Photo: Beyond My Ken · CC BY-SA 4.0Cambridge reports more crime per resident than 87% of U.S. towns
On crimes reported to the FBI by Cambridge’s police in 2023–2025, it grades D for safety: #268 of 276 graded towns in Massachusetts, and #185 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 Cambridge
4 of the 5 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 5 Massachusetts towns on Cambridge’s borders, 5 have a Safety Grade: Arlington (A−), Belmont (A−), Watertown (C+), Somerville (C+), Boston (D). Neighbors ↓
Homicides: below U.S. cities overall
Cambridge’s police reported 2 homicides to the FBI in 2025. Over 2023–2025 that is 0.8 per 100,000 residents a year, below the rest of Massachusetts (1.8) and below all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables (5.7). Violent crime ↓
Robberies: 2.8 times the rest of Massachusetts
93.3 robberies per 100,000 residents a year over 2023–2025 (108 reported in 2025), 2.8 times the rest of Massachusetts (33.0) and above 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, Cambridge reports less crime per resident than 43% (#185). Places like it ↓
A college town
Cambridge is home to Harvard University, with 22,636 students taking classes on campus (federal college data), and 25% 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 ↓
A job center
Cambridge has 148,918 jobs based in town for 122,588 residents (Census LEHD), so some reports involve people who work or shop there rather than residents. How to read it ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind Cambridge’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; violent crime is the closer of the two to typical.
Homicides and robberies
Cambridge’s police reported 2 homicides, 108 robberies and 530 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 | Cambridge | Rest of Massachusetts | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 82.0 | 37.3 | 95.5 |
| 2023 | 100 | 35.1 | 90.6 |
| 2024 | 91.3 | 32.8 | 81.9 |
| 2025 | 88.8 | 31.2 | 66.0 |
Robberies per 100,000 residents
For every 1,000 residents, about 26 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 | Cambridge property | Rest of Massachusetts property | Cambridge violent | Rest of Massachusetts violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 22.4 | 10.2 | 4.1 | 3.2 |
| 2023 | 23.9 | 10.7 | 4.8 | 3.1 |
| 2024 | 26.4 | 10.0 | 4.4 | 2.9 |
| 2025 | 26.0 | 9.5 | 4.4 | 2.9 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
3,688 crimes reported in 2025
530 violent and 3,158 property, as reported to the FBI by Cambridge’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
Seven people died in crashes on Cambridge’s roads in 2019–2023
Cambridge had 7 fatal crashes in five years, in which seven people died; 4 were pedestrians and 1 was a cyclist.
That is fewer than is typical for Massachusetts towns of 100,000+ people: at their median rate (4.3 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Cambridge’s size would see about 26 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Cambridge’s own rate (1.2) 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.
Cambridge 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 Cambridge. 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 Cambridge’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (121,634 in 2025); our figure for Cambridge is 122,588 (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 Cambridge
Is Cambridge, MA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Cambridge reports more crime per resident than 87% of U.S. towns, a D Safety Grade and #268 of 276 in Massachusetts. Its police reported 4.5 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 Cambridge?
4.5 violent and 25.4 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Massachusetts reports 3.0 and 10.1; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is crime going up or down in Cambridge?
Reported crime per resident was steady from 2023 to 2025: the change is within ordinary year-to-year swings.
How many homicides were there in Cambridge in 2025?
Cambridge’s police reported 2 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 1.6 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Cambridge safer than Boston?
Boston reports more crime per resident than Cambridge: Boston grades D for safety and Cambridge D. Boston’s police reported 6.1 violent and 19.6 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Cambridge?
Cambridge’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Cambridge”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Cambridge.
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.