Newton is a city of 23,700 in Middlesex County, about 8 miles west of downtown Boston · Updated November 2026
How common is property crime in Newton?
Property crime in Newton is a little lower than in most US neighborhoods: an A, safer than the neighborhoods where 65% of Americans live. Theft makes up 67% 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 888 of 1,000Less property crime than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
65% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more property crime than Newton as a whole, and 35% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a property crime safety score of 823, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Newton scores 888.
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 Newton, MA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Newton, 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 Newton
Thefts from cars happen at homes far more often than nationally. In Newton, 66% of reported thefts from cars happen at homes, against 34% nationally.
Theft runs low. Newton has 5.7 thefts a year per 1,000 residents, less than half the US rate of 13.1.
Where property crime is lowest and highest in Newton
Every part of Newton where people live grades A or B for property crime on the national scale. Property crime grades across Newton run from A+ to A-.
100%
A or B 100%
Share of residents, by the property crime CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
1Nonantum, northThefts run about 40% lower here than in the rest of Newton.A891
2West Newton, westClose to the rest of Newton on most crimes.A880
3Newton Corner, eastThefts run about 40% higher here than in the rest of Newton.A861
4South Side, northwestClose to the rest of Newton on most crimes.A847
Neighborhood areas of Newton, ranked by property crime CrimeGrade™; beside each grade is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer). Each one combines several of the smaller areas on the map.
Is property crime going up in Newton?
Reported property crime in Newton has held about steady since 2019, within 2%. Burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts went from about 5.8 to 6.0 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 18). Property crime changed little from 2023 to 2024.
Property crime, change since 2019
NewtonUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Newton. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Property, Newton
Property, US
2016
+25%
+15%
2017
+12%
+12%
2018
+23%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
-6%
-8%
2021
-1%
-10%
2022
+11%
-6%
2023
-6%
-7%
2024
+2%
-15%
Property crime rates and types in Newton
CrimeGrade™ estimates Newton has about 8.5 reported property crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 64% less than the US as a whole and 46% 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 Newton, about 67% of the total, followed by vandalism and burglary.
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.
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 Newton
Newton has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Newton, 60% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Car thefts happen most often at homes: 54% of them, against 33% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (60%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Homes (54%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Theft from cars
Homes (66%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Vandalism
Homes (47%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Shares of the crimes reported to police, 2022 to 2024. Reports with no time recorded are left out of the times.
Property crime in Newton and nearby cities
Newton has more property crime than 7 of its 10 nearest cities. Waban and Newton Center have the least property crime nearby.
Parking lots, night lighting and walkability in Newton
Among the traits that tend to go with property crime, two set Newton apart: it has 0.3 parking-lot spaces per resident, against 2.0 nationally, and 12 buses and trains an hour at the evening rush, where most Americans have none nearby. Places with little parking-lot space tend to report less theft, and it runs low here.
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.0.3 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Lower than for 95% of US city residents
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.100% where people liveUS: 78%Higher than for 92% 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. 57% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.C (37 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 87% 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 Newton: C- (26 of 100).12 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 87% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.7.3 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower than for 79% 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.39% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 75% of US city residents
BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of Newton 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 Newton
Property crime costs Newton about $1.3 million a year, or $55 per resident and about $147 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
$170,000
$7
Theft
$690,000
$29
Vehicle theft
$150,000
$7
Arson
$6,700
under $1
Vandalism
$270,000
$11
Total
$1.3 million
$55
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. Newton 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.
