Day Square is a neighborhood of 9,350 residents in Boston, close to downtown · Updated November 2026
Is Day Square in Boston safe?
With an overall CrimeGrade™ of B-, Day Square has moderate crime by national standards. Most US neighborhoods have less: 78% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime. Violent crime grades B and property crime C+. Boston as a whole grades B. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Day Square run from B+ to F, so check the map below.
B-
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 578 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
22% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Day Square as a whole, and 78% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Day Square scores 578.
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 Day Square, Boston, MA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Day Square in Boston, 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 Day Square
Thefts from cars happen on streets and sidewalks far more often than nationally. In Boston as a whole, 52% of reported thefts from cars happen on streets and sidewalks, against 18% nationally.
Crime rates and types in Day Square
CrimeGrade™ estimates Day Square has about 38 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, about the same as the US as a whole and 40% less than Boston as a whole.
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.
Assault is the most common crime in Day Square, about 46% of everything reported, and it also accounts for 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 Boston
The Boston Police Department polices Day Square; 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 Day Square compares with nearby neighborhoods
Day Square has more crime than 8 of its 10 nearest neighborhoods. East Cambridge and Waterfront have the least crime nearby.
Two things set Day Square apart: it has 67 buses and trains an hour at the evening rush, where most Americans have none nearby, and a Walk Grade of A (82 of 100) on BestNeighborhood, against 21 for the US as a whole. Places like that tend to report more theft and robbery, and theft runs high here.
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 Day Square: C (36 of 100).67 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 92% of residents of US city neighborhoods
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. 82% of residents here live in walkable areas.A (82 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 85% of residents of US city neighborhoods
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery and car theft.97% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 84% of residents of US city neighborhoods
Show all 4
Tree coverThe share of land under tree canopy where people live. Leafy neighborhoods tend to report less robbery.4% where people liveUS: 21%Lower than for 75% of residents of US city neighborhoods
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 Day Square
Crime costs Day Square about $1,320 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 10% 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 $12 million a year, or $1,245 per resident.
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 Day Square 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 Day Square, Boston, MA average a SchoolGrade of D: 30% of students test proficient, against 21% projected for schools like them. Overall, they greatly exceed expectations. See schools in Day Square on SchoolGrade
