Photo: Richard B. Johnson · CC BY-SA 3.0Athol reports less property crime than most U.S. towns, but more violent crime
Overall, Athol grades C+ for safety (#230 of 276 graded towns in Massachusetts): more crime per resident than 61% of U.S. towns, on crimes its police reported to the FBI in 2023–2025.
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 Athol
2 of the 2 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 5 Massachusetts towns on Athol’s borders, 2 have a Safety Grade: Royalston (A+), Orange (B−). Phillipston reported to the FBI for 2025 but not 2023 or 2024. New Salem and Petersham have no FBI figures of their own for 2023–2025. Neighbors ↓
Among Massachusetts towns, lower
Massachusetts’ cities and towns report less crime than most states’, so Athol’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 17% of the 276 Massachusetts towns we grade, against 39% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind Athol’s grade
Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Property crime holds Athol’s grade up; violent crime pulls it down.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Athol’s police reported 154 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 4.3 per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.0 in the rest of Massachusetts and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Show as a table
| Year | Athol | Rest of Massachusetts | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 5.8 | 3.2 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 4.4 | 3.1 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 4.5 | 3.0 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 3.8 | 2.9 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
For every 1,000 residents, about 5 property crimes reported
And about 4 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
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.
Reported crime is steady
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.
Show as a table
| Year | Athol property | Rest of Massachusetts property | Athol violent | Rest of Massachusetts violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 7.8 | 10.5 | 5.8 | 3.2 |
| 2023 | 7.6 | 10.9 | 4.4 | 3.1 |
| 2024 | 7.3 | 10.3 | 4.5 | 3.0 |
| 2025 | 4.7 | 9.8 | 3.8 | 2.9 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
103 crimes reported in 2025
46 violent and 57 property, as reported to the FBI by Athol’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
Six people died in crashes on Athol’s roads in 2019–2023
Athol had 5 fatal crashes in five years, in which six people died; 1 was a pedestrian.
That is more than is typical for Massachusetts towns of 5,000–25,000 people: at their median rate (5.2 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Athol’s size would see about 3 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Athol’s own rate (10.0) 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.
Athol and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Phillipston reported to the FBI for 2025 but not 2023 or 2024. New Salem and Petersham have no FBI figures of their own for 2023–2025.
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 Athol. 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 Athol’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (12,117 in 2025); our figure for Athol is 12,129 (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 Athol
Is Athol, MA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Athol reports more crime per resident than 61% of U.S. towns, a C+ Safety Grade and #230 of 276 in Massachusetts. Its police reported 4.3 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 Athol?
4.3 violent and 6.5 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Massachusetts reports 3.0 and 10.3; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is crime going up or down in Athol?
Reported crime per resident was steady from 2023 to 2025: the change is within ordinary year-to-year swings.
Is Athol safer than Orange?
Orange reports less crime per resident than Athol: Orange grades B− for safety and Athol C+. Orange’s police reported 3.3 violent and 7.3 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Athol?
Athol’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Athol”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Athol.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
Please don’t name or describe individuals. In an emergency, call 911.
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.