Saco is the ninth-largest city in Maine, with 21,200 residents in York County, about 13 miles southwest of downtown Portland · Updated November 2026
Is Saco, ME safe?
Yes. Crime is low across most of the US, and lower still in Saco: an overall CrimeGrade™ of A, safer than the neighborhoods where 68% of Americans live. Violent and property crime both grade A here. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Saco run from A+ to B+, so check the map below.
A
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 903 of 1,000Safer than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
68% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Saco as a whole, and 32% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Saco scores 903.
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 Saco, ME at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Saco, 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 Saco
Car thefts are uncommon. Saco has car thefts at less than half the US rate: 0.98 a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.7 nationally.
Thefts from cars happen at homes far more often than nationally. In Saco, 67% of reported thefts from cars happen at homes, against 34% nationally.
The safest and least safe parts of Saco
Every part of Saco where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across Saco run from A+ to B+; 82% 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 Saco, the northwest side has the least crime and the south side the most.
Is crime going up in Saco?
Reported property crime in Saco has fallen 28% since 2019. Too few violent crimes are reported here each year for a reliable violent crime trend. Burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts went from about 15 to 11 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 18). In 2024 alone, property crime fell 24%.
Property crime, change since 2019
SacoUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Saco. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Property, Saco
Property, US
2016
+19%
+15%
2017
+14%
+12%
2018
+5%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
-2%
-8%
2021
-28%
-10%
2022
+1%
-6%
2023
-5%
-7%
2024
-28%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Saco
CrimeGrade™ estimates Saco has about 25 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 33% less than the US as a whole and close to Maine.
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 Saco, about 37% 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 Saco
Saco has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Saco, 54% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (54%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Homes (49%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Theft from cars
Homes (67%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Vandalism
Homes (52%)
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 Saco compares with nearby cities
Saco has less crime than 2 of its 4 nearest cities; only Kennebunkport and Scarborough have less.
Two things set Saco apart: it has 50% of the land where people live lit at night, against 78% nationally, and 6% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally. 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.50% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 87% 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 Saco: D- (8 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. 89% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D- (12 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 70% 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.2.4 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher than for 73% 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.6% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 71% 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.5.1% of homesUS: 7.1%Lower than for 58% of US city residents
BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of Saco 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 Saco
Crime costs Saco about $511 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 58% 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 $9.6 million a year, or $451 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$280,000
$13
Rape
$440,000
$21
Robbery
$15,000
$1
Assault
$1.5 million
$71
Burglary
$160,000
$8
Theft
$990,000
$47
Vehicle theft
$320,000
$15
Arson
$59,000
$3
Vandalism
$710,000
$34
Total
$4.5 million
$212
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 Saco 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 Saco, ME average a SchoolGrade of B-: 86% of students test proficient, against 77% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in Saco on SchoolGrade
