State crime profile · 2024

Maine Crime Rates: Safest & Most Dangerous Cities

Crime data for 101 cities and 16 counties in Maine (ME), ranked safest to most dangerous from 129 reporting agencies.

Data updated 2026-07-13

101.6
Violent / 100K
1,149
Property / 100K
101
Cities
16
Counties

The verdict

Maine's 101.6 violent crimes per 100,000 runs 71% below the U.S. average, making it one of the safest states in the country.

101.6
violent crimes per 100K
-71%
vs. the U.S. average
1st
safest of 51 states & DC
1,149
property crimes per 100K

How safe is Maine? FBI UCR data snapshot

Maine (ME) reported 1,427 violent crimes and 16,143 property crimes in 2024, based on FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program submissions from 129 law enforcement agencies. That translates to a statewide violent crime rate of 101.6 per 100,000 residents and a property crime rate of 1149 per 100,000 against a reporting population of 1,405,012. The PlainCrime dataset indexes 101 Maine cities and 16 counties, each with their own detail pages and local crime figures drawn from FBI UCR Tables 8 and 10.

The FBI's state-level summary reports violent and property crime as aggregate totals rather than broken out by individual offense type (murder, rape, robbery, assault, burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft, arson). For an offense-by-offense breakdown, see the individual city and county pages for Maine below, which draw on FBI UCR Tables 8 and 10 and do report each offense type separately.

Across 11 years of state-level UCR history (2014–2024), the violent crime rate moved from 120.6 to 101.6 per 100,000, a decline of 15.8%. City-level detail pages within Maine include safety grades (A+ to F), benchmarks against national averages, per-capita risk estimates, and multi-year trend tables for users comparing specific jurisdictions. All figures above are drawn from FBI UCR 2024 submissions; reporting completeness varies by agency, and the FBI periodically restates prior-year figures as late submissions arrive.

State figures roll up the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) submissions from local and county agencies across the state, then express them per 100,000 residents so one state can be compared with another. Statewide averages hide a great deal of variation: a handful of large cities often account for much of a state's reported violent crime, while most of its land area and population live with markedly lower rates. Reporting completeness also differs between states, so a year-over-year change can reflect which agencies filed data as much as any real shift on the ground. Read a state number as the broad backdrop, then drill into the city and county pages for the local detail that actually shapes day-to-day decisions.

Violent Crime Rate
101.6/100K
Property Crime Rate
1149/100K
Population
1,405,012
Data Year
2024

How Maine ranks nationally

Maine vs. every U.S. state

Violent crime per 100,000 residents, FBI UCR 2024. Lower is safer.

102 Safer than 98% among 51 U.S. states

ME 0 1,100+ every state & DC, bucketed by value

Each bar is a band of values; taller bars hold more U.S. states. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program · 2024

Safest Cities

Top 50 by lowest violent crime rate

Most Dangerous Cities

Top 50 by highest violent crime rate

Crime Trends

Multi-year charts & analysis

Crime Trends

Year Population Violent Crime Rate Property Crime Rate
2024 1,405,012 1,427 101.6 16,143 1149
2023 1,395,722 1,455 104.2 15,969 1144.1
2022 1,385,340 1,467 105.9 17,076 1232.6
2021 1,372,247 1,560 113.7 15,873 1156.7
2020 1,350,141 1,490 110.4 15,870 1175.4
2019 1,344,212 1,565 116.4 16,951 1261
2018 1,338,404 1,500 112.1 18,309 1368
2017 1,335,907 1,610 120.5 20,295 1519.2
2016 1,331,479 1,647 123.7 22,111 1660.6
2015 1,329,328 1,642 123.5 24,453 1839.5
2014 1,330,089 1,604 120.6 26,530 1994.6

Cities in Maine

Safest cities in Maine

Cities with 25,000+ residents, lowest violent crime per 100,000, FBI UCR 2024. Hover a bar for the exact rate.

/100K

What this shows South Portland is the safest sizeable city in Maine, at 63.1 violent crimes per 100,000.

Source FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program As of 2024

Highest violent-crime cities in Maine

Cities with 25,000+ residents, highest violent crime per 100,000, FBI UCR 2024. Hover a bar for the exact rate.

/100K

What this shows Portland reports the highest big-city violent-crime rate in Maine, at 266.9 per 100,000.

Source FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program As of 2024
Maine's largest cities, violent vs. property crime. X axis violent crime per 100K, Y axis property crime per 100K, split by the national averages. 5 cities; the anchor is ringed. Maine's largest cities, violent vs. property crime 57 288 Violent crime per 100K → 1,034 4,577 Property crime per 100K → Portland Lewiston Bangor South Portland SAFEST HIGHEST CRIME Safety grade A / B C D / F
Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program · split lines are Maine's statewide averages · the four largest cities are labeled
City Population Violent / 100K Grade
Portland 69,310 266.9 C
Lewiston 38,850 244.5 B
Bangor 31,598 161.4 C
South Portland 26,931 63.1 A
Auburn 25,038 215.7 C
Scarborough 24,147 62.1 A
Brunswick 22,662 70.6 A
Sanford 22,345 156.6 B
Biddeford 22,310 313.8 C
Saco 21,144 80.4 A
Westbrook 20,608 174.7 B
Windham 20,064 84.7 A
Augusta 19,164 250.5 C
Gorham 18,344 21.8 A+
Waterville 16,867 142.3 C
York 14,249 49.1 A+
Falmouth 13,004 61.5 A
Orono 12,641 47.5 A+
Kennebunk 12,040 66.4 A
Wells 12,027 83.1 A
Kittery 11,031 54.4 A
Topsham 9,814 40.8 A
Lisbon 9,731 41.1 A+
Brewer 9,639 41.5 A
Cape Elizabeth 9,610 20.8 A+
Old Orchard Beach 9,503 105.2 A
Yarmouth 9,036 88.5 A
Bath 8,871 67.6 A
Cumberland 8,845 0 A+
Ellsworth 8,812 204.3 C
Freeport 8,795 56.9 A
Farmington 8,727 126 A
Skowhegan 8,700 137.9 C
Presque Isle 8,642 219.9 C
Buxton 8,591 116.4 A
Berwick 8,364 119.6 A
Hampden 8,057 12.4 A+
Winslow 8,049 149.1 A
South Berwick 7,847 25.5 A+
Bar Harbor 7,538 26.5 A+
Eliot 7,511 0 A+
Old Town 7,433 40.4 A
Belfast 7,111 0 A+
Rockland 7,059 85 A
East Millinocket 6,860 58.3 A
Fairfield 6,557 122 B
Oakland 6,396 46.9 A
Winthrop 6,224 48.2 A
Gardiner 6,222 112.5 A
Houlton 6,080 49.3 A
Rumford 6,034 165.7 B
Bridgton 5,772 69.3 A
Paris 5,429 73.7 A
Waldoboro 5,378 37.2 A
Norway 5,356 18.7 A
North Berwick 5,275 170.6 A
Camden 5,221 0 A+
Sabattus 5,161 38.8 A+
Bucksport 5,039 59.5 A
Lincoln 4,872 0 A+
Jay 4,665 107.2 A
Dover-Foxcroft 4,579 0 A+
Oxford 4,419 45.3 B
Fort Kent 4,273 23.4 A+
Monmouth 4,244 0 A+
Pittsfield 3,939 25.4 A
Wiscasset 3,926 50.9 A
Wilton 3,885 128.7 A
Madawaska 3,863 0 A+
Dexter 3,816 78.6 A
Kennebunkport 3,718 26.9 A+
Rockport 3,687 81.4 A
Fryeburg 3,589 27.9 A
Richmond 3,588 0 A+
Holden 3,439 58.2 A+
Clinton 3,390 88.5 A
Fort Fairfield 3,343 149.6 A
Newport 3,162 63.3 A
Mechanic Falls 3,143 222.7 B
Calais 3,140 63.7 A
Livermore Falls 3,123 128.1 B
Thomaston 2,761 36.2 B
Hallowell 2,629 0 A+
Milo 2,400 41.7 A
Damariscotta 2,307 86.7 A
Phippsburg 2,222 0 A+
Boothbay Harbor 2,108 47.4 A+
Machias 2,082 144.1 A
Southwest Harbor 1,849 0 A+
Veazie 1,824 0 A+
Gouldsboro 1,746 114.5 A
Greenville 1,677 0 A+
Ogunquit 1,606 62.3 A
Milbridge 1,395 0 A+
Baileyville 1,322 75.6 A+
Rangeley 1,321 0 A+
Eastport 1,305 0 A+
Ashland 1,208 0 A+
Carrabassett Valley 710 0 A+
Islesboro 596 0 A+
Showing the 100 largest of 101 reporting cities. Browse all 101 cities → Or see the safest and most dangerous rankings.

Counties in Maine

Largest counties in Maine, violent crime per 100K

Top 8 counties by population, violent crime per 100,000 residents. Hover a bar for the exact rate.

/100K
Source FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program As of 2024
Androscoggin
Aroostook
Cumberland
Franklin
Hancock
Kennebec
Knox
Lincoln
Oxford
Penobscot
Piscataquis
Sagadahoc
Somerset
Waldo
Washington
York

Nearby States

Compare Maine with neighboring states, or use the compare tool for side-by-side jurisdiction benchmarking.

Kentucky
KY
Louisiana
LA
Maryland
MD
Massachusetts
MA
Michigan
MI

Explore Maine crime data

Safest cities → Most dangerous cities → Crime trends → National rankings → Crime grades → Methodology →

Primary source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program, Crime in the United States annual release. State-level trends cross-check against the FBI Crime Data Explorer (CDE) API.

Population figures for rate calculations reference U.S. Census Bureau estimates where FBI-reported populations are unavailable. Verify with Census.gov QuickFacts.

Read our methodology , how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Using PlainCrime rankings responsibly

Crime rankings are most useful when they sit alongside other community-quality signals, school performance, housing affordability, employment, and access to healthcare. A safer-than-average violent-crime rate in a small commuter suburb does not by itself make a city a better place to live; it is one data point among many. Likewise, a higher-than-average rate in a dense urban center may reflect that residents and visitors interact with police more often, not that the city is necessarily unsafe for its residents. We provide cross-links from each city profile to neighboring jurisdictions, state averages, and national benchmarks so you can read each number in context rather than in isolation.

For news outlets, researchers, and concerned residents who cite our rankings, the most defensible approach is to quote the per-100,000 rate, the reporting year, and the source agency in the same sentence. Avoid framing crime statistics as predictive, UCR data describes what was reported in a past year, not what will happen tomorrow. Where possible, pair our rankings with longitudinal trend data on the relevant city's profile page to show whether the rate is moving up, holding steady, or falling year over year.

Every figure on PlainCrime is rendered directly from FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on FBI Uniform Crime Reporting source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.