The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Needham, MA
Needham is a town of 32,000 in Norfolk County, about 10 miles southwest of downtown Boston · Updated November 2026
Is Needham, MA safe?
Yes. Most US neighborhoods have little crime, and Needham has less than most of them: its overall CrimeGrade™ is A+, safer than the neighborhoods where 83% 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 942 of 1,000Safer than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
83% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Needham as a whole, and 17% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Needham scores 942.
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 Needham, MA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Needham, 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 Needham
Burglary runs low. Needham has 0.80 burglaries a year per 1,000 residents, less than half the US rate of 2.4.
The safest and least safe parts of Needham
Every part of Needham where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across Needham run from A+ to A; every part of Needham 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 Needham, the northwest side has the least crime and the center the most.
Is crime going up in Needham?
Reported property crime in Needham has risen 46% 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 4.4 to 6.4 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 18). In 2024 alone, property crime fell 12%.
Property crime, change since 2019
NeedhamUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Needham. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Property, Needham
Property, US
2016
+32%
+15%
2017
+43%
+12%
2018
+6%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
-17%
-8%
2021
-13%
-10%
2022
+18%
-6%
2023
+67%
-7%
2024
+46%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Needham
CrimeGrade™ estimates Needham has about 12 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 68% less than the US as a whole and 56% 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.
Theft is the most common crime in Needham, about 52% 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 Needham
Needham has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Needham, 38% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often at homes: 73% of them, against 34% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (38%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Theft from cars
Homes (73%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Vandalism
Homes (41%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Shares of the crimes reported to police, 2022 to 2024. Reports with no time recorded are left out of the times.
How Needham compares with nearby cities
Needham has more crime than 8 of its 10 nearest cities. Waban and Newton Center have the least crime nearby.
Two things set Needham apart: it has 75 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole, and 2.9% of its homes standing empty, against 7.1% nationally. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery, yet theft runs lower here than that would suggest.
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.75 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 89% 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.2.9% of homesUS: 7.1%Lower than for 88% 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. 83% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D (18 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 50% of US city residents
Show all 6
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.0.8 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Lower than for 82% 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.3% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 80% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.7.2 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower than for 79% of US city residents
BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of Needham 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 Needham
Crime costs Needham about $297 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 75% 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 $7.9 million a year, or $248 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$190,000
$6
Rape
$280,000
$9
Robbery
$42,000
$1
Assault
$980,000
$31
Burglary
$230,000
$7
Theft
$1.0 million
$32
Vehicle theft
$210,000
$7
Arson
$22,000
$1
Vandalism
$340,000
$10
Total
$3.3 million
$103
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 Needham 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. Needham 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 Needham, MA average a SchoolGrade of A+: 75% of students test proficient, against 69% projected for schools like them. Overall, they exceed expectations. See schools in Needham on SchoolGrade
