Portsmouth is the seventh-largest city in New Hampshire, with 23,300 residents in Rockingham County, about 50 miles north of downtown Boston · Updated November 2026
How common is property crime in Portsmouth?
Property crime in Portsmouth is a little lower than in most US neighborhoods: an A, safer than the neighborhoods where 67% of Americans live. Theft makes up 66% 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 894 of 1,000Less property crime than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
67% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more property crime than Portsmouth as a whole, and 33% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a property crime safety score of 823, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Portsmouth scores 894.
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 Portsmouth, NH at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Portsmouth, 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 Portsmouth
Vehicle theft runs low. Portsmouth has 1.0 car thefts a year per 1,000 residents, less than half the US rate of 2.7.
Where property crime is lowest and highest in Portsmouth
Every part of Portsmouth where people live grades A or B for property crime on the national scale. Property crime grades across Portsmouth 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 Portsmouth?
Reported property crime in Portsmouth has fallen 23% since 2019. Burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts went from about 17 to 13 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 18). In 2024 alone, property crime rose 22%.
Property crime, change since 2019
PortsmouthUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Portsmouth. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Property, Portsmouth
Property, US
2016
+4%
+15%
2017
-16%
+12%
2018
-3%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
-32%
-8%
2021
-14%
-10%
2022
-25%
-6%
2023
-37%
-7%
2024
-23%
-15%
Property crime rates and types in Portsmouth
CrimeGrade™ estimates Portsmouth has about 25 reported property crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, about the same as the US as a whole and 73% more than New Hampshire.
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 Portsmouth, about 66% 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.
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 Portsmouth
Portsmouth has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
Car thefts happen most often at stores and businesses: 38% of them, against 10% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Car theft
Stores and businesses (38%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Theft from cars
Stores and businesses (31%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Vandalism
Homes (33%)
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 Portsmouth and nearby cities
Portsmouth has the most property crime of its 6 nearest cities.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from Portsmouth. Beside each property crime CrimeGrade™ is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer).
Compared with cities of similar size and density, Portsmouth is safer than 74% of them.
Among the traits that tend to go with property crime, two set Portsmouth apart: it has 39.1 stores and restaurants for every 1,000 residents, against 10.5 nationally, and 178 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole. Places like that tend to report more theft, yet theft runs lower here than that would suggest.
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.39.1 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 99% of US city residents
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft.178 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 99% 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. 56% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.C (38 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 87% of US city residents
Show all 6
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.5.4 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher than for 98% of US city residents
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson.3.0% of homesUS: 7.1%Lower than for 86% of US city residents
Transit serviceBuses and trains an hour at the evening rush. Places with busy transit tend to report more theft. BestNeighborhood's Transit Grade for Portsmouth: F (0 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 84% of US city residents
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 Portsmouth
Property crime costs Portsmouth about $3.6 million a year, or $153 per resident and about $333 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
$68,000
$3
Theft
$1.9 million
$83
Vehicle theft
$360,000
$16
Arson
$62,000
$3
Vandalism
$1.1 million
$49
Total
$3.6 million
$153
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.
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.
