Holyoke, MA is among the highest-crime cities in the country, and earns an F PlainCrime safety grade, where violent crime runs 196% above the U.S. average
According to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program for 2024, Holyoke, MA shows violent crime at 1,041 per 100,000 residents and property crime at 4,232.1 per 100,000. Violent crime runs 196% above the U.S. average. PlainCrime assigns grade F from those rates. Figures are voluntary agency submissions joined to population denominators; incomplete coverage can move the number.
F safety grade
1041/100K violent
4232.1/100K property
+196% vs U.S.
What the 2024 FBI UCR record shows for Holyoke, MA
Position in the state cohort
Holyoke reported a higher violent-crime rate than most comparable Massachusetts cities
At 1041.0 reported violent offenses per 100,000 residents in 2024, Holyoke ranks 2 of 317 — above 315 of the 316 other Massachusetts cities whose 2024 submission passes this site’s completeness test. That is +623.9% against the cohort median of 143.8. Cities that did not report, or that reported implausibly low totals, are excluded from this cohort rather than counted as low-crime.
Comparable rate records
Holyoke's closest reported-rate comparisons are in the Massachusetts cohort
The nearest comparable 2024 records to Holyoke's 1041.0 violent-crime rate per 100,000 are Chelsea (978.9), Springfield (891.4), North Adams (1194.0), Fall River (742.9). 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.
2020–2024 direction
The reported violent-crime rate ended the window higher
Across 5 comparable reporting years, the rate moved from 902.5 per 100,000 in 2020 to 1041.0 in 2024 (+15.4%). The highest observed value was 1041.0 in 2024 and the lowest 902.5 in 2020. Years whose submission failed the completeness test are left out of this comparison rather than plotted as change.
Property counts dominate Holyoke'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.
Holyoke's 2024 municipal footprint
Across 21.2 Census sq mi, Holyoke logged 76.4 property and 18.8 violent offenses per square mile in 2024.
Holyoke's 2024 book concentrates in larceny-theft (65% of 2,016 offenses; mix index 4,558).
Violent offenses are 20% of the municipal total; property offenses still dominate the count.
Density uses Census Gazetteer land area (21.2 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
-8.7%
4633.2 → 4232.1/100K
Violent Crime Rate
+5.2%
989.2 → 1041/100K
Property offenses lead Holyoke's 2024 record
Offense
Count
Rate /100K
vs MA
vs US avg
Property Crime
1,618
4232.1
1101.2
1711
Larceny-Theft
1,305
3413.4
-
-
Burglary
162
423.7
-
-
Motor Vehicle Theft
151
395
-
-
Arson
7
18.3
-
-
Violent Crime
398
1041
308.8
352
Aggravated Assault
311
813.5
-
-
Robbery
54
141.2
-
-
Rape
30
78.5
-
-
Murder
3
7.8
-
-
Holyoke Crime Trend (2020-2024)
Holyoke 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
Holyoke Police Department
Reporting agency for Holyoke NIBRS-participating
Holyoke Police Department filed the 2024 UCR row behind Holyoke's 2,016 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 Holyoke in population. Their populations run from 35,885 to 41,270, against 38,232 here. Or use our
side-by-side compare tool
to benchmark two cities directly.
In 2024, Holyoke reported 398 violent crimes and 1,618 property crimes, for a total of 2,016 reported offenses.
Is crime increasing or decreasing in Holyoke?
From 2023 to 2024, Holyoke's violent crime rate increased by 5.2%, and the property crime rate decreased by 8.7%.
What is the most common crime in Holyoke?
The most common crime type in Holyoke is larceny-theft, accounting for 64.7% of all reported crimes (1,305 incidents in 2024).
Mid-size read: Holyoke 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 Holyoke, MA rates use the reporting-year population on the municipal row.