The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Essex County, MA
Essex County, the third-most populous county in Massachusetts, is home to 813,100 residents and includes Lynn and Lawrence · Updated November 2026
Is Essex County, MA safe?
Yes, crime in Essex County is low, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of A. Because most US neighborhoods are safe as well, Essex County sits near the middle: safer than the neighborhoods where 56% of Americans live. Violent and property crime both grade A here. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Essex County run from A+ to D-, so check the map or the safest and least safe places below.
A
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 864 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
56% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Essex County as a whole, and 44% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Essex County scores 864.
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 Essex County, MA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Essex County, 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 Essex County
Car thefts and arsons both run low. In Essex County, each runs at a small fraction of the US rate: 0.77 car thefts and 0.03 arsons a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.7 and 0.12 nationally.
Thefts from cars happen in the morning far more often than nationally. In Essex County, 43% of reported thefts from cars happen in the morning (6 am to noon), against 23% nationally.
The safest and most dangerous places in Essex County
Low crime is the norm across Essex County: 91% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 2% in areas graded D or F. Grades across Essex County run from A+ to D-; 65% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
91%
A or B 91%C 7%D or F 2%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Cities and towns in Essex County with at least 1,000 residents. Ranked by overall CrimeGrade™; beside each grade is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer), and the other numbers are residents.
Across the county, the Danvers, Middleton, and Topsfield areas have the least crime and the Haverhill, Lawrence, and Methuen Town areas the most.
Is crime going up in Essex County?
Reported crime in Essex County has held about steady since 2019: violent crime is down 4% and property crime down 10%. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 2.7 to 2.6 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 9.4 to 8.5 (US: 18). Neither changed much from 2023 to 2024.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
Essex CountyUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police departments across Essex County. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Essex County
Violent, US
Property, Essex County
Property, US
2016
+30%
+4%
+44%
+15%
2017
+26%
+4%
+31%
+12%
2018
+6%
+0%
+7%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
-14%
+4%
-21%
-8%
2021
-7%
+6%
-21%
-10%
2022
+6%
+5%
-17%
-6%
2023
-4%
+2%
-14%
-7%
2024
-4%
-4%
-10%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Essex County
CrimeGrade™ estimates Essex County has about 21 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 44% less than the US as a whole and 22% 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.
Assault is the most common crime in Essex County, about 39% 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 Essex County
These figures come from the reports of the police departments across Essex County, 2022 to 2024.
In Essex County, 63% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (63%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Streets and sidewalks (33%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Theft from cars
Streets and sidewalks (35%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Vandalism
Homes (41%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Robbery
Streets and sidewalks (31%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (56%)
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 Essex County compares with nearby counties
Essex County has more crime than 7 of its 10 nearest counties. Merrimack County, NH and Rockingham County, NH have the least crime nearby.
Empty homes, walkability and density in Essex County
Two things set Essex County apart: it has 3.4% of its homes standing empty, against 7.1% nationally, and a Walk Grade of C- (30 of 100) on BestNeighborhood, against 21 for the US as a whole. Even so, 62% of residents in Essex County live in car-dependent areas, where most errands take a car. Places with few empty homes tend to report less burglary and arson, and they run low here.
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary and arson.3.4% of homesUS: 7.1%Lower than for 94% of Americans
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.C- (30 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 84% of Americans
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery.37% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 79% of Americans
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 Essex County: D (15 of 100).4 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 63% of Americans
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.80% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 62% of Americans
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.41 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 60% of Americans
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 Essex County
Crime costs Essex County about $624 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 48% less than the US figure of $1,205. The total is about $193 million a year.
Cost of crime per resident, per year
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, which comes almost entirely from violent crime, the full cost rises to about $626 million a year, or $770 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$22 million
$28
Rape
$11 million
$14
Robbery
$6.4 million
$8
Assault
$87 million
$107
Burglary
$6.7 million
$8
Theft
$31 million
$38
Vehicle theft
$9.6 million
$12
Arson
$650,000
$1
Vandalism
$18 million
$23
Total
$193 million
$237
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 Essex County 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 Essex County, MA average a SchoolGrade of C: 40% of students test proficient, against 41% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in Essex County on SchoolGrade
