The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Augusta, ME
Augusta is the capital of Maine, a city of 24,200 in Kennebec County, about 55 miles northeast of downtown Portland · Updated November 2026
Is Augusta, ME safe?
Yes. An overall CrimeGrade™ of A- means crime in Augusta is low. Most US neighborhoods have little crime too, so Augusta sits near the middle: 46% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime, and 54% in neighborhoods with less. Violent and property crime both grade A- here. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Augusta run from A+ to B-, so check the map below.
A-
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 819 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
46% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Augusta as a whole, and 54% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Augusta scores 819.
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 Augusta, ME at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Augusta, 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 Augusta
Aggravated assault is a strength. Augusta grades A- for violent crime, but aggravated assault grades A+, better than in the neighborhoods where 75% of Americans live.
Thefts from cars happen in the morning far more often than nationally. In Augusta, 52% of reported thefts from cars happen in the morning (6 am to noon), against 23% nationally.
The safest and least safe parts of Augusta
Every part of Augusta where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across Augusta run from A+ to B-; 45% 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 Augusta, the northeast side has the least crime and the center the most.
Is crime going up in Augusta?
Reported violent crime in Augusta peaked in 2022 and has fallen 46% since, back near its 2019 level. Property crime is up 29% from 2019. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 2.6 to 2.5 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 32 to 41 (US: 18). Neither changed much from 2023 to 2024.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
AugustaUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Augusta. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Augusta
Violent, US
Property, Augusta
Property, US
2016
+61%
+4%
+15%
+15%
2017
+15%
+4%
-5%
+12%
2018
+30%
+0%
+6%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
+52%
+4%
+4%
-8%
2021
+19%
+6%
-6%
-10%
2022
+82%
+5%
+23%
-6%
2023
+12%
+2%
+36%
-7%
2024
-2%
-4%
+29%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Augusta
CrimeGrade™ estimates Augusta has about 69 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 85% more than the US as a whole and about triple the rate for Maine.
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 makes up about 44% of crime reported in Augusta. Assault is less common but costs more, because each one does 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 Augusta
Augusta has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Augusta, 64% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (64%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Car theft
Homes (48%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Theft from cars
Homes (54%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Vandalism
Homes (44%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Aggravated assault
Homes (62%)
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.
How Augusta compares with nearby cities
Of the 6 cities closest to Augusta, 4 have less crime. Hallowell and Windsor have the least.
Two things set Augusta apart: it has 125 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole, and 18.9 stores and restaurants for every 1,000 residents, against 10.5 nationally. Places like that tend to report more theft and robbery, and theft runs high here.
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.125 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 98% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.18.9 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 95% 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. 78% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D+ (18 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 53% 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.3.7 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher than for 92% 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.51% where people liveUS: 78%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 and robbery. BestNeighborhood's Transit Grade for Augusta: F (0 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 84% of US city residents
BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of Augusta 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 Augusta
Crime costs Augusta about $1,343 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 11% more 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 $35 million a year, or $1,465 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$1.7 million
$72
Rape
$1.5 million
$61
Robbery
$68,000
$3
Assault
$4.7 million
$196
Burglary
$470,000
$20
Theft
$3.7 million
$154
Vehicle theft
$630,000
$26
Arson
$34,000
$1
Vandalism
$1.7 million
$69
Total
$15 million
$602
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 Augusta 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 Augusta, ME average a SchoolGrade of C: 83% of students test proficient, against 76% projected for schools like them. Overall, they don't meet expectations. See schools in Augusta on SchoolGrade
