Barnstable Town is a city of 15,900 in Barnstable County, about 3 miles south of Barnstable · Updated November 2026
How common is violent crime in Barnstable Town?
Barnstable Town grades B+ for violent crime, with more of it than the neighborhoods where 74% of Americans live. Assaults make up 93% of it, and most of those are simple assaults, which involve no weapon and no serious injury.
B+
Violent crime CrimeGrade™
Safety score 703 of 1,000More violent crime than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
26% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more violent crime than Barnstable Town as a whole, and 74% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a violent crime safety score of 860, a CrimeGrade™ of A. Barnstable Town scores 703.
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 violent crime than most US neighborhoods.
How to read the map: each area's color compares its violent crime with the people who spend time there, on one national scale, from green for the least to red for the most. Each area gets its own color, so a busy downtown or nightlife strip can show red while the homes around it stay green. The interactive maps load faster on a solid connection. Compare high speed internet in Barnstable Town, MA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Barnstable 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 about violent crime in Barnstable Town
Reported rapes run high. Barnstable Town has reported rapes at more than triple the US rate: 1.4 a year per 1,000 residents, against 0.38 nationally.
Where violent crime is lowest and highest in Barnstable Town
Most of Barnstable Town grades well for violent crime: 90% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and the rest in areas graded C. Violent crime grades across Barnstable Town run from A to C+.
90%10%
A or B 90%C 10%
Share of residents, by the violent crime CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Is violent crime going up in Barnstable Town?
Reported violent crime in Barnstable Town peaked in 2022 and has fallen 12% since, back near its 2019 level. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 4.1 to 4.2 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7). Violent crime changed little from 2023 to 2024.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Barnstable TownUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Barnstable Town. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Barnstable Town
Violent, US
2016
+10%
+4%
2017
+8%
+4%
2018
-9%
+0%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
-4%
+4%
2021
-2%
+6%
2022
+16%
+5%
2023
+3%
+2%
2024
+2%
-4%
Violent crime rates and types in Barnstable Town
CrimeGrade™ estimates Barnstable Town has about 27 reported violent crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, about double the rate for the US as a whole and more than double the rate for Massachusetts.
All violent crime
Assaults
Robbery
Reported crimes a year, per 1,000 residents. Violent crime here includes simple assaults, which the FBI's violent crime rate leaves out.
Assault is the most common violent crime in Barnstable Town, about 93% of the total.
Each CrimeGrade™ here compares a violent crime with the people who spend time in an area, not only the people who live there. 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 violent crime happens in Barnstable Town
Barnstable Town has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Barnstable Town, 56% of aggravated assaults happen at a home, against 53% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Aggravated assault
Homes (56%)
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.
Violent crime in Barnstable Town and nearby cities
Barnstable Town has the most violent crime of its 9 nearest cities.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from Barnstable Town. Beside each violent crime CrimeGrade™ is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer).
Compared with cities of similar size and density, Barnstable Town has more violent crime than 96% of them.
Among the traits that tend to go with violent crime, two set Barnstable Town apart: it has 107 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole, and a Walk Grade of C (34 of 100) on BestNeighborhood, against 21 for the US as a whole. Even so, 52% of residents in Barnstable Town live in car-dependent areas, where most errands take a car. Places like that tend to report more robbery.
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more robbery.107 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 97% 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 assault.C (34 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 85% of US city residents
Transit serviceBuses and trains an hour at the evening rush. Places with busy transit tend to report more robbery. BestNeighborhood's Transit Grade for Barnstable Town: D+ (18 of 100).5 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 69% of US city residents
Show all 4
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery.7% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 68% 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 violent crime costs Barnstable Town
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, violent crime costs Barnstable Town about $39 million a year, or $2,438 per resident. The costs that reach a bill, such as medical care, lost work and the justice system, come to about $8.4 million, or $531 per resident.
Billed cost of violent crime per resident, per year
How the cost breaks down
Pain and suffering are about 78% of that full cost.
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$1.1 million
$71
Rape
$1.4 million
$86
Robbery
$250,000
$16
Assault
$5.7 million
$358
Total
$8.4 million
$531
How CrimeGrade™ works
The violent crime CrimeGrade™ covers murder, rape, robbery and assault, from A+ for the least crime to F for the most, on one scale for the whole country.
It weighs each violent crime against the people who spend time in an area, so a busy downtown is graded on its workers and visitors as well as its residents.
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.
