The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Auburn, MA
Auburn is a town of 16,900 in Worcester County, about 4 miles southwest of downtown Worcester · Updated November 2026
Is Auburn, MA safe?
Yes, crime in Auburn is low, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of A. Because most US neighborhoods are safe as well, Auburn sits near the middle: safer than the neighborhoods where 52% of Americans live. Property crime grades better than violent crime here, A against A-. Its neighborhoods are much alike, from A to B+; see the map below.
A
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 847 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
52% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Auburn as a whole, and 48% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Auburn scores 847.
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 Auburn, MA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Auburn, 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 Auburn
Aggravated assaults happen at stores and businesses far more often than nationally. In Auburn, 35% of reported aggravated assaults happen at stores and businesses, against 10% nationally.
The safest and least safe parts of Auburn
Every part of Auburn where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across Auburn run from A to B+; 55% 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 Auburn, the south side has the least crime and the northeast side the most.
Is crime going up in Auburn?
Since 2019, reported violent crime in Auburn is up 99% and property crime is down 37%. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 1.7 to 4.1 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 18 to 11 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, violent crime rose 18% and property crime fell 11%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
AuburnUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Auburn. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Auburn
Violent, US
Property, Auburn
Property, US
2016
+62%
+4%
+35%
+15%
2017
+44%
+4%
+15%
+12%
2018
+2%
+0%
+4%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
-8%
+4%
-22%
-8%
2021
-10%
+6%
-13%
-10%
2022
+23%
+5%
-12%
-6%
2023
+101%
+2%
-29%
-7%
2024
+137%
-4%
-37%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Auburn
CrimeGrade™ estimates Auburn has about 24 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 35% 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.
Theft is the most common crime in Auburn, about 42% of everything reported, but assault costs more, because each one does far more harm.
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 Auburn
Auburn has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Auburn, 44% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Car thefts happen most often at stores and businesses: 46% of them, against 10% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (44%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Car theft
Stores and businesses (46%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Vandalism
Stores and businesses (41%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Aggravated assault
Homes (41%)
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.
How Auburn compares with nearby cities
Auburn has more crime than 7 of its 9 nearest cities. North Grafton and Sutton have the least crime nearby.
Two things set Auburn apart: it has 0% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally, and 17.1 stores and restaurants for every 1,000 residents, against 10.5 nationally. Places where few residents live in dense blocks tend to report less robbery and car theft, and car theft runs low here.
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery and car theft.under 1% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 93% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.17.1 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 93% 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. 89% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D- (12 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 70% of US city residents
Show all 6
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson.2.8% of homesUS: 7.1%Lower than for 89% of US city residents
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.65 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 83% of US city residents
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.2.6 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher than for 77% of US city residents
BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of Auburn 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 Auburn
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Auburn about $840 a year per household, 30% 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 $22 million a year, or $1,312 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$1.2 million
$74
Rape
$280,000
$17
Robbery
$140,000
$9
Assault
$2.2 million
$129
Burglary
$210,000
$12
Theft
$890,000
$53
Vehicle theft
$290,000
$17
Arson
$22,000
$1
Vandalism
$390,000
$23
Total
$5.6 million
$334
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 Auburn 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 Auburn, MA average a SchoolGrade of B: 45% of students test proficient, against 40% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in Auburn on SchoolGrade
