The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Hancock County, ME
Hancock County is home to 56,500 residents and includes Ellsworth · Updated November 2026
Is Hancock County, ME safe?
Yes. Crime is low across most of the US, and lower still in Hancock County: an overall CrimeGrade™ of A+, safer than the neighborhoods where 94% of Americans live. Violent and property crime both grade A+ here. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Hancock County run from A+ to B+, so check the map or the safest and least safe places below.
A+
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 972 of 1,000Safer than nearly all US neighborhoodsi What this means
94% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Hancock County as a whole, and 6% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Hancock County scores 972.
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 Hancock County, ME at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Hancock 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 Hancock County
Arsons run high, though crime overall runs low. Crime overall in Hancock County runs at about half the US rate, but arsons run 48% above it: 0.19 a year per 1,000 residents, against 0.12 nationally.
Aggravated assaults and car thefts both run low. In Hancock County, each runs at a small fraction of the US rate: 0.42 aggravated assaults and 0.55 car thefts a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.6 and 2.7 nationally.
The safest and most dangerous places in Hancock County
Every part of Hancock County where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across Hancock County run from A+ to B+; 97% 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 Hancock 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 north side has the least crime and the Ellsworth area the most.
Is crime going up in Hancock County?
Reported property crime in Hancock County peaked in 2022 and has fallen 29% since, back near its 2019 level. Too few violent crimes are reported here each year for a reliable violent crime trend. Burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts went from about 7.3 to 6.6 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 18). Property crime changed little from 2023 to 2024.
Property crime, change since 2019
Hancock CountyUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police departments across Hancock County. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Property, Hancock County
Property, US
2016
+60%
+15%
2017
+49%
+12%
2018
+0%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
+3%
-8%
2021
-14%
-10%
2022
+27%
-6%
2023
-3%
-7%
2024
-10%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Hancock County
CrimeGrade™ estimates Hancock County has about 17 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 54% less than the US as a whole and 30% less than Maine.
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 Hancock County is assault, about 41% 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 Hancock County
These figures come from the reports of the police departments across Hancock County, 2022 to 2024.
In Hancock County, 61% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Car thefts happen most often at homes: 42% of them, against 33% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (61%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Homes (42%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Vandalism
Homes (37%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Aggravated assault
Homes (74%)
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 Hancock County compares with nearby counties
Hancock County has less crime than 7 of its 10 nearest counties.
Night lighting, shops and walkability in Hancock County
Two things set Hancock County apart: it has 10% of the land where people live lit at night, against 78% nationally, and 19.8 stores and restaurants for every 1,000 residents, against 10.5 nationally. 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.10% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 99% of Americans
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.19.8 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 99% 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. 91% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D- (7 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 90% of Americans
Show all 6
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery.2% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 91% 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 Hancock County: F (0 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 86% of Americans
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary and arson.9.6% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 84% 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 Hancock County
Crime costs Hancock County about $426 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 65% 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 $33 million a year, or $581 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$2.0 million
$35
Rape
$1.5 million
$26
Robbery
$69,000
$1
Assault
$3.4 million
$60
Burglary
$350,000
$6
Theft
$1.6 million
$29
Vehicle theft
$480,000
$8
Arson
$250,000
$4
Vandalism
$1.0 million
$18
Total
$11 million
$188
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 Hancock 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 Hancock County, ME average a SchoolGrade of B-: 84% of students test proficient, against 74% projected for schools like them. Overall, they exceed expectations. See schools in Hancock County on SchoolGrade
