Barre is a town of 4,780 in Worcester County, about 19 miles northwest of downtown Worcester · Updated November 2026
Is Barre, MA safe?
Yes. Crime is low across most of the US, and lower still in Barre: an overall CrimeGrade™ of A+, safer than the neighborhoods where 78% 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 931 of 1,000Safer than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
78% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Barre as a whole, and 22% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Barre scores 931.
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 Barre, MA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Barre, 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 Barre
Thefts are uncommon. Barre has thefts at less than half the US rate: 4.6 a year per 1,000 residents, against 13.1 nationally.
Crime rates and types in Barre
CrimeGrade™ estimates Barre has about 15 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 61% less than the US as a whole and 45% 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 Barre is assault, about 47% 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.
How Barre compares with nearby cities
Of the 3 cities closest to Barre, 2 have less crime. Oakham and Hubbardston have the least.
Night lighting, parking lots and walkability in Barre
Two things set Barre apart: it has 4% of the land where people live lit at night, against 78% nationally, and 0.6 parking-lot spaces per resident, against 2.0 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.4% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 99% of US city residents
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.0.6 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Lower than for 89% 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. 97% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D- (6 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 88% 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.10.7% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 88% 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 Barre: F (0 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 84% 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.3% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 81% of US city residents
BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of Barre 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 Barre
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Barre about $496 a year per household, 59% 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 $3.5 million a year, or $732 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$72,000
$15
Rape
$130,000
$27
Robbery
$9,100
$2
Assault
$490,000
$103
Burglary
$40,000
$8
Theft
$110,000
$24
Vehicle theft
$22,000
$5
Arson
$3,200
$1
Vandalism
$47,000
$10
Total
$930,000
$193
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 Barre 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. Barre 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 Barre, MA average a SchoolGrade of D+: 36% of students test proficient, against 40% projected for schools like them. Overall, they don't meet expectations. See schools in Barre on SchoolGrade
