Athol is a town of 11,600 in Worcester County, about 30 miles northwest of downtown Worcester · Updated November 2026
Is Athol, MA safe?
Yes. An overall CrimeGrade™ of A means crime in Athol is low. Most US neighborhoods have little crime too, so Athol sits near the middle: 54% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime, and 46% in neighborhoods with less. Property crime grades better than violent crime here, A against A-. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Athol run from A+ to B+, so check the map below.
A
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 856 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
54% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Athol as a whole, and 46% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Athol scores 856.
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 crime than most US neighborhoods.
How to read the map: each area's color compares its crime with the people, homes and cars there, on one national scale, from green for the least crime 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 Athol, MA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Athol, 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 in Athol
Aggravated assault is the exception. Athol grades A- for violent crime, but aggravated assault grades B-, worse than in the neighborhoods where 83% of Americans live.
The safest and least safe parts of Athol
Every part of Athol where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across Athol run from A+ to B+; 76% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
100%
A or B 100%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Within Athol, the southeast side has the least crime and the center the most.
Is crime going up in Athol?
Reported violent crime in Athol peaked in 2022 and has fallen 21% since, back near its 2019 level. Property crime is down 22% from 2019. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 4.3 to 4.5 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 9.4 to 7.4 (US: 18). Neither changed much from 2023 to 2024.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
AtholUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Athol. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Athol
Violent, US
Property, Athol
Property, US
2016
-2%
+4%
+93%
+15%
2017
+18%
+4%
+84%
+12%
2018
+14%
+0%
+31%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
-6%
+4%
-6%
-8%
2021
-12%
+6%
-3%
-10%
2022
+35%
+5%
-17%
-6%
2023
+3%
+2%
-19%
-7%
2024
+6%
-4%
-22%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Athol
CrimeGrade™ estimates Athol has about 25 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 34% less than the US as a whole and close to Massachusetts.
Overall crime
Violent crime
Property crime
Reported crimes a year, per 1,000 residents. These figures include simple assaults and vandalism, which the FBI's violent and property crime rates leave out.
The largest share of crime reported in Athol is assault, about 40% of the total. It also makes up the largest share of what crime costs here.
Each CrimeGrade™ compares a crime with what it affects: people for assaults and robbery, homes for burglary, parked cars for vehicle theft. 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 crime happens in Athol
Athol has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Vandalism
Homes (58%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Aggravated assault
Homes (62%)
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.
One thing sets Athol apart: it has 43% of the land where people live lit at night, against 78% nationally. Places like that tend to report less theft and vandalism, and theft 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.43% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 89% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.8.4 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower than for 69% 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 and assault. 82% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D (16 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 55% of US city residents
Show all 6
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.32 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 68% 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.7.1% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 63% of US city residents
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery and car theft.10% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 60% of US city residents
BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of Athol 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 crime costs Athol
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Athol about $759 a year per household, 37% less than the US figure of $1,205.
Cost of crime per resident, per year
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, which comes almost entirely from violent crime, the full cost comes to about $12 million a year, or $1,073 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$160,000
$14
Rape
$350,000
$30
Robbery
$29,000
$3
Assault
$1.9 million
$162
Burglary
$140,000
$12
Theft
$450,000
$39
Vehicle theft
$63,000
$5
Arson
$18,000
$2
Vandalism
$400,000
$35
Total
$3.5 million
$301
How CrimeGrade™ works
A CrimeGrade™ shows how much crime an area has compared with the rest of the country, from A+ for the least crime to F for the most. Every neighborhood in the US is graded on the same scale, so a B in Athol means the same as a B anywhere else.
CrimeGrade™ starts from the crimes people report to police and measures each kind of crime against what it affects: people for assaults, homes for burglaries, parked cars for car thefts.
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.
Schools in Athol, MA average a SchoolGrade of D-: 30% of students test proficient, against 36% projected for schools like them. Overall, they don't meet expectations. See schools in Athol on SchoolGrade
