Ayer is a town of 8,440 in Middlesex County, about 30 miles northwest of downtown Boston · Updated November 2026
Is Ayer, MA safe?
Yes. Crime is low across most of the US, and lower still in Ayer: an overall CrimeGrade™ of A, safer than the neighborhoods where 62% of Americans live. Property crime grades better than violent crime here, A+ against A. Its neighborhoods are much alike, from A to A-; see the map below.
A
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 885 of 1,000Safer than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
62% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Ayer as a whole, and 38% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Ayer scores 885.
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 Ayer, MA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Ayer, 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 Ayer
Thefts are uncommon. Ayer has thefts at a small fraction of the US rate: 3.6 a year per 1,000 residents, against 13.1 nationally.
Crime rates and types in Ayer
CrimeGrade™ estimates Ayer has about 19 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 49% less than the US as a whole and 29% less than 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 Ayer is assault, about 57% 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 Ayer
Ayer has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Vandalism
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 Ayer compares with nearby cities
Of the 8 cities closest to Ayer, 7 have less crime. Harvard and Littleton have the least.
Parking lots, walkability and night lighting in Ayer
Two things set Ayer apart: it has 3.9 parking-lot spaces per resident, against 2.0 nationally, and a Walk Grade of D- (9 of 100) on BestNeighborhood, against 21 for the US as a whole. Places with a lot of parking-lot space tend to report more theft, yet theft runs lower here than that would suggest.
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.3.9 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher 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. 99% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D- (9 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 80% 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.76% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 74% of US city residents
Show all 6
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.8.1 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower than for 72% 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.8% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 66% of US city residents
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.50 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 62% of US city residents
BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of Ayer 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 Ayer
Crime costs Ayer about $549 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 54% 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 $6.5 million a year, or $764 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$78,000
$9
Rape
$150,000
$18
Robbery
$25,000
$3
Assault
$1.2 million
$143
Burglary
$77,000
$9
Theft
$150,000
$18
Vehicle theft
$100,000
$12
Arson
$8,100
$1
Vandalism
$150,000
$18
Total
$2.0 million
$231
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 Ayer 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. Ayer 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.
Schools in Ayer, MA average a SchoolGrade of A+: 61% of students test proficient, against 58% projected for schools like them. Overall, they exceed expectations. See schools in Ayer on SchoolGrade
