West Boylston, MA is close to the national middle for violent crime, and earns an A PlainCrime safety grade, where violent crime runs 68% below the U.S. average
According to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program for 2024, West Boylston, MA shows violent crime at 112.6 per 100,000 residents and property crime at 287.9 per 100,000. Violent crime runs 68% 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
112.6/100K violent
287.9/100K property
-68% vs U.S.
What the 2024 FBI UCR record shows for West Boylston, MA
Small-count caution
The violent-crime count is small enough that the derived rate is unstable
West Boylston reported 9 violent offences in 2024 against a population of 7,990. 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.
Comparable rate records
West Boylston's closest reported-rate comparisons are in the Massachusetts cohort
The nearest comparable 2024 records to West Boylston's 112.6 violent-crime rate per 100,000 are Dalton (113.6), Berkley (114.8), Duxbury (115.0), Holland (115.0). 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
Violent offenses make up an unusually large share of the reported mix
Violent offenses are 28.1% of the 32 Part I offenses reported in West Boylston for 2024, against a median of 21.4% across comparable Massachusetts cities — a gap of 6.7 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 lower
Across 5 comparable reporting years, the rate moved from 136.2 per 100,000 in 2020 to 112.6 in 2024 (-17.3%). The highest observed value was 140.2 in 2023 and the lowest 112.6 in 2024. Years whose submission failed the completeness test are left out of this comparison rather than plotted as change.
Position in the state cohort
West Boylston sits mid-pack among comparable Massachusetts cities
At 112.6 reported violent offenses per 100,000 residents in 2024, West Boylston ranks 191 of 317 — above 126 of the 316 other Massachusetts cities whose 2024 submission passes this site’s completeness test. That is -22.4% 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-offense composition
Larceny-theft dominates the property total more than it does across the cohort
Larceny-theft is 87.0% of reported property offenses in West Boylston, against a cohort median of 78.1%. The remainder is burglary (3) and motor vehicle theft (0). Composition differences of this size usually track what kinds of places and property are present in a jurisdiction.
Property counts dominate West Boylston'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.
Based on 9 reported violent incidents in a population of 7,990. 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.
Small-city offense counts above are voluntary UCR submissions, not neighbourhood advice. Year-to-year swings can look large when the population base is modest.
West Boylston's 2024 municipal footprint
Across 13 Census sq mi, West Boylston logged 1.8 property and 0.7 violent offenses per square mile in 2024.
West Boylston's 2024 book concentrates in larceny-theft (63% of 32 offenses; mix index 4,512).
Violent offenses are 28% of the municipal total; property offenses still dominate the count.
Density uses Census Gazetteer land area (13 sq mi); mix index is HHI x 10,000 on the offense-type shares above. Distinct from the per-100K rates in the hero.
Violent rate moved most (2023→2024)
Violent Crime Rate
-19.7%
140.2 → 112.6/100K
Property Crime Rate
-13.1%
331.4 → 287.9/100K
Property offenses lead West Boylston's 2024 record
Offense
Count
Rate /100K
vs US avg
Property Crime
23
287.9
1711
Larceny-Theft
20
250.3
-
Burglary
3
37.5
-
Motor Vehicle Theft
0
0
-
Arson
0
0
-
Violent Crime
9
112.6
352
Aggravated Assault
7
87.6
-
Rape
2
25
-
Murder
0
0
-
Robbery
0
0
-
West Boylston Crime Trend (2020-2024)
West Boylston property crime rate trend
Lead series · fell across 5 comparable years · FBI UCR
Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program · split lines are the U.S. national averagesRead the chart as a list
West Boylston: 113 violent, 288 property per 100,000 (grade A)
Adams: 277 violent, 1233 property per 100,000 (grade B)
Halifax: 76 violent, 777 property per 100,000 (grade A)
West Bridgewater: 141 violent, 934 property per 100,000 (grade A)
Hamilton: 65 violent, 220 property per 100,000 (grade A+)
Monson: 399 violent, 472 property per 100,000 (grade C)
Boxford: 0 violent, 145 property per 100,000 (grade A+)
Dighton: 179 violent, 263 property per 100,000 (grade A)
Montague: 428 violent, 631 property per 100,000 (grade C)
West Boylston Police Department
Reporting agency for West Boylston NIBRS-participating
West Boylston Police Department filed the 2024 UCR row behind West Boylston's 32 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 West Boylston in population. Their populations run from 7,738 to 8,403, against 7,990 here. Or use our
side-by-side compare tool
to benchmark two cities directly.
In 2024, West Boylston reported 9 violent crimes and 23 property crimes, for a total of 32 reported offenses.
Is crime increasing or decreasing in West Boylston?
From 2023 to 2024, West Boylston's violent crime rate decreased by 19.7%, and the property crime rate decreased by 13.1%.
What is the most common crime in West Boylston?
The most common crime type in West Boylston is larceny-theft, accounting for 62.5% of all reported crimes (20 incidents in 2024).
Small-city read: West Boylston is sourced from FBI UCR Table 8 for 2024; rates use that row's population.
Small-city rows use the same per-100,000 formula; a few unreported years can leave gaps in the trend table. Verify the agency's submission on FBI.gov UCR.
Disclaimer (small city): UCR counts here are informational only. They are not a victimization probability. Source: FBI UCR Program.
Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program CIUS Table 8 municipal crime rates · 2024 West Boylston, MA rates use the reporting-year population on the municipal row.