Plum Island is a community of 302 in Essex County, about 35 miles north of downtown Boston · Updated November 2026
Is Plum Island, MA safe?
Yes. Crime is low across most of the US, and lower still in Plum Island: an overall CrimeGrade™ of A, safer than the neighborhoods where 67% of Americans live. Violent crime grades better than property crime here, A+ against A.
A
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 902 of 1,000Safer than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
67% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Plum Island as a whole, and 33% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Plum Island scores 902.
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 Plum Island, MA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Plum Island, 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
Crime rates and types in Plum Island
CrimeGrade™ estimates Plum Island has about 85 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, more than double the rate for the US as a whole and about triple the rate for 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 Plum Island is theft, about 68% 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.
How Plum Island compares with nearby cities
Of the 10 cities closest to Plum Island, 7 have less crime. Amesbury and West Newbury have the least.
Crime costs Plum Island about $697 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 42% 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 $500,000 a year, or $1,665 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$14,000
$45
Rape
$11,000
$36
Robbery
$2,600
$9
Assault
$55,000
$181
Burglary
$6,400
$21
Theft
$91,000
$300
Vehicle theft
$9,900
$33
Arson
$1,400
$5
Vandalism
$18,000
$58
Total
$210,000
$689
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 Plum Island 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. Plum Island is a good example: many people work in, shop in or visit it, so its crime per resident looks worse 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 Plum Island, MA average a SchoolGrade of A-: 51% of students test proficient, against 57% projected for schools like them. Overall, they don't meet expectations. See schools in Plum Island on SchoolGrade
