Photo: en:User:LymanSchool (Richard B. Johnson) · CC BY-SA 3.0Per resident, East Brookfield records less property crime than nine in ten U.S. towns
Behind the grade sit 2.1 violent crimes and 3.0 incidents of property crime per 1,000 people a year, where the comparison is 3.0 and 10.3 in the rest of Massachusetts. Still, of the 3 towns on its borders with figures, 2 record less crime per resident. Weighing it all, East Brookfield earns B+ for safety, with less crime per resident than 70% of U.S. towns, on crimes its police reported over 2023 to 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 East Brookfield
2 of the 3 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 4 Massachusetts towns on East Brookfield’s borders, 3 have a Safety Grade: Charlton (A−), Brookfield (B+), Sturbridge (B−). North Brookfield reported to the FBI for 2025 but not 2023 or 2024. Neighbors ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind East Brookfield’s grade
Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Property crime holds East Brookfield’s grade up; violent crime pulls it down. Its violent rate (2.1) 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.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | East Brookfield | Rest of Massachusetts | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 5.0 | 3.2 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 0.9 | 3.1 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 3.6 | 3.0 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 1.8 | 2.9 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
East Brookfield’s police reported 14 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 2.1 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 East Brookfield 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 2 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
Reported crime is steady
Show as a table
| Year | East Brookfield property | Rest of Massachusetts property | East Brookfield violent | Rest of Massachusetts violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 3.6 | 10.5 | 5.0 | 3.2 |
| 2023 | 1.8 | 10.9 | 0.9 | 3.1 |
| 2024 | 2.7 | 10.3 | 3.6 | 3.0 |
| 2025 | 4.5 | 9.8 | 1.8 | 2.9 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
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.
14 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.
4 violent and 10 property, as reported to the FBI by East Brookfield’s police.
Five people died in crashes on East Brookfield’s roads in 2019–2023
East Brookfield had 3 fatal crashes in five years, in which five people died.
That is more than is typical for Massachusetts towns of 2,500–5,000 people: at their median rate (6.0 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of East Brookfield’s size would see about 1 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so East Brookfield’s own rate (46.2) 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.
East Brookfield and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| East Brookfield | B+ | 2.1 | 3.0 |
| Brookfield | B+ | 2.0 | 2.2 |
| North Brookfield | — | — | — |
| Sturbridge | B− | 2.3 | 8.5 |
| Charlton | A− | 1.1 | 5.1 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. North Brookfield reported to the FBI for 2025 but not 2023 or 2024.
Massachusetts towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| East Brookfield | B+ | 2.1 | 3.0 |
| Holland | A | 0.9 | 2.3 |
| Bernardston | A− | 0.9 | 4.0 |
| Williamsburg | A− | 0.9 | 5.1 |
| Stockbridge | B+ | 1.0 | 8.7 |
| Truro | B | 1.9 | 7.4 |
The five graded Massachusetts towns closest to East Brookfield’s population (2,231), 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 East Brookfield. 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 East Brookfield’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (2,235 in 2025); our figure for East Brookfield is 2,231 (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 East Brookfield
Is East Brookfield, MA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, East Brookfield reports less crime per resident than 70% of U.S. towns, a B+ Safety Grade. Its police reported 2.1 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 East Brookfield?
2.1 violent and 3.0 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 East Brookfield safer than Brookfield?
Brookfield reports less crime per resident than East Brookfield: Brookfield grades B+ for safety and East Brookfield B+. Brookfield’s police reported 2.0 violent and 2.2 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices East Brookfield?
East Brookfield’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “East Brookfield”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
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Please don’t name or describe individuals. In an emergency, call 911.
Neighbors looking out for each other in East Brookfield.
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.