State crime profile · 2024
Massachusetts Crime Rates: Safest & Most Dangerous Cities
Crime data for 318 cities (no FBI Table 10 county rows in this vintage) in Massachusetts (MA), ranked safest to most dangerous from 422 reporting agencies.
Data updated 2026-09-05
- 308.8
- Violent / 100K
- 1,101.2
- Property / 100K
- 318
- Cities
Massachusetts violent crime is 308.8 per 100,000, 12% below the U.S. average
According to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program for 2024, Massachusetts records 308.8 violent crimes per 100,000 residents, 12% below the national average (about the 26th-safest of 51 states and D.C.). Statewide averages hide city and county variation; UCR participation is voluntary.
- 308.8 violent crimes per 100K
- -12% vs. the U.S. average
- 4,138 Boston violent-crime reports, volume #1 of 81
- 1,041/100K Holyoke rate #1 (volume #8)
How safe is Massachusetts? FBI UCR data snapshot
Massachusetts (MA) reported 22,034 violent crimes and 78,587 property crimes in 2024, based on FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program submissions from 422 law enforcement agencies. That translates to a statewide violent crime rate of 308.8 per 100,000 residents and a property crime rate of 1101.2 per 100,000 against a reporting population of 7,136,171. The PlainCrime dataset indexes 318 Massachusetts cities and 0 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 Massachusetts 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 385.2 to 308.8 per 100,000, a decline of 19.8%. City-level detail pages within Massachusetts 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.
How Massachusetts ranks nationally
Massachusetts vs. every U.S. state
Violent crime per 100,000 residents, FBI UCR 2024. Lower is safer.
309 49th percentile among 51 U.S. states
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 · Most dangerous cities · Crime trends
Crime Trends
| Year | Population | Violent Crime | Rate | Property Crime | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 7,136,171 | 22,034 | 308.8 | 78,587 | 1101.2 |
| 2023 | 7,001,399 | 22,789 | 325.5 | 80,058 | 1143.5 |
| 2022 | 6,981,974 | 22,652 | 324.4 | 75,583 | 1082.5 |
| 2021 | 6,984,723 | 21,042 | 301.3 | 70,259 | 1005.9 |
| 2020 | 6,893,574 | 21,358 | 309.8 | 73,243 | 1062.5 |
| 2019 | 6,892,503 | 22,524 | 326.8 | 80,868 | 1173.3 |
| 2018 | 6,902,149 | 23,269 | 337.1 | 87,035 | 1261 |
| 2017 | 6,859,819 | 24,230 | 353.2 | 97,462 | 1420.8 |
| 2016 | 6,811,779 | 25,429 | 373.3 | 104,362 | 1532.1 |
| 2015 | 6,794,422 | 25,836 | 380.3 | 111,951 | 1647.7 |
| 2014 | 6,745,408 | 25,985 | 385.2 | 123,084 | 1824.7 |
Cities in Massachusetts
Safest cities in Massachusetts
Cities with 25,000+ residents, lowest violent crime per 100,000, FBI UCR 2024. Hover a bar for the exact rate.
- Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury
30 /100K
- Reading
Reading
39 /100K
- Wellesley
Wellesley
47 /100K
- Newton
Newton
49 /100K
- Belmont
Belmont
51 /100K
- Needham
Needham
52 /100K
- Milton
Milton
52 /100K
- Lexington
Lexington
52 /100K
What this shows Shrewsbury is the safest sizeable city in Massachusetts, at 30.1 violent crimes per 100,000.
Highest violent-crime cities in Massachusetts
Cities with 25,000+ residents, highest violent crime per 100,000, FBI UCR 2024. Hover a bar for the exact rate.
- Holyoke
Holyoke
1,041 /100K
- Chelsea
Chelsea
979 /100K
- Springfield
Springfield
891 /100K
- Fall River
Fall River
743 /100K
- Boston
Boston
628 /100K
- Brockton
Brockton
599 /100K
- Lynn
Lynn
575 /100K
- Chicopee
Chicopee
567 /100K
What this shows Holyoke reports the highest big-city violent-crime rate in Massachusetts, at 1,041 per 100,000.
Boston recorded 4,138 violent-crime reports (#1 of 81) at 627.9 per 100,000 (rate #5). Holyoke recorded 398 (#8) at 1,041 per 100,000 (#1). These are FBI UCR 2024 agency submissions, not a personal risk forecast.
Volume #1 is not rate #1 among Massachusetts cities
Violent-crime rate per 100,000 for the count leader and the rate leader among cities with 25,000+ residents, FBI UCR 2024. Each tooltip identifies the relevant rate or volume rank; chart row is not a state rank.
- Holyoke
Holyoke
1,041 /100K
- Boston
Boston
628 /100K
What this shows Boston recorded 4,138 violent-crime reports (#1 of 81) at 627.9 per 100,000 (rate #5). Holyoke recorded 398 (#8) at 1,041 per 100,000 (#1). These are FBI UCR 2024 agency submissions, not a personal risk forecast.
Read the chart as a list
- Boston: 628 violent, 2022 property per 100,000 (grade F)
- Springfield: 891 violent, 2836 property per 100,000 (grade F)
- Cambridge: 437 violent, 2644 property per 100,000 (grade D)
- Lowell: 533 violent, 1663 property per 100,000 (grade D)
- Brockton: 599 violent, 1346 property per 100,000 (grade D)
- Quincy: 335 violent, 1333 property per 100,000 (grade C)
- Lynn: 575 violent, 1171 property per 100,000 (grade D)
- New Bedford: 353 violent, 1359 property per 100,000 (grade C)
- Fall River: 743 violent, 1392 property per 100,000 (grade F)
- Newton: 49 violent, 599 property per 100,000 (grade A+)
- Lawrence: 440 violent, 999 property per 100,000 (grade C)
- Somerville: 221 violent, 1699 property per 100,000 (grade B)
- Framingham: 326 violent, 1054 property per 100,000 (grade C)
- Haverhill: 411 violent, 924 property per 100,000 (grade C)
Massachusetts safety livability score: 66/100
Percentile-benchmarked against all 51 tracked states, 2024 FBI UCR data.
-
Violent crime rate
308.8/100K · D (49th percentile)
-
Property crime rate
1101.2/100K · B (88th percentile)
-
Murder rate
N/A, dropped from score, weight redistributed
| City | Population | Violent / 100K | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boston | 659,049 | 627.9 | F |
| Worcester | 212,425 | Incomplete report* | - |
| Springfield | 155,491 | 891.4 | F |
| Cambridge | 120,447 | 436.7 | D |
| Lowell | 116,062 | 532.5 | D |
| Brockton | 106,650 | 599.2 | D |
| Quincy | 103,550 | 335.1 | C |
| Lynn | 103,200 | 574.6 | D |
| New Bedford | 102,491 | 353.2 | C |
| Fall River | 95,573 | 742.9 | F |
| Newton | 89,935 | 48.9 | A+ |
| Lawrence | 89,600 | 439.7 | C |
| Somerville | 81,766 | 221.4 | B |
| Framingham | 73,123 | 325.5 | C |
| Haverhill | 68,602 | 411.1 | C |
| Plymouth | 68,195 | 322.6 | B |
| Malden | 66,046 | 292.2 | B |
| Waltham | 65,488 | 252 | B |
| Brookline | 64,122 | 99.8 | A |
| Taunton | 61,874 | 447.7 | C |
| Weymouth | 60,802 | 223.7 | B |
| Medford | 59,601 | 179.5 | B |
| Revere | 57,779 | 444.8 | C |
| Chicopee | 55,770 | 566.6 | D |
| Peabody | 54,964 | 254.7 | B |
| Methuen | 54,623 | 175.8 | A |
| Everett | 51,744 | 347.9 | C |
| Barnstable | 50,928 | 410.4 | C |
| Attleboro | 47,594 | 220.6 | B |
| Arlington | 46,956 | 55.4 | A+ |
| Amherst | 46,304 | 159.8 | A |
| Salem | 45,955 | 152.3 | B |
| Leominster | 44,407 | 484.2 | C |
| Beverly | 43,024 | 167.3 | A |
| Pittsfield | 42,835 | 511.3 | D |
| Woburn | 42,716 | 215.4 | B |
| Billerica | 42,332 | 101.6 | A |
| Fitchburg | 42,332 | 486.6 | C |
| Marlborough | 41,785 | 421.2 | C |
| Westfield | 41,270 | 191.4 | B |
| Shrewsbury | 39,837 | 30.1 | A+ |
| Braintree | 39,018 | 284.5 | B |
| Chelsea | 38,307 | 978.9 | F |
| Holyoke | 38,232 | 1,041 | F |
| Andover | 37,152 | 94.2 | A |
| Natick | 37,073 | 213.1 | B |
| Chelmsford | 36,795 | 122.3 | A |
| Watertown | 35,885 | 153.3 | B |
| Randolph | 34,992 | 240.1 | B |
| Dartmouth | 34,792 | 250.1 | B |
| Lexington | 34,350 | 52.4 | A+ |
| Falmouth | 33,877 | 283.4 | B |
| Franklin | 33,716 | 94.9 | A |
| Dracut | 32,821 | 149.3 | A |
| Needham | 32,779 | 51.9 | A |
| North Andover | 32,474 | 138.6 | A |
| Wellesley | 31,973 | 46.9 | A+ |
| Tewksbury | 31,827 | 254.5 | B |
| Norwood | 31,704 | 167.2 | A |
| North Attleboro | 31,565 | 95 | A |
| Milford | 30,799 | 285.7 | B |
| Gloucester | 30,599 | 277.8 | B |
| Northampton | 30,108 | 445.1 | C |
| Melrose | 29,784 | 100.7 | A |
| Bridgewater | 29,465 | 74.7 | A+ |
| Stoughton | 29,410 | 258.4 | B |
| Saugus | 29,180 | 250.2 | B |
| Agawam | 28,921 | 287 | B |
| West Springfield | 28,898 | 415.3 | D |
| Milton | 28,832 | 52 | A+ |
| Wakefield | 28,594 | 174.9 | A |
| Danvers | 28,375 | 137.4 | B |
| Belmont | 27,280 | 51.3 | A |
| Burlington | 27,124 | 224.9 | B |
| Walpole | 26,268 | 133.2 | A |
| Marshfield | 26,238 | 144.8 | A |
| Easton | 25,941 | 146.5 | A |
| Reading | 25,871 | 38.7 | A+ |
| Yarmouth | 25,616 | 296.7 | B |
| Dedham | 25,355 | 272.1 | B |
| Canton | 25,181 | 289.9 | B |
| Middleboro | 25,046 | 427.2 | C |
| Westford | 24,946 | 68.1 | A+ |
| Hingham | 24,620 | 125.9 | A |
| Acton | 24,506 | 65.3 | A+ |
| Mansfield | 24,311 | 115.2 | A |
| Wareham | 23,609 | 292.3 | B |
| Wilmington | 23,535 | 165.7 | A |
| Winchester | 23,238 | 17.2 | A+ |
| Stoneham | 23,173 | 151 | A |
| Westborough | 22,591 | 225.8 | B |
| Ludlow | 21,304 | 173.7 | A |
| Gardner | 21,288 | 328.8 | B |
| Bourne | 21,124 | 274.6 | B |
| Sandwich | 20,931 | 157.7 | A |
| Marblehead | 20,645 | 145.3 | A |
| Grafton | 20,464 | 68.4 | A+ |
| Holden | 20,322 | 54.1 | A+ |
| Hudson | 20,237 | 158.1 | A |
| Hopkinton | 20,171 | 84.3 | A |
Counties in Massachusetts
FBI Table 10 lists no county rows for Massachusetts in this vintage (14 Census county-equivalents exist; participation is voluntary). Missing counties are absent from the FBI source for this year, not dropped by PlainCrime. See national county coverage and methodology.
No county profile pages for Massachusetts in this vintage. City and statewide agency totals remain available above.
Nationwide peers for Massachusetts
Similar violent rate (~308.8/100K)
- Indiana · 308.5/100K violent
- Georgia · 299.6/100K violent
- South Dakota · 320/100K violent
- Ohio · 292.8/100K violent
Similar property rate (~1,101.2/100K)
- West Virginia · 1089.3/100K property
- Maine · 1149/100K property
- Wisconsin · 1156.8/100K property
- Rhode Island · 1040.1/100K property
Nearby States
Safest cities · Most dangerous · Trends · National rankings · Crime grades · Compare · 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.
Put this to use
Put the Massachusetts FBI UCR state file to work: open a city, a county, or a national ranking built from the same vintage.
A statewide average hides city and county variation: open a local profile before treating the state figure as a place-level verdict.
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.