The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Nashua, NH
Nashua is the second-largest city in New Hampshire, with 90,900 residents in Hillsborough County, about 17 miles south of downtown Manchester · Updated November 2026
Is Nashua, NH safe?
Yes. An overall CrimeGrade™ of A means crime in Nashua is low. Most US neighborhoods have little crime too, so Nashua sits near the middle: 55% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime, and 45% in neighborhoods with less. Violent crime grades A and property crime A-. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Nashua run from A+ to C+, so check the map or the safest and least safe neighborhoods below.
A
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 860 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
55% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Nashua as a whole, and 45% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Nashua scores 860.
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 Nashua, NH at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Nashua, 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 Nashua
Car thefts run high in Downtown Nashua & Crown Hill. In this part of east Nashua, they run at about triple the rate in the rest of Nashua.
Burglary is a strength. Nashua grades A- for property crime, but burglary grades A+, better than in the neighborhoods where 89% of Americans live.
The safest and most dangerous neighborhoods in Nashua
Low crime is the norm across Nashua: 98% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and the rest in areas graded C. Grades across Nashua run from A+ to C+; 70% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
98%
A or B 98%C 2%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
1Southeast Nashua, southeastSimple assaults run at less than half the rate in the rest of Nashua.A921
2Northwest Nashua, northwestCar thefts run about 40% lower here than in the rest of Nashua.A904
3North End & Northeast Nashua, northThefts run about 40% higher here than in the rest of Nashua.A-831
4Nashua Historic District, northeastAggravated assaults run at about double the rate in the rest of Nashua.A-775
5South End & Mine Falls Park, centralCar thefts run at more than double the rate in the rest of Nashua.B+768
6Downtown Nashua & Crown Hill, eastAggravated assaults run at more than double the rate in the rest of Nashua.B+717
Neighborhood areas of Nashua, ranked by overall CrimeGrade™; beside each grade is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer). Each one combines several of the smaller areas on the map.
Is crime going up in Nashua?
Reported crime in Nashua has held about steady since 2019: violent crime is up 8% and property crime down 3%. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 1.5 to 1.6 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 13 to 12 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, violent crime rose 21% and property crime rose 14%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
NashuaUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Nashua. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Nashua
Violent, US
Property, Nashua
Property, US
2016
+23%
+4%
+7%
+15%
2017
+14%
+4%
+4%
+12%
2018
-1%
+0%
+0%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
-20%
+4%
-30%
-8%
2021
+3%
+6%
-17%
-10%
2022
+6%
+5%
-17%
-6%
2023
-11%
+2%
-16%
-7%
2024
+8%
-4%
-3%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Nashua
CrimeGrade™ estimates Nashua has about 31 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 17% less than the US as a whole and 29% more than New Hampshire.
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 Nashua 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 Nashua
Nashua has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Nashua, 72% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often at homes: 44% of them, against 34% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (72%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Car theft
Stores and businesses (39%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Theft from cars
Homes (44%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Vandalism
Homes (53%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Aggravated assault
Homes (68%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Shares of the crimes reported to police, 2022 to 2024. Reports with no time recorded are left out of the times.
How Nashua compares with nearby cities
Nashua has the most crime of its 10 nearest cities.
One thing sets Nashua apart: it has 3.7% of its homes standing empty, against 7.1% nationally. Places like that tend to report less burglary, vandalism and arson, and burglary runs low here.
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 Nashua: F (0 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 84% of US city residents
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson.3.7% of homesUS: 7.1%Lower than for 78% 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. 68% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.C- (28 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 78% 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.12.9 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 76% of US city residents
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.60 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 75% of US city residents
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery and car theft.28% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 66% of US city residents
BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of Nashua 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 Nashua
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Nashua about $649 a year per household, 46% 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 $56 million a year, or $613 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$980,000
$11
Rape
$2.9 million
$32
Robbery
$390,000
$4
Assault
$10 million
$112
Burglary
$270,000
$3
Theft
$5.3 million
$58
Vehicle theft
$1.2 million
$13
Arson
$120,000
$1
Vandalism
$3.3 million
$37
Total
$25 million
$271
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 Nashua 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 Nashua, NH average a SchoolGrade of B+: 51% of students test proficient, against 49% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in Nashua on SchoolGrade
