The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Dudley, MA
Dudley is a town of 12,100 in Worcester County, about 16 miles south of downtown Worcester · Updated November 2026
Is Dudley, MA safe?
Yes. Most US neighborhoods have little crime, and Dudley has less than most of them: its overall CrimeGrade™ is 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 Dudley as a whole, and 22% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Dudley 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 Dudley, MA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Dudley, 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 Dudley
Crime per resident runs lower than the grade suggests. Few people come to Dudley to work or shop: it has only 26 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole. With few visitors, its crime per resident looks lower than its CrimeGrade™ suggests. The CrimeGrade™ weighs each crime against the people, homes and parked cars actually here.
The safest and least safe parts of Dudley
Every part of Dudley where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across Dudley run from A+ to A; every part of Dudley has less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
100%
A or B 100%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Within Dudley, the southwest side has the least crime and the east side the most.
Is crime going up in Dudley?
Reported property crime in Dudley has fallen 66% since 2019. Too few violent crimes are reported here each year for a reliable violent crime trend. Burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts went from about 4.5 to 1.5 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 18). Property crime changed little from 2023 to 2024.
Property crime, change since 2019
DudleyUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Dudley. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Property, Dudley
Property, US
2016
+8%
+15%
2017
+8%
+12%
2018
-37%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
-28%
-8%
2021
-42%
-10%
2022
-53%
-6%
2023
-55%
-7%
2024
-66%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Dudley
CrimeGrade™ estimates Dudley has about 11 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 70% less than the US as a whole and 58% 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 Dudley is assault, about 63% 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 Dudley
Dudley has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Vandalism
Homes (40%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Shares of the crimes reported to police, 2022 to 2024. Reports with no time recorded are left out of the times.
How Dudley compares with nearby cities
Dudley has less crime than 4 of its 7 nearest cities.
Empty homes, night lighting and walkability in Dudley
Two things set Dudley apart: it has 2.2% of its homes standing empty, against 7.1% nationally, and 40% of the land where people live lit at night, against 78% nationally. Places like that tend to report less burglary, vandalism and arson, and vandalism runs low here.
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson.2.2% of homesUS: 7.1%Lower than for 94% 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.40% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 90% 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. 94% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D- (8 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 85% 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.5.6 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower than for 89% of US city residents
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.26 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 78% of US city residents
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.1.1 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Lower than for 74% of US city residents
BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of Dudley 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 Dudley
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Dudley about $374 a year per household, 69% 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 $5.4 million a year, or $447 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$120,000
$10
Rape
$160,000
$13
Robbery
$37,000
$3
Assault
$990,000
$82
Burglary
$78,000
$6
Theft
$89,000
$7
Vehicle theft
$43,000
$4
Arson
$14,000
$1
Vandalism
$130,000
$11
Total
$1.7 million
$137
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 Dudley 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
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 Dudley, MA average a SchoolGrade of D: 31% of students test proficient, against 36% projected for schools like them. Overall, they don't meet expectations. See schools in Dudley on SchoolGrade
