The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Boston, MA: Crime Maps and Statistics

Overall Crime Grade™

Violent Crime Grade	C
Property Crime Grade	B-
Other Crime Grade	B-

Which crimes are included?

$1.4 billion

Cost of Crime™ for Boston, MA

In 2025, crime will cost $712 per household.

More cost data

On the map, green marks the parts of the Boston area with the least crime overall and red marks the most. Each area is weighted by the type and severity of every offense, so a place with rare but serious violent crime can grade differently from one with frequent petty theft. The Interpreting the Crime Maps section below explains how to read the colors.

Is Boston, MA Safe?

The B overall grade blends the violent, property, and other grades shown above into one measure, set against the average US city, where the Boston area's combined rate is slightly lower than the norm. Boston sits in the 62nd percentile, ahead of 62% of cities and behind 38%. The grade covers only the Boston area's official city boundaries. See the table below for nearby cities.

The overall crime rate in the Boston area is 20.30 per 1,000 residents in a typical year. Residents generally consider the southwest part of the city the safest. Your chance of being a victim ranges from 1 in 36 in the central neighborhoods to 1 in 66 in the southwest.

Counting total incidents instead of per-capita rates, the central parts of Boston, MA report the most crime, about 32,141 cases per year. The southwest part reports the fewest, around 6,706 per year.

The Cost of Crime™ in Boston, MA

Across all crime types, the projected cost of crime in Boston for 2025 is $1,421,667,481, about $279 per resident and $712 per household. That equals 0.5% of the median household income. These figures cover tangible costs, which include:

Criminal justice system costs (law enforcement, courts, and imprisonment): 58.6%
Direct costs to victims (damaged property, medical expenses, and lost wages): 29.2%
Lost economic contribution from offenders (time in prison or repeat offenses): 12.1%

How Much Does Crime Cost in Boston Compared to Other Cities?

Boston, MA:	$279
Provincetown, MA:	$798
East Sandwich, MA:	$119
Massachusetts:	$274
USA:	$464

The overall cost of crime per resident in Boston is $279 per year, which is $185 less than the national average and $5 more than Massachusetts's state average. The comparison below uses cities similar to Boston:

In Provincetown, MA, crime costs $798 per person, which is $519 more than in Boston.
In East Sandwich, MA, crime costs $119 per person, which is $160 less than in Boston

2025 Projected Cost by Type of Crime

The table below shows the total cost of crime to the residents of Boston for the year 2025 along with the projected cost per resident.

Crime	Cost to Boston	Cost per Boston Resident
Murder	$246.7 million	$48
Rape/Sexual Assault	$163.2 million	$32
Robbery	$57.8 million	$11
Assault	$324.3 million	$64
Kidnapping	$21.5 million	$4
Vehicle Theft	$83.6 million	$16
Burglary	$59.1 million	$12
Theft	$211.7 million	$42
Arson	$6.71 million	$1
Vandalism	$170.3 million	$33
Animal Cruelty	$1.39 million	$0
Drug Crimes	$56.6 million	$11
Identity Theft	$18.6 million	$4
Total Cost of Crime	$1,421,667,481	$279

The Intangible Cost of Crime in Boston, MA

The totals above count tangible costs only. Violent crime also carries a human cost, the pain and trauma borne by victims and their families, which research-based methods estimate so it can be compared across places. That intangible cost in Boston totals $2,532,292,065 ($497 per resident), and all of it comes from violent crime rather than property loss. Added to the tangible costs, the full estimate reaches $3,953,959,546 ($776 per resident). All Cost of Crime figures come from scholarly research on the cost of crime. Read more about our methodology here.

Interpreting the Crime Maps

Crime rates on the map are measured per resident, so areas with heavy visitor traffic can read high because crime follows crowds, even where few people live. The central part of the city holds more retail establishments, which lifts recorded crime around those blocks. A red area does not always mean the neighborhood is unsafe for residents.

Airports, parks, and transit hubs create the same effect. Major airports, of which the Boston area has 1, draw large crowds with few residents nearby, so they read as high-crime spots. Parks and recreational areas, of which the Boston area has 150, do the same, and of the Boston area's 5,097,079 residents few live beside them. Before assuming an area is unsafe, weigh both the per-capita rate and the total number of incidents, and note what sits nearby.

The interactive maps load faster on a strong connection. Compare high speed internet in Boston, MA at ISP Reports.

Boston Crime Breakdown

The tables below show which crimes are used to calculate the Crime Grades above. All crime rates are shown as the number of crimes per 1,000 Boston residents in a standard year.

Violent Crime Rates

Crime Type	Crime Rate
Assault	2.216
Robbery	0.3605
Rape	0.5281
Murder	0.0258
Total Violent Crime	3.130 (C)

Property Crime Rates

Crime Type	Crime Rate
Theft	8.021
Vehicle Theft	1.059
Burglary	1.279
Arson	0.0545
Total Property Crime	10.41 (B-)

Other Crime Rates

Crime Type	Crime Rate
Kidnapping	0.0697
Drug Crimes	1.501
Vandalism	4.677
Identity Theft	0.4717
Animal Cruelty	0.0369
Total "Other" Rate	6.757 (B-)

Individual Boston Crime Maps & Stats

Crime Maps and Rates for Nearby Cities

Compared to surrounding cities, the rate of crime in the Boston area is lower. The table below shows Crime Grades for cities close to the Boston area.

Nearby City	Overall Crime Grade	Violent Crime Grade	Property Crime Grade
Jamaica Plain, MA	C-	D	C
Brookline, MA	C	C-	C+
Charlestown, MA	C-	D	C
Allston, MA	D+	D	D+
Cambridge, MA	D+	D	D+
Mattapan, MA	C-	D-	B
Somerville, MA	C	D+	C
Brighton, MA	C+	D+	C+
Roslindale, MA	C+	D+	B
Chelsea, MA	C	D-	B

Crime Maps and Rates for City with Similar Populations

Boston is lower versus other cities of the same size for crime. The table below compares crime in cities with comparable overall population in the city‘s boundaries.

Similar City	Overall Crime Grade	Violent Crime Grade	Property Crime Grade
Phoenix, AZ	C	C-	C-
Riverside, CA	C-	D+	D+
Detroit, MI	D+	D-	D-
Seattle, WA	D-	D+	D+
San Francisco, CA	D	D	D
Washington, DC	C-	C	C
Minneapolis, MN	D+	C	C
Atlanta, GA	C	C-	C-
Miami, FL	B	C+	C+
Philadelphia, PA	C+	B-	B-

Considering only the crime rate, the Boston area is as safe as the Massachusetts state average and safer than the national average.

Safety and school performance are separate topics, but both shape moving decisions. Using SchoolGrade data, schools in Boston, MA average SchoolGrade of B, with 45% actual proficiency versus 45% projected; overall, schools meet expectations. See Boston schools on SchoolGrade

About the Data

CrimeGrade.org provides highly detailed and accurate crime data, used by insurance companies, home security firms, and other industries. Our data is available for licensing—learn more about our USA crime data and licensing.

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All maps and statistics above are projections, not certainties, and provided without guarantee free of charge. Verify all info before making any decisions based on the data.