The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Melrose, MA
Melrose is a city of 29,600 in Middlesex County, about 7 miles north of downtown Boston · Updated November 2026
Is Melrose, MA safe?
Yes. Crime is low across most of the US, and lower still in Melrose: an overall CrimeGrade™ of A, safer than the neighborhoods where 72% of Americans live. Violent crime grades better than property crime here, A+ against A. Its neighborhoods are much alike, from A+ to A; see the map below.
A
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 915 of 1,000Safer than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
72% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Melrose as a whole, and 28% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Melrose scores 915.
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 Melrose, MA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Melrose, 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 Melrose
Thefts are uncommon. Melrose has thefts at a small fraction of the US rate: 3.5 a year per 1,000 residents, against 13.1 nationally.
The safest and least safe parts of Melrose
Every part of Melrose where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across Melrose run from A+ to A; every part of Melrose 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 Melrose, the northwest side has the least crime and the southwest side the most.
Is crime going up in Melrose?
Reported property crime in Melrose has fallen 30% 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 6.1 to 4.3 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 18). In 2024 alone, property crime fell 20%.
Property crime, change since 2019
MelroseUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Melrose. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Property, Melrose
Property, US
2016
+24%
+15%
2017
+25%
+12%
2018
-15%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
-28%
-8%
2021
-18%
-10%
2022
-20%
-6%
2023
-13%
-7%
2024
-30%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Melrose
CrimeGrade™ estimates Melrose 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.
Assault is the most common crime in Melrose, 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 Melrose
Melrose has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Melrose, 81% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often at homes: 77% of them, against 34% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (81%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Theft from cars
Homes (77%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Vandalism
Homes (57%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Aggravated assault
Homes (58%)
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 Melrose compares with nearby cities
Melrose has less crime than 9 of its 10 nearest cities; only Winchester has less.
Parking lots, night lighting and walkability in Melrose
Two things set Melrose apart: it has 0.4 parking-lot spaces per resident, against 2.0 nationally, and 2.7% of its homes standing empty, against 7.1% nationally. Places like that tend to report less theft, and it runs low here.
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.0.4 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Lower than for 93% 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.100% where people liveUS: 78%Higher than for 92% 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. 61% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.C (34 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 84% of US city residents
Show all 6
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson.2.7% of homesUS: 7.1%Lower than for 90% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.5.7 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower than for 89% of US city residents
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 Melrose: C- (25 of 100).12 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 87% of US city residents
BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of Melrose 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 Melrose
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Melrose about $274 a year per household, 77% 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 $8.6 million a year, or $290 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$170,000
$6
Rape
$110,000
$4
Robbery
$130,000
$4
Assault
$1.5 million
$50
Burglary
$120,000
$4
Theft
$530,000
$18
Vehicle theft
$270,000
$9
Arson
$16,000
$1
Vandalism
$500,000
$17
Total
$3.3 million
$112
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 Melrose 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. Melrose is the other kind of example: few people work in, shop in or visit it, so its crime per resident looks lower than its CrimeGrade™ suggests.
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 Melrose, MA average a SchoolGrade of A+: 66% of students test proficient, against 56% projected for schools like them. Overall, they greatly exceed expectations. See schools in Melrose on SchoolGrade
