Chelmsford, MA is close to the national middle for violent crime, and earns an A PlainCrime safety grade, where violent crime runs 65% below the U.S. average
According to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program for 2024, Chelmsford, MA shows violent crime at 122.3 per 100,000 residents and property crime at 1,127.9 per 100,000. Violent crime runs 65% below the U.S. average. PlainCrime assigns grade A from those rates. Figures are voluntary agency submissions joined to population denominators; incomplete coverage can move the number.
A safety grade
122.3/100K violent
1127.9/100K property
-65% vs U.S.
What the 2024 FBI UCR record shows for Chelmsford, MA
Comparable rate records
Chelmsford's closest reported-rate comparisons are in the Massachusetts cohort
The nearest comparable 2024 records to Chelmsford's 122.3 violent-crime rate per 100,000 are Brewster (122.6), East Bridgewater (122.7), Mendon (123.3), Hanson (120.7). These are same-year agency submissions that pass the same completeness screen, not a claim that the cities have identical conditions. They make the cohort position above checkable against named records instead of a generic state average.
Offense mix
The reported mix leans further toward property offenses than the state cohort
Violent offenses are 9.8% of the 460 Part I offenses reported in Chelmsford for 2024, against a median of 21.5% across comparable Massachusetts cities — a gap of 11.7 points. Offense mix is shaped by which agencies report and how incidents are classified as well as by the underlying offenses, so it describes the reported record rather than a settled difference in conditions.
2020–2024 direction
The reported violent-crime rate ended the window higher
Across 5 comparable reporting years, the rate moved from 93.3 per 100,000 in 2020 to 122.3 in 2024 (+31.1%). The highest observed value was 122.3 in 2024 and the lowest 93.3 in 2020. Years whose submission failed the completeness test are left out of this comparison rather than plotted as change.
Property-offense composition
Larceny-theft dominates the property total more than it does across the cohort
Larceny-theft is 86.5% of reported property offenses in Chelmsford, against a cohort median of 78.1%. The remainder is burglary (43) and motor vehicle theft (13). Composition differences of this size usually track what kinds of places and property are present in a jurisdiction.
Position in the state cohort
Chelmsford sits mid-pack among comparable Massachusetts cities
At 122.3 reported violent offenses per 100,000 residents in 2024, Chelmsford ranks 179 of 317 — above 138 of the 316 other Massachusetts cities whose 2024 submission passes this site’s completeness test. That is -15.7% against the cohort median of 145.1. Cities that did not report, or that reported implausibly low totals, are excluded from this cohort rather than counted as low-crime.
Property counts dominate Chelmsford's FBI UCR Table 8 municipal row. Per-100,000 rates use the reporting-year population on that row; cities that fail the completeness test stay out of rate rankings. A citywide figure rarely describes any single neighbourhood inside the municipal boundary.
Mid-size municipal totals above are reported offenses, not safety advice for any single block. Reporting completeness still varies by year and agency.
Chelmsford's 2024 municipal footprint
Across 22.4 Census sq mi, Chelmsford logged 18.5 property and 2 violent offenses per square mile in 2024.
Chelmsford's 2024 book concentrates in larceny-theft (78% of 460 offenses; mix index 6,256).
Violent offenses are only 10% of the municipal total - a property-led book.
Density uses Census Gazetteer land area (22.4 sq mi); mix index is HHI x 10,000 on the offense-type shares above. Distinct from the per-100K rates in the hero.
Property rate moved most (2023→2024)
Property Crime Rate
+16.1%
971.9 → 1127.9/100K
Violent Crime Rate
+6.8%
114.5 → 122.3/100K
Property offenses lead Chelmsford's 2024 record
Offense
Count
Rate /100K
vs US avg
Property Crime
415
1127.9
1711
Larceny-Theft
359
975.7
-
Burglary
43
116.9
-
Motor Vehicle Theft
13
35.3
-
Arson
0
0
-
Violent Crime
45
122.3
352
Aggravated Assault
38
103.3
-
Rape
6
16.3
-
Robbery
1
2.7
-
Murder
0
0
-
Chelmsford Crime Trend (2020-2024)
Chelmsford property crime rate trend
Lead series · rose across 5 comparable years · FBI UCR
Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program · split lines are the U.S. national averages
Chelmsford Police Department
Reporting agency for Chelmsford NIBRS-participating
Chelmsford Police Department filed the 2024 UCR row behind Chelmsford's 460 reported offenses (5-year span 2020-2024).
This agency reports via NIBRS, the incident-based system that captures more detail per offense (multiple crimes per incident, victim/offender data) than the older summary counts.
Similar-Size Cities in Massachusetts
Crime rates read differently at different scales, so these are the Massachusetts cities closest to Chelmsford in population. Their populations run from 34,792 to 39,018, against 36,795 here. Or use our
side-by-side compare tool
to benchmark two cities directly.
In 2024, Chelmsford reported 45 violent crimes and 415 property crimes, for a total of 460 reported offenses.
Is crime increasing or decreasing in Chelmsford?
From 2023 to 2024, Chelmsford's violent crime rate increased by 6.8%, and the property crime rate increased by 16.1%.
What is the most common crime in Chelmsford?
The most common crime type in Chelmsford is larceny-theft, accounting for 78.0% of all reported crimes (359 incidents in 2024).
Mid-size read: Chelmsford figures are FBI UCR CIUS Table 8 (vintage 2024), population-adjusted per 100,000.
Denominators are the reporting-year population on the municipal row. Incomplete years are dropped from rankings. Confirm at FBI Crime Data Explorer and Census.gov QuickFacts.
Disclaimer (mid-size municipal): figures are informational, not advice. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program is the source. Consult a professional before decisions.
Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program CIUS Table 8 municipal crime rates · 2024 Chelmsford, MA rates use the reporting-year population on the municipal row.