LUNA (tugboat) · Photo: Nkwoodward · CC BY 4.0Recorded crime per resident is higher in Chelsea than in 91% of U.S. towns
It has more violent crime than 97% of U.S. towns, and more property crime than 64%. Even so, the graded rate fell 15% from 2023 to 2025. Counting crimes Chelsea’s police reported from 2023 to 2025, it grades D for safety: #272 of 276 graded towns in Massachusetts. Violence and property crime split as 9.1 violent crimes and 14.9 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents a year, beside 3.0 and 10.3 in the rest of Massachusetts.
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 Chelsea
3 of the 3 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 3 Massachusetts towns on Chelsea’s borders, 3 have a Safety Grade: Everett (C), Revere (C), Boston (D). Neighbors ↓
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 Chelsea’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. Its property rate (14.9) is below the FBI’s national estimate (17.6) but higher than in most individual towns: the national figure is weighted by people, and the grade counts towns.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Chelsea | Rest of Massachusetts | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 8.0 | 3.2 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 9.7 | 3.1 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 9.8 | 2.9 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 7.9 | 2.9 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Chelsea’s police reported 1,058 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 9.1 per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.0 in the rest of Massachusetts and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Chelsea property | Rest of Massachusetts property | Chelsea violent | Rest of Massachusetts violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 18.0 | 10.4 | 8.0 | 3.2 |
| 2023 | 16.2 | 10.9 | 9.7 | 3.1 |
| 2024 | 14.4 | 10.3 | 9.8 | 2.9 |
| 2025 | 14.1 | 9.8 | 7.9 | 2.9 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
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.
Crime in Chelsea 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 8 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
883 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.
317 violent and 566 property, as reported to the FBI by Chelsea’s police.
Seven people died in crashes on Chelsea’s roads in 2019–2023
Chelsea had 7 fatal crashes in five years, in which seven people died; 5 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 Chelsea’s size would see about 8 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Chelsea’s own rate (3.5) 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.
Chelsea and its neighbors
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Massachusetts towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chelsea | D | 9.1 | 14.9 |
| Shrewsbury | A− | 0.5 | 6.2 |
| Amherst Town | A− | 1.4 | 3.1 |
| Chelmsford | B | 1.2 | 10.2 |
| Westfield | B | 2.0 | 7.8 |
| Braintree Town | C+ | 2.8 | 13.3 |
The five graded Massachusetts towns closest to Chelsea’s population (40,130), 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 Chelsea. 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 Chelsea’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (40,069 in 2025); our figure for Chelsea is 40,130 (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 Chelsea
Is Chelsea, MA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Chelsea reports more crime per resident than 91% of U.S. towns, a D Safety Grade and #272 of 276 in Massachusetts. Its police reported 9.1 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 Chelsea?
9.1 violent and 14.9 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.
How many homicides were there in Chelsea in 2025?
Chelsea’s police reported 2 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 5.0 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Chelsea safer than Revere?
Revere reports less crime per resident than Chelsea: Revere grades C for safety and Chelsea D. Revere’s police reported 3.9 violent and 13.6 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Chelsea?
Chelsea’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Chelsea”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
Please don’t name or describe individuals. In an emergency, call 911.
Neighbors looking out for each other in Chelsea.
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.