The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Portsmouth, NH
Portsmouth is the seventh-largest city in New Hampshire, with 23,300 residents in Rockingham County, about 50 miles north of downtown Boston · Updated November 2026
Is Portsmouth, NH safe?
Yes. Crime is low across most of the US, and lower still in Portsmouth: an overall CrimeGrade™ of A, safer than the neighborhoods where 71% of Americans live. Violent and property crime both grade A here. Its neighborhoods are much alike, from A+ to A-; see the map below.
A
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 912 of 1,000Safer than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
71% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Portsmouth as a whole, and 29% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Portsmouth scores 912.
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 Portsmouth, NH at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Portsmouth, 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 Portsmouth
Vehicle theft runs low. Portsmouth has 1.0 car thefts a year per 1,000 residents, less than half the US rate of 2.7.
The safest and least safe parts of Portsmouth
Every part of Portsmouth where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across Portsmouth run from A+ to A-; 91% 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 Portsmouth, the southwest side has the least crime and the east side the most.
Is crime going up in Portsmouth?
Since 2019, reported violent crime in Portsmouth is up 43% and property crime is down 23%. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 1.3 to 1.9 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 17 to 13 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, violent crime rose 29% and property crime rose 22%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
PortsmouthUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Portsmouth. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Portsmouth
Violent, US
Property, Portsmouth
Property, US
2016
+37%
+4%
+4%
+15%
2017
+43%
+4%
-16%
+12%
2018
+25%
+0%
-3%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
-2%
+4%
-32%
-8%
2021
+92%
+6%
-14%
-10%
2022
+42%
+5%
-25%
-6%
2023
+11%
+2%
-37%
-7%
2024
+44%
-4%
-23%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Portsmouth
CrimeGrade™ estimates Portsmouth has about 38 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, about the same as the US as a whole and 58% more than New Hampshire.
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 Portsmouth, about 43% of everything reported, but assault costs more, because each one does more harm.
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 Portsmouth
Portsmouth has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
Thefts from cars happen most often at stores and businesses: 31% of them, against 10% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Car theft
Stores and businesses (38%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Theft from cars
Stores and businesses (31%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Vandalism
Homes (33%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Aggravated assault
Homes (34%)
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 Portsmouth compares with nearby cities
Portsmouth has the most crime of its 6 nearest cities.
Two things set Portsmouth apart: it has 39.1 stores and restaurants for every 1,000 residents, against 10.5 nationally, and 178 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole. Places like that tend to report more theft, yet theft runs lower here than that would suggest.
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.39.1 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 99% of US city residents
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.178 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 99% 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. 56% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.C (38 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 87% 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.5.4 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher than for 98% 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.3.0% of homesUS: 7.1%Lower than for 86% 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 Portsmouth: F (0 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 84% 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 Portsmouth
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Portsmouth about $695 a year per household, 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 $17 million a year, or $711 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$340,000
$14
Rape
$580,000
$25
Robbery
$79,000
$3
Assault
$2.9 million
$123
Burglary
$68,000
$3
Theft
$1.9 million
$83
Vehicle theft
$360,000
$16
Arson
$62,000
$3
Vandalism
$1.1 million
$49
Total
$7.5 million
$320
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 Portsmouth 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. Portsmouth 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 Portsmouth, NH average a SchoolGrade of A+: 64% of students test proficient, against 60% projected for schools like them. Overall, they exceed expectations. See schools in Portsmouth on SchoolGrade
