Northwest is a neighborhood of 10,500 residents in Manchester, about 3 miles northwest of downtown · Updated November 2026
Is Northwest in Manchester safe?
Yes. An overall CrimeGrade™ of A means crime in Northwest is low. Most US neighborhoods have little crime too, so Northwest sits near the middle: 60% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime, and 40% in neighborhoods with less. Violent and property crime both grade A here. Manchester as a whole grades A-. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Northwest run from A+ to B, so check the map below.
A
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 877 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
60% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Northwest as a whole, and 40% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Northwest scores 877.
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 Northwest, Manchester, NH at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Northwest in Manchester, 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 Northwest
Thefts are uncommon. Northwest has thefts at less than half the US rate: 4.1 a year per 1,000 residents, against 13.1 nationally.
How Northwest compares within Manchester
Every part of Northwest where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across Northwest run from A+ to B; 79% 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.
Northwest has less crime than 9 of the 13 neighborhoods in Manchester. It covers much of the Northwest and North End Manchester areas.
Is crime going up in Manchester?
Reported crime in Manchester as a whole has fallen since 2019: violent crime is down 45% and property crime down 31%. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 6.1 to 3.3 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 24 to 16 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, violent crime fell 15%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
ManchesterUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police departments that serve Manchester. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Manchester
Violent, US
Property, Manchester
Property, US
2016
+10%
+4%
+13%
+15%
2017
+10%
+4%
+9%
+12%
2018
-3%
+0%
+8%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
-3%
+4%
-4%
-8%
2021
-31%
+6%
-4%
-10%
2022
-32%
+5%
+6%
-6%
2023
-35%
+2%
-29%
-7%
2024
-45%
-4%
-31%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Northwest
CrimeGrade™ estimates Northwest has about 16 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 56% less than the US as a whole and 62% less than Manchester as a whole.
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 Northwest 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 Manchester
The Manchester Police Department polices Northwest; these figures cover Manchester as a whole, 2022 to 2024.
In Manchester as a whole, 65% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often at homes: 40% of them, against 34% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (65%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Homes (37%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Homes (40%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (49%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Robbery
Stores and businesses (43%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (49%)
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 Northwest compares with nearby neighborhoods
Northwest has less crime than 8 of its 10 nearest neighborhoods; only North End Manchester and Wellington have less.
Night lighting, tree cover and walkability in Northwest
Two things set Northwest apart: it has tree cover over 42% of the land where people live, against 21% nationally, and 1.7 stores and restaurants for every 1,000 residents, against 10.5 nationally. Places like that tend to report less robbery.
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.62% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 99% of residents of US city neighborhoods
Tree coverThe share of land under tree canopy where people live. Leafy neighborhoods tend to report less robbery.42% where people liveUS: 21%Higher than for 98% of residents of US city neighborhoods
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. 97% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D- (9 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 94% of residents of US city neighborhoods
Show all 4
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft and car theft.1.7 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower than for 96% of residents of US city neighborhoods
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 Northwest
Crime costs Northwest about $362 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 70% 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 $4.6 million a year, or $438 per resident.
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 Northwest 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 Northwest, Manchester, NH average a SchoolGrade of D: 36% of students test proficient, against 34% projected for schools like them. Overall, they greatly exceed expectations. See schools in Northwest on SchoolGrade
