Photo: Ian Howard · CC BY 2.5Boston reports more crime per resident than 87% of U.S. towns
On crimes reported to the FBI by Boston’s police in 2023–2025, it grades D for safety: #268 of 276 graded towns in Massachusetts, and #188 of 325 U.S. cities over 100,000.
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 Boston
7 of the 8 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 8 Massachusetts towns on Boston’s borders, 8 have a Safety Grade: Milton (A−), Newton (A−), Brookline (B+), Winthrop Town (B+), Dedham (C+), Quincy (C+), Revere (C), Cambridge (D). Neighbors ↓
Homicides: below U.S. cities overall
Boston’s police reported 24 homicides to the FBI in 2025. Over 2023–2025 that is 4.2 per 100,000 residents a year, 2.8 times the rest of Massachusetts (1.5) and below all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables (5.7). Violent crime ↓
Robberies: 5.1 times the rest of Massachusetts
125 robberies per 100,000 residents a year over 2023–2025 (762 reported in 2025), 5.1 times the rest of Massachusetts (24.5) and 1.6 times all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables (79.4). Violent crime ↓
Against other big cities
Among the 325 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, Boston reports less crime per resident than 42% (#188). Places like it ↓
A job center
Boston has 662,899 jobs based in town for 672,973 residents (Census LEHD), so some reports involve people who work or shop there rather than residents. How to read it ↓
Reported crime is falling
Crime reported per resident fell from 2023 to 2025 by more than ordinary year-to-year swings, on the grade’s own score. Trend ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind Boston’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 higher than in most U.S. towns; property crime is the closer of the two to typical.
For every 1,000 residents, about 19 property crimes reported
And about 6 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.
Homicides and robberies
Boston’s police reported 24 homicides, 762 robberies and 3,909 violent crimes in all to the FBI in 2025. By year, against the rest of Massachusetts and all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables.
Show as a table
| Year | Boston | Rest of Massachusetts | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 6.9 | 1.7 | 7.7 |
| 2023 | 5.3 | 1.7 | 6.8 |
| 2024 | 3.6 | 1.7 | 5.7 |
| 2025 | 3.6 | 1.1 | 4.6 |
Homicides per 100,000 residents
Show as a table
| Year | Boston | Rest of Massachusetts | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 121 | 29.6 | 95.5 |
| 2023 | 137 | 25.7 | 90.6 |
| 2024 | 126 | 24.3 | 81.9 |
| 2025 | 114 | 23.5 | 66.0 |
Robberies per 100,000 residents
Reported crime is falling
Reported crime per resident fell from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings. Per 1,000 residents, 2022–2025, against the rest of Massachusetts.
Show as a table
| Year | Boston property | Rest of Massachusetts property | Boston violent | Rest of Massachusetts violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 18.0 | 9.7 | 6.2 | 2.9 |
| 2023 | 19.4 | 10.0 | 6.3 | 2.8 |
| 2024 | 20.2 | 9.3 | 6.3 | 2.6 |
| 2025 | 19.1 | 8.8 | 5.8 | 2.6 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
16,718 crimes reported in 2025
3,909 violent and 12,809 property, as reported to the FBI by Boston’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
40 of the 113 people who died in crashes on Boston’s roads in 2019–2023 were pedestrians
Boston had 107 fatal crashes in five years, in which 113 people died. 5 of those killed were cyclists. 23 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is 3.4 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, below the median for Massachusetts towns of 100,000+ people (4.3, 9 towns).
Among the 39 U.S. cities of 500,000 or more, Boston has the 2nd lowest rate.
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.
Boston 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.
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 Boston. A citywide rate doesn’t show where incidents happen, and that can differ a lot from one part of the city to another.
- Visitors count too. Incidents involving people who work, shop or visit are counted against Boston’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (671,262 in 2025); our figure for Boston is 672,973 (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 Boston
Is Boston, MA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Boston reports more crime per resident than 87% of U.S. towns, a D Safety Grade and #268 of 276 in Massachusetts. Its police reported 6.1 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 2.7 in the rest of Massachusetts and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Boston?
6.1 violent and 19.6 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Massachusetts reports 2.7 and 9.4; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is crime going up or down in Boston?
Reported crime per resident fell from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings.
How many homicides were there in Boston in 2025?
Boston’s police reported 24 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 3.6 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Boston safer than Milton?
Milton reports less crime per resident than Boston: Milton grades A− for safety and Boston D. Milton’s police reported 0.6 violent and 5.3 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Boston?
Boston’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Boston”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Boston.
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.