Photo: ToddC4176 · CC BY-SA 3.0More violent crime is recorded per resident in Dartmouth than in 67% of U.S. towns
The rate the grade counts climbed 23% from 2023 to 2025. Weighing it all, Dartmouth earns C+ for safety (#225 of 276 graded towns in Massachusetts), with close to the middle of U.S. towns, on crimes its police reported over 2023 to 2025. Annual rates stand at 2.6 violent crimes and 12.1 incidents of property crime for every thousand residents, next to 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 Dartmouth
1 of the 2 graded towns next door reports less crime
Of the 2 Massachusetts towns on Dartmouth’s borders, 2 have a Safety Grade: Westport (A−), New Bedford (C). Neighbors ↓
Among Massachusetts towns, lower
Massachusetts’ cities and towns report less crime than most states’, so Dartmouth’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 18% of the 276 Massachusetts towns we grade, against 41% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
A college town
Dartmouth is home to the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, with 6,221 students taking classes on campus (federal college data), and 14% 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 ↓
Reported crime is rising
Crime reported per resident rose 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 Dartmouth’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 violent rate (2.6) is below the FBI’s national estimate (3.6) but higher than in most individual towns: the national figure is weighted by people, and the grade counts towns. Its property rate (12.1) 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.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Dartmouth property | Rest of Massachusetts property | Dartmouth violent | Rest of Massachusetts violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 11.9 | 10.4 | 2.6 | 3.2 |
| 2023 | 11.4 | 10.9 | 2.3 | 3.1 |
| 2024 | 11.0 | 10.3 | 2.5 | 3.0 |
| 2025 | 13.9 | 9.8 | 2.9 | 2.9 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
Reported crime per resident rose from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings. Per 1,000 residents, 2022–2025, against the rest of Massachusetts.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Dartmouth | Rest of Massachusetts | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 2.6 | 3.2 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 2.3 | 3.1 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 2.5 | 3.0 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 2.9 | 2.9 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Dartmouth’s police reported 268 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 2.6 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 Dartmouth 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 3 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
585 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.
101 violent and 484 property, as reported to the FBI by Dartmouth’s police.
14 people died in crashes on Dartmouth’s roads in 2019–2023
Dartmouth had 14 fatal crashes in five years, in which 14 people died; 3 were pedestrians. 4 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is 8.4 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, above the median for Massachusetts towns of 25,000–100,000 people (4.0, 86 towns).
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.
Dartmouth and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dartmouth | C+ | 2.6 | 12.1 |
| Westport | A− | 1.3 | 3.9 |
| New Bedford | C | 4.0 | 14.9 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Massachusetts towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dartmouth | C+ | 2.6 | 12.1 |
| Lexington | A | 0.5 | 3.5 |
| Franklin Town | A | 0.9 | 2.4 |
| Falmouth | B− | 2.5 | 7.2 |
| Randolph Town | B− | 2.4 | 10.4 |
| Watertown | C+ | 1.4 | 15.9 |
The five graded Massachusetts towns closest to Dartmouth’s population (34,367), 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 Dartmouth. 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 Dartmouth’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (34,759 in 2025); our figure for Dartmouth is 34,367 (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 Dartmouth
Is Dartmouth, MA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Dartmouth reports more crime per resident than 59% of U.S. towns, a C+ Safety Grade and #225 of 276 in Massachusetts. Its police reported 2.6 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 Dartmouth?
2.6 violent and 12.1 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Massachusetts reports 3.0 and 10.3; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
How many homicides were there in Dartmouth in 2025?
Dartmouth’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 Dartmouth safer than Westport?
Westport reports less crime per resident than Dartmouth: Westport grades A− for safety and Dartmouth C+. Westport’s police reported 1.3 violent and 3.9 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Dartmouth?
Dartmouth’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Dartmouth”. 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 Dartmouth.
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.