Ashland is a town of 18,700 in Middlesex County, about 20 miles west of downtown Boston · Updated November 2026
How common is property crime in Ashland?
Property crime in Ashland is a little lower than in most US neighborhoods: an A, safer than the neighborhoods where 66% of Americans live. Theft makes up 39% of it. Burglary, the crime most likely to reach into a home, grades A+, and vehicle theft grades A.
A
Property crime CrimeGrade™
Safety score 892 of 1,000Less property crime than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
66% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more property crime than Ashland as a whole, and 34% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a property crime safety score of 823, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Ashland scores 892.
Crime is concentrated in a small share of places, so most neighborhoods score high on the 0 to 1,000 scale. That is why a score in the 800s can still mean more property crime than most US neighborhoods.
How to read the map: each area's color compares its property crime with the homes, parked cars and people there, on one national scale, from green for the least to red for the most. Each area gets its own color, so a busy shopping center can show red while the homes beside it stay green. The interactive maps load faster on a strong connection. Compare high speed internet in Ashland, MA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Ashland, and anyone thinking about buying or renting a home there.
Business and enterprise customers: this free map shows neighborhood areas. CrimeGrade™ business reports map crime at about 66-meter detail and estimate it for one address and type of business. See business reports
What stands out about property crime in Ashland
Theft runs low. Ashland has 3.1 thefts a year per 1,000 residents, a small fraction of the US rate of 13.1.
Where property crime is lowest and highest in Ashland
Every part of Ashland where people live grades A or B for property crime on the national scale. Property crime grades across Ashland run from A+ to A.
100%
A or B 100%
Share of residents, by the property crime CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Is property crime going up in Ashland?
Reported property crime in Ashland has risen 52% since 2019. Burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts went from about 4.3 to 6.6 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 18). In 2024 alone, property crime rose 88%.
Property crime, change since 2019
AshlandUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Ashland. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Property, Ashland
Property, US
2016
+52%
+15%
2017
+19%
+12%
2018
+17%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
-2%
-8%
2021
-23%
-10%
2022
-48%
-6%
2023
-19%
-7%
2024
+52%
-15%
Property crime rates and types in Ashland
CrimeGrade™ estimates Ashland has about 7.9 reported property crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 67% less than the US as a whole and 50% less than Massachusetts.
All property crime
Burglary
Vehicle theft
Reported crimes a year, per 1,000 residents. Property crime here includes vandalism, which the FBI's property crime rate leaves out.
Theft is the most common property crime in Ashland, about 39% of the total, followed by vandalism and vehicle theft.
Each CrimeGrade™ here compares a property crime with what it affects: homes for burglary and arson, parked cars for vehicle theft, people and parking for theft, homes and businesses for vandalism. Rates count crimes per 1,000 residents.
The Ashland Police Department's 2024 report of burglary had a month far out of line with the rest, a sign of a data-entry error or a catch-up month, so CrimeGrade™ set it aside and used the other months.
Select a crime's name to see its map above. CrimeGrade™ business reports map each crime at about 66-meter detail.
Where and when property crime happens in Ashland
Ashland has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Vandalism
Homes (53%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Shares of the crimes reported to police, 2022 to 2024. Reports with no time recorded are left out of the times.
Property crime in Ashland and nearby cities
Of the 7 cities closest to Ashland, 5 have less property crime. Holliston and Southborough have the least.
Among the traits that tend to go with property crime, two set Ashland apart: it has 25 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole, and 5 buses and trains an hour at the evening rush, where most Americans have none nearby. Places with few jobs tend to report less theft, and it runs low here.
Lit at nightSatellite images show which neighborhoods are lit at night, a sign of busy streets and businesses. Brightly lit places tend to report more theft and vandalism.61% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 83% of US city residents
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft.25 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 79% of US city residents
Walk GradeBestNeighborhood's grade for getting through daily life on foot, traced along real walking routes to shops, schools and parks. Walkable places tend to report more theft. 85% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D- (12 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 70% of US city residents
Show all 6
Transit serviceBuses and trains an hour at the evening rush. Places with busy transit tend to report more theft. BestNeighborhood's Transit Grade for Ashland: F (4 of 100).5 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 70% of US city residents
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more car theft.7% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 69% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.8.7 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower than for 66% of US city residents
BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of Ashland on shops, parks, home prices, getting around and more.
These traits tend to go with more or less crime; none of them causes it on its own. Sources: Census job counts and housing figures, OpenStreetMap and Overture business listings, CrimeGrade™ parking estimates, NASA night-light imagery, US Forest Service tree cover, EPA transit data and BestNeighborhood's Walk Grade.
What property crime costs Ashland
Property crime costs Ashland about $1.2 million a year, or $66 per resident and about $173 per household: the value of what is stolen or damaged, plus the police, courts and prisons that respond.
Cost of property crime per resident, per year
How the cost breaks down
Pain and suffering add little to the cost of property crime, so this is close to its full cost.
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Burglary
$99,000
$5
Theft
$290,000
$16
Vehicle theft
$510,000
$27
Arson
$13,000
$1
Vandalism
$320,000
$17
Total
$1.2 million
$66
How CrimeGrade™ works
The property crime CrimeGrade™ covers burglary, theft, car theft, arson and vandalism, from A+ for the least crime to F for the most, on one scale for the whole country.
It weighs each property crime against what it affects: homes for burglary and arson, parked cars for car theft, and the people and parking around stores for theft.
The rates on this page count crimes for every 1,000 people who live here, the way police departments report them. Ashland is the other kind of example: few people work in, shop in or visit it, so its crime per resident looks lower than its CrimeGrade™ suggests.
Comparisons with US neighborhoods use the Census Bureau's block groups, small areas of about 1,400 residents, and count the people who live in each. The figures count crimes reported to police; many crimes, shoplifting above all, never are. Behind the grades, CrimeGrade™ tested 21,607 factors from 125 data families. For business owners, paid CrimeGrade™ location reports estimate crime at a single address for each type of business.
Where the numbers come from
Crime reports that police departments file with the FBI
State crime records and city crime data, where they are published
Published research on what crime costs victims and communities
These are estimates of reported crime for whole areas, not a record of what happened on any one street. CrimeGrade™ updates them once a year and provides them free and without guarantee. Check local sources before you rely on them for a decision.
