South Worcester is a neighborhood of 4,950 residents in Worcester, close to downtown · Updated November 2026
Is South Worcester in Worcester safe?
South Worcester is among the higher-crime places in the US: an overall CrimeGrade™ of D, with more crime than the neighborhoods where 91% of Americans live. Violent crime grades F and property crime C. Worcester as a whole grades B-. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within South Worcester run from B+ to F, so check the map below.
D
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 178 of 1,000Less safe than nearly all US neighborhoodsi What this means
9% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than South Worcester as a whole, and 91% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. South Worcester scores 178.
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 South Worcester, Worcester, MA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in South Worcester in Worcester, 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 South Worcester
Aggravated assaults run high for a D-graded neighborhood. South Worcester has 12.0 aggravated assaults a year per 1,000 residents; for the typical resident of a D-graded US neighborhood, the figure is 5.3.
Crime rates and types in South Worcester
CrimeGrade™ estimates South Worcester has about 65 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 76% more than the US as a whole and 35% more than Worcester 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 South Worcester is assault, about 42% 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 Worcester
The Worcester Police Department polices South Worcester; these figures cover Worcester as a whole, 2022 to 2024.
In Worcester as a whole, 62% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often at homes: 49% of them, against 34% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (62%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Car theft
Homes (49%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Theft from cars
Homes (49%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Vandalism
Homes (53%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Robbery
Streets and sidewalks (41%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Aggravated assault
Homes (51%)
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 South Worcester compares with nearby neighborhoods
South Worcester has less crime than 5 of its 10 nearest neighborhoods.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from South Worcester. Beside each overall CrimeGrade™ is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer).
Compared with neighborhoods of similar size and density, South Worcester has more crime than 70% of them.
One thing sets South Worcester apart: it has a Walk Grade of B (62 of 100) on BestNeighborhood, against 21 for the US as a whole. Places like that tend to report more theft and assault, and they run high here.
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. 52% of residents here live in walkable areas.B (62 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 73% of residents of US city neighborhoods
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft and car theft.12.7 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 73% of residents of US city neighborhoods
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 South Worcester: D+ (24 of 100).4 trips an hourUS: noneLower than for 68% of residents of US city neighborhoods
Show all 4
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery and car theft.73% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 63% 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 South Worcester
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs South Worcester about $2,796 a year per household, more than double 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 $22 million a year, or $4,382 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 South Worcester 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 South Worcester, Worcester, MA average a SchoolGrade of F: 21% of students test proficient, against 19% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in South Worcester on SchoolGrade
