The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Hampshire County, MA
Hampshire County is home to 162,000 residents and includes Amherst Town and Northampton · Updated November 2026
Is Hampshire County, MA safe?
Yes. Most US neighborhoods have little crime, and Hampshire County has less than most of them: its overall CrimeGrade™ is A, safer than the neighborhoods where 70% of Americans live. Violent and property crime both grade A here. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Hampshire County run from A+ to B, so check the map or the safest and least safe places below.
A
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 911 of 1,000Safer than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
70% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Hampshire County as a whole, and 30% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Hampshire County scores 911.
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 Hampshire County, MA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Hampshire 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 Hampshire County
One weak spot: reported rape. It grades B+ in Hampshire County, worse than in the neighborhoods where 66% of Americans live, against A for violent crime as a whole.
Vehicle theft runs low. Hampshire County has 0.41 car thefts a year per 1,000 residents, a small fraction of the US rate of 2.7.
The safest and most dangerous places in Hampshire County
Every part of Hampshire County where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across Hampshire County run from A+ to B; 87% of residents live in areas with 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.
Cities and towns in Hampshire 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 northwest side has the least crime and the Northampton area the most.
Is crime going up in Hampshire County?
Since 2019, reported property crime in Hampshire County is down 20%, while violent crime has held about steady. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults stayed at about 2.7 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts went from about 11 to 8.5 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, violent crime rose 15%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
Hampshire CountyUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police departments across Hampshire County. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Hampshire County
Violent, US
Property, Hampshire County
Property, US
2016
+2%
+4%
+36%
+15%
2017
+16%
+4%
+28%
+12%
2018
+11%
+0%
+13%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
-12%
+4%
+2%
-8%
2021
-10%
+6%
-22%
-10%
2022
-8%
+5%
-14%
-6%
2023
-12%
+2%
-16%
-7%
2024
+0%
-4%
-20%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Hampshire County
CrimeGrade™ estimates Hampshire County has about 17 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 53% less than the US as a whole and 35% 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 Hampshire County, about 36% 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 Hampshire County
These figures come from the reports of the police departments across Hampshire County, 2022 to 2024.
In Hampshire County, 62% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often at homes: 49% of them, against 34% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (62%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Homes (46%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Theft from cars
Homes (49%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Vandalism
Homes (36%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Aggravated assault
Homes (62%)
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 Hampshire County compares with nearby counties
Of the 10 counties closest to Hampshire County, 6 have less crime. Northeastern Connecticut Planning Region, CT and Northwest Hills Planning Region, CT have the least.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from Hampshire County. Beside each overall CrimeGrade™ is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer).
Compared with counties of similar size and density, Hampshire County is safer than 86% of them.
Night lighting, transit and walkability in Hampshire County
Two things set Hampshire County apart: it has 43% of the land where people live lit at night, against 78% nationally, and 5 buses and trains an hour at the evening rush, where most Americans have none nearby. Places whose neighborhoods are dark at night tend to report less theft and vandalism, and they run low here.
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.43% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 88% of Americans
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 Hampshire County: D (14 of 100).5 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 71% 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. 82% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D (15 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 60% of Americans
Show all 6
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary and arson.5.5% of homesUS: 7.1%Lower than for 60% of Americans
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.10.0 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower than for 59% of Americans
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.44 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 51% 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 Hampshire County
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Hampshire County about $550 a year per household, 54% less than the US figure of $1,205. The total is about $34 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 $118 million a year, or $729 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$2.6 million
$16
Rape
$4.6 million
$28
Robbery
$480,000
$3
Assault
$15 million
$93
Burglary
$1.4 million
$9
Theft
$5.1 million
$31
Vehicle theft
$1.0 million
$6
Arson
$240,000
$1
Vandalism
$3.6 million
$22
Total
$34 million
$210
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 Hampshire 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 Hampshire County, MA average a SchoolGrade of B-: 45% of students test proficient, against 42% projected for schools like them. Overall, they exceed expectations. See schools in Hampshire County on SchoolGrade
