Cambridge is the fourth-largest city in Massachusetts, with 116,900 residents in Middlesex County, about 3 miles west of downtown Boston · Updated November 2026
How common is violent crime in Cambridge?
Violent crime in Cambridge sits near the national middle: an A, safer than the neighborhoods where 52% of Americans live. Assaults make up 90% of it, and most of those are simple assaults, which involve no weapon and no serious injury.
A
Violent crime CrimeGrade™
Safety score 869 of 1,000About as much violent crime as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
52% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more violent crime than Cambridge as a whole, and 48% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a violent crime safety score of 860, a CrimeGrade™ of A. Cambridge scores 869.
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 Cambridge, MA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Cambridge, 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 Cambridge
One part of Cambridge stands out for robbery. Robberies in Cambridgeport & Riverside, in south Cambridge, run at about double the rate in the rest of the city.
Aggravated assault is the exception. Cambridge grades A for violent crime, but aggravated assault grades B+, worse than in the neighborhoods where 71% of Americans live.
Where violent crime is lowest and highest in Cambridge
Every part of Cambridge where people live grades A or B for violent crime on the national scale. Violent crime grades across Cambridge run from A+ to B+.
100%
A or B 100%
Share of residents, by the violent crime CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Neighborhood areas of Cambridge, ranked by violent crime CrimeGrade™; beside each grade is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer). Each one combines several of the smaller areas on the map.
Is violent crime going up in Cambridge?
Reported violent crime in Cambridge has risen 54% since 2019. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 2.8 to 4.3 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7). Violent crime changed little from 2023 to 2024.
Violent crime, change since 2019
CambridgeUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Cambridge. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Cambridge
Violent, US
2016
-9%
+4%
2017
-5%
+4%
2018
+3%
+0%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
+3%
+4%
2021
+13%
+6%
2022
+43%
+5%
2023
+70%
+2%
2024
+54%
-4%
Violent crime rates and types in Cambridge
CrimeGrade™ estimates Cambridge has about 13 reported violent crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, about the same as the US as a whole and 19% more than 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 Cambridge, about 90% 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 Cambridge
Cambridge has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Cambridge, 30% of aggravated assaults happen at a home, against 53% nationally. Robberies happen most often on streets and sidewalks: 49% of them.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Robbery
Streets and sidewalks (49%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Aggravated assault
Streets and sidewalks (38%)
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 Cambridge and nearby cities
Of the 9 cities closest to Cambridge, 5 have less violent crime. Belmont and Brookline have the least.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from Cambridge. 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, Cambridge is safer than 82% of them.
Among the traits that tend to go with violent crime, two set Cambridge apart: it has a Walk Grade of A (85 of 100) on BestNeighborhood, against 21 for the US as a whole, and 134 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole. It also combines many jobs with busy transit: places with both tend to report more robbery than places with only one of them, and it runs 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 assault. 86% of residents here live in walkable areas.A (85 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 98% of US city residents
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more robbery.134 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 98% 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 Cambridge: C (40 of 100).41 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 96% 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.92% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 96% 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 Cambridge
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, violent crime costs Cambridge about $90 million a year, or $774 per resident. The costs that reach a bill, such as medical care, lost work and the justice system, come to about $24 million, or $207 per resident.
Billed cost of violent crime per resident, per year
How the cost breaks down
Pain and suffering are about 73% of that full cost.
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$750,000
$6
Rape
$2.4 million
$21
Robbery
$3.3 million
$28
Assault
$18 million
$151
Total
$24 million
$207
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
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.
