The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Charlestown, MA
Charlestown is a city of 20,200 in Suffolk County, next to Boston · Updated November 2026
Is Charlestown, MA safe?
Yes, crime in Charlestown is low, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of A-. Because most US neighborhoods are safe as well, Charlestown sits near the middle: safer than the neighborhoods where 44% of Americans live. Violent and property crime both grade A- here. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Charlestown run from A to C+, so check the map below.
A-
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 805 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
44% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Charlestown as a whole, and 56% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Charlestown scores 805.
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 Charlestown, MA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Charlestown, 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 Charlestown
Robbery stands out among A-graded cities. For the typical resident of an A-graded US city, the figure is 0.13 robberies a year per 1,000 residents; Charlestown has 0.99.
Thefts from cars happen on streets and sidewalks far more often than nationally. In Charlestown, 52% of reported thefts from cars happen on streets and sidewalks, against 18% nationally.
The safest and least safe parts of Charlestown
Most of Charlestown grades well: 94% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and the rest in areas graded C. Grades across Charlestown run from A to C+; 21% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
94%
A or B 94%C 6%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Within Charlestown, the southeast side has the least crime and the center the most.
Is crime going up in Charlestown?
Reported crime in Charlestown has held about steady since 2019: violent crime is up 1% and property crime up 1%. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults stayed at about 6.2 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts stayed at about 20 (US: 18). Neither changed much from 2023 to 2024.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
CharlestownUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Charlestown. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Charlestown
Violent, US
Property, Charlestown
Property, US
2016
+14%
+4%
+9%
+15%
2017
+8%
+4%
+6%
+12%
2018
+2%
+0%
+4%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
+7%
+4%
+0%
-8%
2021
-2%
+6%
-8%
-10%
2022
+0%
+5%
-9%
-6%
2023
-0%
+2%
-3%
-7%
2024
+0%
-4%
+1%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Charlestown
CrimeGrade™ estimates Charlestown has about 34 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 9% less than the US as a whole and 26% more 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.
Theft is the most common crime in Charlestown, about 41% of everything reported, but assault 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 Charlestown
The Boston Police Department polices Charlestown; these figures cover Boston as a whole, 2022 to 2024.
In Boston as a whole, 66% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (66%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Streets and sidewalks (55%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Streets and sidewalks (52%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (41%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Robbery
Streets and sidewalks (43%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (43%)
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 Charlestown compares with nearby cities
Charlestown has less crime than 7 of its 10 nearest cities.
Walkability, density and night lighting in Charlestown
Two things set Charlestown apart: it has a Walk Grade of A (82 of 100) on BestNeighborhood, against 21 for the US as a whole, and 96% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally. Places like that tend to report more theft and assault, and theft runs high here.
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. 79% of residents here live in walkable areas.A (82 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 98% 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.96% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 97% 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.100% where people liveUS: 78%Higher than for 92% of US city residents
Show all 6
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 Charlestown: C- (31 of 100).21 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 92% of US city residents
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson.2.7% of homesUS: 7.1%Lower than for 89% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.7.8 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower than for 75% of US city residents
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 Charlestown
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Charlestown about $791 a year per household, 34% 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 $21 million a year, or $1,066 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$550,000
$27
Rape
$240,000
$12
Robbery
$620,000
$31
Assault
$3.1 million
$155
Burglary
$230,000
$11
Theft
$1.4 million
$71
Vehicle theft
$470,000
$23
Arson
$12,000
$1
Vandalism
$670,000
$33
Total
$7.4 million
$365
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 Charlestown 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
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 Charlestown, MA average a SchoolGrade of D+: 34% of students test proficient, against 32% projected for schools like them. Overall, they exceed expectations. See schools in Charlestown on SchoolGrade
