Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Property crime per resident is lower in Amherst Town than in 90% of U.S. towns
The yearly rates were 1.4 violent crimes and 3.1 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents, set against 3.0 and 10.4 in the rest of Massachusetts. On top of that, the overall Safety Grade is A− (#92 of 276 graded towns in Massachusetts), which means less crime per resident than 80% of U.S. towns, judged on crimes its police reported from 2023 to 2025. 4 of the 7 towns next door with figures record less crime per resident.
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. “Rest of MA” is every other Massachusetts city and town in the FBI’s tables; the U.S. figure is the FBI’s national estimate as published, averaged over the three years. The FBI publishes no national homicide or robbery rate in our data, so those compare with all U.S. cities and towns in its tables.
What stands out about safety in Amherst Town
4 of the 7 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 7 Massachusetts towns on Amherst Town’s borders, 7 have a Safety Grade: Pelham (A+), Shutesbury (A+), Granby (A), Leverett (A−), Belchertown (B+), South Hadley (B), Hadley (D). Neighbors ↓
Among Massachusetts towns, closer to the middle
Massachusetts’ cities and towns report less crime than most states’, so Amherst Town’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 67% of the 276 Massachusetts towns we grade, against 80% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
A college town
Amherst Town is home to the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, with 28,168 students taking classes on campus (federal college data), and 60% of residents are enrolled in college (Census). Students who live in town count as residents, so they are part of the per-resident rate. How to read it ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind Amherst Town’s grade
Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Both violent and property crime are lower than in most U.S. towns; property crime is the stronger of the two.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Amherst Town | Rest of Massachusetts | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1.9 | 3.2 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 1.1 | 3.1 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 1.6 | 3.0 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 1.4 | 2.9 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Amherst Town’s police reported 191 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 1.4 per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.0 in the rest of Massachusetts and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Crime in Amherst Town per 1,000 residents
Violent crime per 1,000 residents, 2025
Property crime per 1,000 residents, 2025
Crimes reported to police in 2025 per resident; one person can be the victim of more than one, and some reports involve visitors.
And about 1 violent crime, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
Reported crime is steady
Show as a table
| Year | Amherst Town property | Rest of Massachusetts property | Amherst Town violent | Rest of Massachusetts violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 3.3 | 10.5 | 1.9 | 3.2 |
| 2023 | 3.2 | 11.0 | 1.1 | 3.1 |
| 2024 | 3.1 | 10.4 | 1.6 | 3.0 |
| 2025 | 2.9 | 9.8 | 1.4 | 2.9 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
Reported crime per resident was steady from 2023 to 2025: the change is within ordinary year-to-year swings. Per 1,000 residents, 2022–2025, against the rest of Massachusetts.
199 crimes reported in 2025
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
64 violent and 135 property, as reported to the FBI by Amherst Town’s police.
Seven people died in crashes on Amherst Town’s roads in 2019–2023
Amherst Town had 6 fatal crashes in five years, in which seven people died; 3 were pedestrians.
That is about what is typical for Massachusetts towns of 25,000–100,000 people: at their median rate (4.0 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Amherst Town’s size would see about 8 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Amherst Town’s own rate (3.7) is context, not a ranking.
Deaths are counted where the crash happened, not where the people lived: a highway through town adds through-traffic deaths, and residents’ own risk on roads elsewhere isn’t here. Town rates sit below state and U.S. rates because a third of fatal crashes happen outside any town. Road safety is described here and is not part of the Safety Grade. Source: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 2019–2023.
Amherst Town and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amherst Town | A− | 1.4 | 3.1 |
| Granby | A | 0.5 | 3.3 |
| Hadley | D | 4.6 | 36.9 |
| South Hadley | B | 1.7 | 7.1 |
| Pelham | A+ | 0.5 | 0.3 |
| Belchertown | B+ | 1.8 | 4.6 |
| Shutesbury | A+ | 0.4 | 0.6 |
| Leverett | A− | 1.1 | 3.4 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Massachusetts towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amherst Town | A− | 1.4 | 3.1 |
| Billerica | A− | 0.9 | 3.8 |
| Shrewsbury | A− | 0.5 | 6.2 |
| Westfield | B | 2.0 | 7.8 |
| Fitchburg | C | 4.9 | 12.6 |
| Chelsea | D | 9.1 | 14.9 |
The five graded Massachusetts towns closest to Amherst Town’s population (40,920), by grade.
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- It’s reported crime. Only incidents reported to and recorded by police appear here. Many crimes are never reported to police.
- One number for all of Amherst Town. A town-wide rate doesn’t show where incidents happen, and that can differ a lot from one part of town to another.
- Visitors count too. Incidents involving people who work, shop or visit are counted against Amherst Town’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (45,764 in 2025); our figure for Amherst Town is 40,920 (2025 Census estimate).
- Gaps are real gaps. A missing year means the department didn’t report a full year, not that nothing happened.
How the grade is calculated, for every town: How TownRatings grades safety →
Questions about safety in Amherst Town
Is Amherst Town, MA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Amherst Town reports less crime per resident than 80% of U.S. towns, an A− Safety Grade and #92 of 276 in Massachusetts. Its police reported 1.4 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.0 in the rest of Massachusetts and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Amherst Town?
1.4 violent and 3.1 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Massachusetts reports 3.0 and 10.4; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
How many homicides were there in Amherst Town in 2025?
Amherst Town’s police reported 0 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 0.0 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Amherst Town safer than Granby?
Granby reports less crime per resident than Amherst Town: Granby grades A for safety and Amherst Town A−. Granby’s police reported 0.5 violent and 3.3 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Amherst Town?
Amherst Town’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Amherst”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
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Neighbors looking out for each other in Amherst Town.
Crime: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program, Crime Data Explorer: offenses known to law enforcement by city, 2025, and state and national rates. Counts are crimes reported to police, not convictions. The Safety Grade is our own summary of that data, not an official rating. Road deaths: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 2019–2023. This isn’t an official statement of public safety. In an emergency, call 911.