com/en-us/bus-stations-in-austin-1, "Megabus.Com Expands Service To/From Dallas, Houston, San Antonio And Five Cities", "Austin City Council puts rail bond on ballot", "Uber, Lyft Shut Down in Austin Over Fingerprint Vote", "Uber, Lyft halt Austin service after losing vote", "Uber, Lyft returning to Austin on Monday", "Ride-hail app Fasten shutting down operations in Austin", "Free electric cab service expands into downtown Austin, sees success at Domain Northside", "Car2Go pulling out of Austin and 4 other cities", "Austin B-cycle, with rentals on the rise, adding bikes and stations", "Austin BCycle Becomes MetroBike As City Partners With Cap Metro To Expand Bike-Share Program", "Lime makes dockless bikes, scooters more affordable to underserved", "A flock of electric scooters suddenly descended on Austin. Are the homes and yards well-maintained? Additionally, the proximity of San Antonio truncates the potential market area. Sixteen of those were set to rise above 400ft (120m) tall, including four above 600', and eight above 500'. What does it mean? [280][281], In 2020, Austin was the victim of a cyberattack by the Russian group Berserk Bear, possibly related to the U.S. federal government data breach earlier that year. The towers are featured in the 1993 film Dazed and Confused. Highway 290 splits from Highway 71 in southwest Austin, in an interchange known as "The Y." [166] Austin's first food hall, "Fareground," features a number of Austin-based food vendors and a bar in the ground level and courtyard of One Congress Plaza.[167]. The African American population of Austin swelled dramatically after the enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation in Texas by Union General Gordon Granger at Galveston, in an event commemorated as Juneteenth. [344], In 2018, scooter-sharing companies Lime and Bird debuted rentable electric scooters in Austin. The remaining portion of Austin is served by adjoining school districts, including Round Rock ISD, Pflugerville ISD, Leander ISD, Manor ISD, Del Valle ISD, Lake Travis ISD, Hays, and Eanes ISD. [83] The most recent major snow event occurred February 1415, 2021, when 6.4 inches (16cm) of snow fell at Austin's Camp Mabry, the largest two-day snowfall since records began being kept in 1948.[84][85]. [244][245], Austin is administered by an 11-member city council (10 council members elected by geographic district plus a mayor elected at large). [86] Consequently, tornadoes strike Austin less frequently than areas farther to the north. "[153] Though much is changing rapidly in Austin, businesses such as Thundercloud Subs are thought by many to maintain classic Austin business cultural sentiments unique to the history of the city; as Diana Burgess stated, "I definitely appreciate that they haven't raised their prices a ton or made things super fancy. [201] Baseball games are played at UFCU DischFalk Field. The Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Capital Metro) provides public transportation to the city, primarily with its MetroBus local bus service, the MetroExpress express bus system, as well as a bus rapid transit service, MetroRapid. [204] Austin has hosted a number of other professional teams, including the Austin Spurs of the NBA G League,[205] the Austin Aztex of the United Soccer League, the Austin Outlaws in WFA football, and the Austin Aces in WTT tennis. Criminal negligent homicide and involuntary manslaughter are not included under the "Murder" heading. [303] Four of the metro's major public school systems, representing 54% of area enrollment, are included in Expansion Management magazine's latest annual education quality ratings of nearly 2,800 school districts nationwide. "Total Indexed" crime is not a cross total of the individual type crimes listed on the report. There are two links to Houston, Texas (Highway 290 and State Highway 71/Interstate 10). Austin hosts the Fuse Box Festival each April featuring theater artists. The eight homicides reported this July brought the number of violent killings in 2022 so far to 43, already surpassing the totals in 2017 (25), 2018 (32) and 2019 (38). In the mid-1980s, construction was completed on Loop 360, a scenic highway that curves through the hill country from near the 71/Mopac interchange in the south to near the 183/Mopac interchange in the north. Our crime rates are based on FBI data. The Enchanted Forest, a multi-acre outdoor music, art, and performance art space in South Austin hosts events such as fire-dancing and circus-like-acts. (The US average is 22.7) Austin property crime is 55.0. This motto has not only been used in promoting Austin's eccentricity and diversity, but is also meant to bolster support of local independent businesses. Season 4 of the AMC show Fear the Walking Dead was filmed in various locations around Austin in 2018. A local nonprofit, The Trail Foundation, is the Trail's private steward and has built amenities and infrastructure including trailheads, lakefront gathering areas, restrooms, exercise equipment, as well as doing Trailwide ecological restoration work on an ongoing basis. [81] Similarly, snowfall is rare in Austin. Austin has a long history of vocal citizen resistance to development projects perceived to degrade the environment, or to threaten the natural and cultural landscapes. [210] The State of Texas has pledged $25million in public funds annually for 10 years to pay the sanctioning fees for the race. According to FBI data, property crime in Austin increased in 2018 by 8.5% and in 2019 by 8.7%. In addition, the state legislature established the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) that, along with the city of Austin, created the system of dams along the Colorado River to form the Highland Lakes. Texas Crime Rate 2022 | Cove [95] Austin Water, the city's water utility, has the capacity to process up to 300million gallons of water per day; however, the elevated level of turbidity reduced output to only 105million gallons per day. Many of Austin's soils, especially the clay-rich types, are slightly to moderately alkaline and have free calcium carbonate. The median age was 30 years. [5] Austin is situated at the foot of the Balcones Escarpment, on the Colorado River, with three artificial lakes within the city limits: Lady Bird Lake (formerly known as Town Lake), Lake Austin (both created by dams along the Colorado River), and Lake Walter E. Long that is partly used for cooling water for the Decker Power Plant. [241] Roy G. Guerrero Park is located along the Colorado River in East Riverside and contains miles of wooded trails, a sandy beach along the river, and a disc golf course. There are a total of 2,252 Austin police officers. Former Governor Rick Perry had previously referred to it as a "blueberry in the tomato soup," meaning, Austin had previously been a Democratic city in a Republican state. [120] The majority of Austinites identified themselves as Christians, about 25.2% of whom claimed affiliation with the Catholic Church. Austin averaged 1.65 cars per household in 2016, compared to a national average of 1.8. Austin is served by several ride-sharing companies including Uber and Lyft. [71] Austin is currently undergoing a skyscraper boom, which includes recent construction on new office, hotel and residential buildings. Poor. However, the ban ended in 2018 due to a court ruling that regarded all bag bans in the state to contravene the Texas Solid Waste Disposal Act. 2 Best Big City in "Best Places to Live" by Money magazine in 2006, and No. Central Austin lies between two major northsouth freeways: Interstate 35 to the east and the Mopac Expressway (Loop 1) to the west. [38] Shortly afterward, the name was changed to Austin in honor of Stephen F. Austin, the "Father of Texas" and the republic's first secretary of state. Web2023 Compare Crime Rates: San Antonio, TX vs Austin, TX Change Cities : San Antonio, TX: Austin, TX: United States Violent Crime: 37: 24.9: 22.7 Property Crime: 72.4: 55: 35.4: Unexciting for single 20 somethings - 8/2/2022 I lived in San Antonio for about 7 months or so, and for a reason! WebAustin has a lower crime rate than similarly sized metro areas. Popular activities include rock climbing, mountain biking, and hiking. Web2023 Compare Cities Crime: Austin, TX vs Dauphin Austin, TX: Dauphin Island, AL: United States: Violent Crime: 24.9: 19.4: 22.7: Property Crime: 55: 63.7: 35.4: Crime is ranked on a scale of 1 (low crime) to 100 (high crime) View More Data > Reviews for Austin 446 Reviews. [77] store on Anderson Lane and discovered the girls' bodies in a back room. [346] For the 2018 Austin City Limits Music Festival, the city of Austin offered a designated parking area for dockless bikes and scooters.[347]. The murders remain unsolved. [297], A controversial turning point in the political history of the Austin area was the 2003 Texas redistricting. In 2017, Precourt Sports Ventures announced a plan to move the Columbus Crew SC soccer franchise from Columbus, Ohio to Austin. [146] The term "Old Austin" refers to a time when the city was smaller and more bohemian with a considerably lower cost of living and better known for its lack of traffic, hipsters, and urban sprawl. The Austin area received a total of 6.4 inches (160mm) of snowfall between February 14 and 15, with snow cover persisting until February 20. [35], The elevation of Austin varies from 425 feet (130m) to approximately 1,000 feet (305m) above sea level. Spanish forts were established in what are now Bastrop and San Marcos. There were 265,648 households, out of which 26.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.1% were married couples living together, 10.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 46.7% were non-families. [120] In addition to those religious groups, Austin is also home to an active secular humanist community, hosting nationwide television shows and charity work. The area's earliest known inhabitants lived during the late Pleistocene (Ice Age) and are linked to the Clovis culture around 9200 BC (over 11,200 years ago), based on evidence found throughout the area and documented at the much-studied Gault Site, midway between Georgetown and Fort Hood. [267] In 2019, the FBI named Austin the 11th safest city on a list of 22 American cities with a population above 400,000. 32.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 4.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. (The US average is 35.4) NOTE: Click on the links below to see charts for each crime There are a total of 95,281 sex offenders in Texas. In 1840, a series of conflicts between the Texas Rangers and the Comanches, known as the Council House Fight and the Battle of Plum Creek, pushed the Comanches westward, mostly ending conflicts in Central Texas. The city is also home to the Ballet East Dance Company, a modern dance ensemble, and the Tapestry Dance Company which performs a variety of dance genres. [330][331][332] On May 9, 2016, Uber and Lyft voluntarily ceased operations in Austin in response to a city ordinance that required ride sharing company drivers to get fingerprint checks, have their vehicles labeled, and not pick up or drop off in certain city lanes. In the fall of 2018, Austin and surrounding areas received heavy rainfall and flash flooding following Hurricane Sergio. Incorporated on December 27, 1839,[7] it is the 11th-most-populous city in the United States,[8] the fourth-most-populous city in Texas, the second-most-populous state capital city, and the most populous state capital that is not also the most populous city in its state. To strengthen the region's parks system, which spans more than 29,000 acres (11,736ha), The Austin Parks Foundation (APF) was established in 1992 to develop and improve parks in and around Austin. ", "Five Key Findings on Religion in the U.S.", "How much does the city of Austin spend, per homeless person? [274][275][276], In 1991, four teenage girls were murdered in a yogurt shop by an unknown assailant(s). [338], The city's bike advocacy organization is Bike Austin. A movie theater chain by the name of Alamo Drafthouse Cinema was founded in Austin in 1997; the South Lamar location of which is home to the annual week-long Fantastic Fest film festival. Some well known naturally forming swimming holes along Austin's greenbelt include Twin Falls, Sculpture Falls, Gus Fruh Pool, and Campbell's Hole. IBM followed in 1967, opening a facility to produce its Selectric typewriters. Since it began operations in 1985, Capital Metro has proposed adding light rail services to its network. Robberies fell in all 30 cities, except for San Antonio, Austin and Tampa. The city grew throughout the 19th century and became a center for government and education with the construction of the Texas State Capitol and the University of Texas at Austin.[39]. [29] Spanish colonists, including the Espinosa-Olivares-Aguirre expedition, traveled through the area, though few permanent settlements were created for some time. [271] The city had 39 homicides in 2016, the most since 1997. The average household size was 2.40 and the average family size was 3.14. [127] On October 17, 2019, the City Council revised the camping ordinance, which imposed increased restrictions on sidewalk camping. Many Austinites support the athletic programs of the University of Texas at Austin known as the Texas Longhorns. ", "What Draws People to Austin (And What Drives Them Away)", "What's The Story Behind Herman The Singing Plumber? Texas Instruments setup in Austin two years later, Motorola (now NXP Semiconductors) started semiconductor chip manufacturing in 1974. All proceeds are donated to Caritas of Austin, a local charity. [160][161] Breakfast tacos and queso are popular food items in the city; Austin is sometimes called the "home of the breakfast taco. [231] Both Zilker Park and Auditorium Shores have a direct view of the Downtown skyline.[232]. [293] The Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) operates the Austin I and Austin II district parole offices in Austin. Are children playing unsupervised? The concentration of restaurants, bars, and music venues in the city's downtown core is a major contributor to Austin's live music scene, as the ZIP Code encompassing the downtown entertainment district hosts the most bar or alcohol-serving establishments in the U.S.[170]. [182] Each year Ballet Austin's 20-member professional company performs ballets from a wide variety of choreographers, including their international award-winning artistic director, Stephen Mills. [68] Notably, the area is home to many types of wildflowers that blossom throughout the year but especially in the spring. [51], During the 1880s, Austin gained new prominence as the state capitol building was completed in 1888 and claimed as the seventh largest building in the world. However, it is most common during the spring. Covert Park, located on the top of Mount Bonnell, is a popular tourist destination overlooking Lake Austin and the Colorado River. Data provided represents only calls for police service where a formal, written report was made and does not include other calls for police service that did not result in a written report. [40] Settlement in the area began to expand quickly. The 2019 crime rate in Austin, TX is 302 (City-Data.com crime index), which is comparable to the U.S. average. It was higher than in 84.4% U.S. cities. The 2019 Austin crime rate fell by 1% compared to 2018. The number of homicides stood at 32. In the last 5 years Austin has seen rise of violent crime and decreasing property crime. Now the city is scrambling to regulate them", "E-bikes, e-scooters not welcome in Austin parks", "ACL Fest 2018 will have dedicated parking for dockless scooters and bikes", "What Is The Difference Between A Sister City And A Friendship City? [269] One such southeastern suburb, Del Valle, reported eight homicides within two months in 2016. [239] That includes downtown green spaces as well as trails and greenbelts such as along Barton Creek."[240]. [217] The team left after the 2015 season. The same study says that eastern faiths including Buddhism, Sikhism, and Hinduism made up 0.9% of the city's religious population. [317], In mid-2019, TomTom ranked Austin as having the worst traffic congestion in Texas, as well as 19th nationally and 179th globally.[318].