Somerville is a city of 84,600 in Middlesex County, about 3 miles northwest of downtown Boston · Updated November 2026
How common is violent crime in Somerville?
Somerville earns an A for violent crime, safer than the neighborhoods where 65% of Americans live. Assaults make up 91% of it, and most of those are simple assaults, which involve no weapon and no serious injury.
A
Violent crime CrimeGrade™
Safety score 908 of 1,000Less violent crime than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
65% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more violent crime than Somerville as a whole, and 35% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a violent crime safety score of 860, a CrimeGrade™ of A. Somerville scores 908.
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 Somerville, MA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Somerville, 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 Somerville
Simple assaults are uncommon. Somerville has simple assaults at a small fraction of the US rate: 2.8 a year per 1,000 residents, against 9.7 nationally.
Where violent crime is lowest and highest in Somerville
Every part of Somerville where people live grades A or B for violent crime on the national scale. Violent crime grades across Somerville run from A+ to B+.
100%
A or B 100%
Share of residents, by the violent crime CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
1West Somerville, Tufts & Ball Square, northwestAggravated assaults run about 40% lower here than in the rest of Somerville.A+929
2Spring Hill & Winter Hill, centralAggravated assaults run about 30% lower here than in the rest of Somerville.A922
3Union Square, southClose to the rest of Somerville on most crimes.A919
4North Cambridge, westSimple assaults run about 40% higher here than in the rest of Somerville.A910
5Ten Hills, East Somerville & Mystic River, eastAggravated assaults run about 40% higher here than in the rest of Somerville.A896
6Prospect Hill & Inner Belt, southeastAggravated assaults run about 50% higher here than in the rest of Somerville.A884
Neighborhood areas of Somerville, 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 Somerville?
Reported violent crime in Somerville peaked in 2022 and has fallen 11% since, back near its 2019 level. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 2.1 to 2.2 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7). Violent crime changed little from 2023 to 2024.
Violent crime, change since 2019
SomervilleUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Somerville. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Somerville
Violent, US
2016
+25%
+4%
2017
+15%
+4%
2018
+7%
+0%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
-7%
+4%
2021
-7%
+6%
2022
+22%
+5%
2023
+18%
+2%
2024
+8%
-4%
Violent crime rates and types in Somerville
CrimeGrade™ estimates Somerville has about 5.2 reported violent crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 61% less than the US as a whole and 52% less 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 Somerville, about 91% 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 Somerville
Somerville has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Somerville, 35% of aggravated assaults happen at a home, against 53% nationally. Robberies happen most often at stores and businesses: 36% of them.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Robbery
Stores and businesses (36%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (35%)
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.
Violent crime in Somerville and nearby cities
Somerville has less violent crime than 7 of its 9 nearest cities; only Arlington and Belmont have less.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from Somerville. 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, Somerville is safer than 97% of them.
Among the traits that tend to go with violent crime, two set Somerville apart: it has 98% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally, and a Walk Grade of A (83 of 100) on BestNeighborhood, against 21 for the US as a whole. Places like that tend to report more robbery; here robbery sits near the national middle.
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery.98% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 98% 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. 82% of residents here live in walkable areas.A (83 of 100)US: 21Higher 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 Somerville: C+ (42 of 100).22 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 92% of US city residents
Show all 4
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more robbery.43 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 51% 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 Somerville
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, violent crime costs Somerville about $38 million a year, or $452 per resident. The costs that reach a bill, such as medical care, lost work and the justice system, come to about $8.7 million, or $102 per resident.
Billed cost of violent crime per resident, per year
How the cost breaks down
Pain and suffering are about 77% of that full cost.
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$670,000
$8
Rape
$920,000
$11
Robbery
$760,000
$9
Assault
$6.3 million
$74
Total
$8.7 million
$102
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.
