Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0On property crime, Essex has a lower rate per resident than nine in ten U.S. towns
The yearly rates were 2.1 violent crimes and 2.6 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents, set against 3.0 and 10.3 in the rest of Massachusetts. Essex’s overall Safety Grade is B+ (#129 of 276 graded towns in Massachusetts): less crime per resident than 72% of U.S. towns, on crimes its police reported from 2023 to 2025. By contrast, among its 4 neighbors with figures, 3 record less crime per resident.
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 Essex
3 of the 4 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 4 Massachusetts towns on Essex’s borders, 4 have a Safety Grade: Manchester-by-the-Sea (A), Hamilton (A), Ipswich (A), Gloucester (B). Neighbors ↓
Among Massachusetts towns, closer to the middle
Massachusetts’ cities and towns report less crime than most states’, so Essex’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 53% of the 276 Massachusetts towns we grade, against 72% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind Essex’s grade
Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Property crime holds Essex’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 | Essex | Rest of Massachusetts | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1.1 | 3.2 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 1.6 | 3.1 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 2.9 | 3.0 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 1.6 | 2.9 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Essex’s police reported 23 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 Essex 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 | Essex property | Rest of Massachusetts property | Essex violent | Rest of Massachusetts violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 3.8 | 10.5 | 1.1 | 3.2 |
| 2023 | 2.4 | 10.9 | 1.6 | 3.1 |
| 2024 | 3.4 | 10.3 | 2.9 | 3.0 |
| 2025 | 1.9 | 9.8 | 1.6 | 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.
13 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.
6 violent and 7 property, as reported to the FBI by Essex’s police.
No one died in a crash on Essex’s roads in 2019–2023
That is about what 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 Essex’s size would see about 1 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Essex’s own rate (0.0) 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.
Essex and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essex | B+ | 2.1 | 2.6 |
| Ipswich | A | 0.8 | 3.0 |
| Hamilton | A | 0.7 | 2.5 |
| Gloucester | B | 2.5 | 5.3 |
| Manchester-by-the-Sea | A | 0.5 | 2.5 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Massachusetts towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essex | B+ | 2.1 | 2.6 |
| Princeton | A | 0.9 | 2.2 |
| Brimfield | A | 1.1 | 2.1 |
| West Tisbury | A− | 1.4 | 2.8 |
| Wellfleet | B+ | 1.7 | 4.3 |
| Provincetown | C− | 3.5 | 18.1 |
The five graded Massachusetts towns closest to Essex’s population (3,770), 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 Essex. 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 Essex’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (3,771 in 2025); our figure for Essex is 3,770 (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 Essex
Is Essex, MA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Essex reports less crime per resident than 72% of U.S. towns, a B+ Safety Grade and #129 of 276 in Massachusetts. 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 Essex?
2.1 violent and 2.6 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 Essex safer than Ipswich?
Ipswich reports less crime per resident than Essex: Ipswich grades A for safety and Essex B+. Ipswich’s police reported 0.8 violent and 3.0 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Essex?
Essex’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Essex”. 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 Essex.
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.