The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Newton, MA
Newton is a city of 23,700 in Middlesex County, about 8 miles west of downtown Boston · Updated November 2026
Is Newton, MA safe?
Yes. Most US neighborhoods have little crime, and Newton has less than most of them: its overall CrimeGrade™ is A+, safer than the neighborhoods where 78% 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 and the safest and least safe neighborhoods below.
A+
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 931 of 1,000Safer than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
78% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Newton as a whole, and 22% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Newton scores 931.
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 Newton, MA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Newton, 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 Newton
Thefts from cars happen at homes far more often than nationally. In Newton, 66% of reported thefts from cars happen at homes, against 34% nationally.
Simple assaults and acts of vandalism both run low. In Newton, each runs at a small fraction of the US rate: 2.0 simple assaults and 1.6 acts of vandalism a year per 1,000 residents, against 9.7 and 5.5 nationally.
How neighborhoods in Newton compare
Every part of Newton where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across Newton run from A+ to A; every part of Newton 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.
1Nonantum, northThefts run about 40% lower here than in the rest of Newton.A+932
2West Newton, westClose to the rest of Newton on most crimes.A+932
3Newton Corner, eastThefts run about 40% higher here than in the rest of Newton.A919
4South Side, northwestClose to the rest of Newton on most crimes.A918
Neighborhood areas of Newton, 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 Newton?
Since 2019, reported violent crime in Newton is down 14%, while property crime has held about steady. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 0.6 to 0.5 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 5.8 to 6.0 (US: 18). Neither changed much from 2023 to 2024.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
NewtonUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Newton. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Newton
Violent, US
Property, Newton
Property, US
2016
-6%
+4%
+25%
+15%
2017
-1%
+4%
+12%
+12%
2018
+17%
+0%
+23%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
-3%
+4%
-6%
-8%
2021
+14%
+6%
-1%
-10%
2022
+16%
+5%
+11%
-6%
2023
+2%
+2%
-6%
-7%
2024
-14%
-4%
+2%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Newton
CrimeGrade™ estimates Newton 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.
The largest share of crime reported in Newton is theft, about 51% 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 Newton
Newton has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Newton, 60% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (60%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Homes (54%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Theft from cars
Homes (66%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Vandalism
Homes (47%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Aggravated assault
Homes (61%)
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 Newton compares with nearby cities
Newton has more crime than 6 of its 10 nearest cities. Waban and Newton Center have the least crime nearby.
Parking lots, night lighting and walkability in Newton
Two things set Newton apart: it has 0.3 parking-lot spaces per resident, against 2.0 nationally, and 12 buses and trains an hour at the evening rush, where most Americans have none nearby. Places with little parking-lot space 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.0.3 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Lower than for 95% 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. 57% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.C (37 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 87% of US city residents
Show all 6
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 Newton: C- (26 of 100).12 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 87% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.7.3 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower than for 79% 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.39% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 75% of US city residents
BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of Newton 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 Newton
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Newton about $265 a year per household, 78% 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 $5.6 million a year, or $237 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$140,000
$6
Rape
$180,000
$7
Robbery
$46,000
$2
Assault
$680,000
$29
Burglary
$170,000
$7
Theft
$690,000
$29
Vehicle theft
$150,000
$7
Arson
$6,700
under $1
Vandalism
$270,000
$11
Total
$2.3 million
$99
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 Newton 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. Newton 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 Newton, MA average a SchoolGrade of A+: 69% of students test proficient, against 65% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in Newton on SchoolGrade
