Is Cape Town City Centre Safe? 25/100 Safety Index (2026)

Q: How does Cape Town City Centre compare to nearby suburbs?

Cape Town City Centre (25/100) is in the Higher reported crime band. Nearby: Bo-Kaap scores 23/100, District Six scores 21/100. See the full comparison on the Cape Town City Centre suburb profile.

Cape Town City Centre scores 25 out of 100 on StreetSignal’s safety index - higher reported crime. Its annualised crime count is 18,380 across a station population of 128,777 residents. The trend is stable.

A score of 25/100 places Cape Town City Centre in the higher reported crime category across Cape Town’s 736 suburbs with safety data (of 744 total). The suburb has a Census 2022 population of 106,850.

A note on methodology: StreetSignal’s safety index is a relative measure comparing reported crime across Cape Town’s 744 suburbs; it is not an absolute safety guarantee. The index is a composite of two sub-dimensions: harm-per-resident (rate) and absolute harm volume. A score of 25/100 is a relative index, not a percentile rank. Cape Town City Centre’s rate sub-index is 25/100 and its volume sub-index is 26/100. Full methodology is documented on the StreetSignal methodology page. Data period: Q4 2025/2026 (Jan–Mar 2026).

Why does Cape Town City Centre score 25 out of 100?

Cape Town City Centre maps to the Cape Town Central SAPS precinct. The precinct serves a station population of 128,777 across multiple suburbs. StreetSignal assigns the primary precinct as the data source. All suburbs under the same precinct receive an identical safety index. This is a known limitation of precinct-level data: the score reflects the precinct as a whole, not any individual suburb within it.

The rate sub-index of 25 places Cape Town City Centre’s per-capita harm in the higher range. The volume sub-index of 26 means absolute crime volume is high.

How does Cape Town City Centre compare to nearby suburbs?

Suburb	Precinct	Safety index	Rate	Volume	Annualised crimes	Trend
Cape Town City Centre	Cape Town Central	25/100	25	26	18,380	Stable
Bo-Kaap	Cape Town Central	23/100	20	27	18,380	Stable
District Six	Cape Town Central	21/100	20	22	18,380	Stable
Gardens	Cape Town Central	33/100	26	42	18,380	Stable
Green Point	Sea Point	47/100	41	55	4,072	Stable

A methodology note on shared precincts: Suburbs under the same SAPS precinct receive identical safety indices because the underlying crime data is reported at precinct level, not suburb level. Matching scores between suburbs in the table above may indicate a shared precinct.

What does property cost in Cape Town City Centre?

Property valuation data is not available for Cape Town City Centre.

For a broader property analysis, see Cape Town property values 2026.

Schools in Cape Town City Centre

Cape Town City Centre has 5 schools.

School	Phase	Sector	Quintile	LER
Learn To Live School Of Skills	special	independent	N/A	14.9:1
St. Mary’S Primary School (Gardens)	primary	public	Q5	20.8:1
Gardens Commercial High School	secondary	public	Q5	26.8:1
Prestwich Street Primary School	primary	public	Q5	29.0:1
Cape Town High School	secondary	public	Q5	25.8:1

Matric results show a 94.8% aggregate pass rate across 407 candidates.

For a full analysis, see Cape Town schools and education 2026.

Frequently asked questions

Is Cape Town City Centre a safe area in Cape Town?

Cape Town City Centre records higher reported crime relative to most Cape Town suburbs. Cape Town City Centre scores 25/100 on StreetSignal’s safety index - higher reported crime - with 18,380 annualised crimes. The Cape Town Central precinct serves 128,777 residents. The trend is stable.

What is the crime rate in Cape Town City Centre?

Cape Town City Centre’s Cape Town Central precinct records 18,380 annualised crimes across 128,777 residents. The safety index is 25/100, with a rate sub-index of 25 and volume sub-index of 26.

Search Cape Town City Centre’s full neighbourhood profile on StreetSignal for the complete data across safety, property, schools, and services.