Russell, MA is close to the national middle for violent crime, and earns an A PlainCrime safety grade, where violent crime runs 49% below the U.S. average
According to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program for 2024, Russell, MA shows violent crime at 181.1 per 100,000 residents and property crime at 241.4 per 100,000. Violent crime runs 49% 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
181.1/100K violent
241.4/100K property
-49% vs U.S.
What the 2024 FBI UCR record shows for Russell, MA
Small-count caution
The violent-crime count is small enough that the derived rate is unstable
Russell reported 3 violent offences in 2024 against a population of 1,657. At this volume one additional or one fewer report moves the per-100,000 rate noticeably, so the figure is better read as a data point than as a precise measurement, and year-to-year swings here are expected.
Offense mix
Violent offenses make up an unusually large share of the reported mix
Violent offenses are 42.9% of the 7 Part I offenses reported in Russell for 2024, against a median of 21.4% across comparable Massachusetts cities — a gap of 21.5 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.
Comparable rate records
Russell's closest reported-rate comparisons are in the Massachusetts cohort
The nearest comparable 2024 records to Russell's 181.1 violent-crime rate per 100,000 are Salisbury (179.9), Medford (179.5), Dighton (179.4), Mashpee (183.5). 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.
Property-offense composition
Burglary and vehicle theft carry more of the property total than they do across the cohort
Larceny-theft is 50.0% of reported property offenses in Russell, against a cohort median of 78.1%. The remainder is burglary (2) and motor vehicle theft (0). Composition differences of this size usually track what kinds of places and property are present in a jurisdiction.
Position in the state cohort
Russell sits mid-pack among comparable Massachusetts cities
At 181.1 reported violent offenses per 100,000 residents in 2024, Russell ranks 113 of 317 — above 204 of the 316 other Massachusetts cities whose 2024 submission passes this site’s completeness test. That is +25.9% 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.
Russell's FBI UCR Table 8 municipal row keeps violent and property totals in a closer balance. Per-100,000 rates use the reporting-year population on that row; incomplete reporters stay out of rate rankings. A citywide figure rarely describes any single neighbourhood inside the municipal boundary.
Based on 3 reported violent incidents in a population of 1,657. At this volume, one additional or one fewer report can shift the rate and letter grade noticeably; small-city crime counts are inherently more volatile year to year than large-city counts, so treat this grade as a data point, not a precise ranking.
On a small municipal row, small denominators make rates sensitive to a handful of incidents. Figures are reported totals, not neighbourhood advice.
Russell's 2024 municipal footprint
Across 2.3 Census sq mi, Russell logged 1.7 property and 1.3 violent offenses per square mile in 2024.
Russell leans on aggravated assault at 43% of reported offenses, with a moderate mix index of 3,673.
Violent offenses are 43% of the municipal total - a violence-heavy book for a small municipal.
Density uses Census Gazetteer land area (2.3 sq mi); mix index is HHI x 10,000 on the offense-type shares above. Distinct from the per-100K rates in the hero.
Year-over-Year Change (2023 to 2024)
Russell's 2024 offense mix (violent and property)
Offense
Count
Rate /100K
vs US avg
Property Crime
4
241.4
1711
Burglary
2
120.7
-
Larceny-Theft
2
120.7
-
Arson
1
60.4
-
Motor Vehicle Theft
0
0
-
Violent Crime
3
181.1
352
Aggravated Assault
3
181.1
-
Murder
0
0
-
Rape
0
0
-
Robbery
0
0
-
Russell Crime Trend (2020-2024)
Russell violent crime rate trend
Secondary series · fell · 2020-2024 · FBI UCR
Violent crime rate (2024)
181.1/100K
Russell property crime rate trend
Lead series · fell across 5 comparable years · FBI UCR
Property crime rate (2024)
241.4/100K
Year
Coverage
Population
Violent Rate
Property Rate
Total Crimes
2020
Comparable
1,787
0
0
0
2021
Comparable
1,805
0
0
0
2022
Comparable
1,641
0
0
0
2023
Comparable
1,637
0
0
0
2024
Comparable
1,657
181.1
241.4
7
Russell Police Department
Reporting agency for Russell NIBRS-participating
Russell Police Department filed the 2024 UCR row behind Russell's 7 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 Russell in population. Their populations run from 1,553 to 1,721, against 1,657 here. Or use our
side-by-side compare tool
to benchmark two cities directly.
In 2024, Russell reported 3 violent crimes and 4 property crimes, for a total of 7 reported offenses.
Is crime increasing or decreasing in Russell?
From 2023 to 2024, Russell's violent crime rate data is unavailable.
What is the most common crime in Russell?
The most common crime type in Russell is aggravated assault, accounting for 42.9% of all reported crimes (3 incidents in 2024).
Micro-municipal read: Russell's FBI UCR Table 8 row (2024) is the only source for the rates above.
With a small population base, per-100,000 rates amplify sparse counts. Incomplete submissions are excluded from rankings. See FBI.gov UCR for the raw Table 8 file.
Disclaimer (small municipal): small-base rates are especially easy to misread. Informational only - not advice. Source: FBI UCR Program.
Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program CIUS Table 8 municipal crime rates · 2024 Russell, MA rates use the reporting-year population on the municipal row.