The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Palmer Town, MA
Palmer Town is a city of 12,300 in Hampden County, about 14 miles east of downtown Springfield · Updated November 2026
Is Palmer Town, MA safe?
Yes. An overall CrimeGrade™ of A means crime in Palmer Town is low. Most US neighborhoods have little crime too, so Palmer Town sits near the middle: 55% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime, and 45% in neighborhoods with less. Property crime grades better than violent crime here, A against A-. Its neighborhoods are much alike, from A to A-; see the map below.
A
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 859 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
55% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Palmer Town as a whole, and 45% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Palmer Town scores 859.
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 Palmer Town, MA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Palmer Town, 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 Palmer Town
Aggravated assaults run high for an A-graded city. Palmer Town has 3.7 aggravated assaults a year per 1,000 residents; for the typical resident of an A-graded US city, the figure is 1.2.
Thefts are uncommon. Palmer Town has thefts at less than half the US rate: 4.1 a year per 1,000 residents, against 13.1 nationally.
The safest and least safe parts of Palmer Town
Every part of Palmer Town where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across Palmer Town run from A to A-; 63% 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.
Within Palmer Town, the northeast side has the least crime and the south side the most.
Is crime going up in Palmer Town?
Since 2019, reported property crime in Palmer Town is down 38%, while violent crime has held about steady. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 4.1 to 3.8 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 9.4 to 5.8 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, property crime fell 25%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
Palmer TownUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Palmer Town. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Palmer Town
Violent, US
Property, Palmer Town
Property, US
2016
+32%
+4%
+68%
+15%
2017
-6%
+4%
+13%
+12%
2018
+14%
+0%
-14%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
-11%
+4%
-7%
-8%
2021
-23%
+6%
-30%
-10%
2022
-17%
+5%
+2%
-6%
2023
+7%
+2%
-17%
-7%
2024
-7%
-4%
-38%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Palmer Town
CrimeGrade™ estimates Palmer Town has about 29 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 21% less than the US as a whole and close to 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 Palmer Town is assault, about 59% 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 Palmer Town
Palmer Town has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Palmer Town, 60% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (60%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Vandalism
Homes (47%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Aggravated assault
Homes (66%)
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 Palmer Town compares with nearby cities
Palmer Town has more crime than 6 of its 8 nearest cities. West Warren and Warren have the least crime nearby.
Night lighting, transit and walkability in Palmer Town
Two things set Palmer Town apart: it has 41% of the land where people live lit at night, against 78% nationally, and a Walk Grade of D- (9 of 100) on BestNeighborhood, against 21 for the US as a whole. Places like that tend to report less theft and vandalism, and theft runs low here.
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.41% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 90% 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 Palmer Town: D- (7 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 84% 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. 95% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D- (9 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 78% of US city residents
Show all 6
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery and car theft.7% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 69% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.11.4 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 63% of US city residents
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.2.0 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher than for 63% of US city residents
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 Palmer Town
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Palmer Town about $742 a year per household, 38% 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 $12 million a year, or $983 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$180,000
$14
Rape
$250,000
$20
Robbery
$28,000
$2
Assault
$2.5 million
$204
Burglary
$150,000
$12
Theft
$260,000
$21
Vehicle theft
$160,000
$13
Arson
$45,000
$4
Vandalism
$460,000
$37
Total
$4.0 million
$327
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 Palmer Town 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 Palmer Town, MA average a SchoolGrade of C-: 37% of students test proficient, against 38% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in Palmer Town on SchoolGrade
