Photo: Smc6287 at English Wikipedia · Public domainHolliston reports less crime per resident than 96% of U.S. towns
Among its 5 neighbors with figures, only one records less crime per resident. Annual rates stand at 0.3 violent crime and 1.9 incidents of property crime for every thousand residents, next to 3.0 and 10.4 in the rest of Massachusetts. Add to that, that puts it at A+ for safety, judged on crimes Holliston’s police reported from 2023 to 2025: #6 of 276 graded towns in Massachusetts. The graded rate fell 69% from 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 Holliston
1 of the 5 graded towns next door reports less crime
Of the 5 Massachusetts towns on Holliston’s borders, 5 have a Safety Grade: Millis (A+), Medway (A), Hopkinton (A), Sherborn (A), Milford (B−). 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 Holliston’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 lower than in most U.S. towns; property crime is the stronger of the two.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Holliston property | Rest of Massachusetts property | Holliston violent | Rest of Massachusetts violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 3.5 | 10.5 | 0.3 | 3.2 |
| 2023 | 3.1 | 10.9 | 0.3 | 3.1 |
| 2024 | 1.8 | 10.3 | 0.3 | 3.0 |
| 2025 | 0.8 | 9.8 | 0.2 | 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.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Holliston | Rest of Massachusetts | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 0.3 | 3.2 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 0.3 | 3.1 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 0.3 | 3.0 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 0.2 | 2.9 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Holliston’s police reported 12 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 0.3 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 Holliston 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 fewer than 1 violent crime, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
16 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.
3 violent and 13 property, as reported to the FBI by Holliston’s police.
Four people died in crashes on Holliston’s roads in 2019–2023
Holliston had 3 fatal crashes in five years, in which four people died; 1 was a pedestrian.
That is about what is typical for Massachusetts towns of 5,000–25,000 people: at their median rate (5.2 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Holliston’s size would see about 4 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Holliston’s own rate (5.3) 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.
Holliston 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Holliston | A+ | 0.3 | 1.9 |
| Belchertown | B+ | 1.8 | 4.6 |
| Hanover | B+ | 0.8 | 8.6 |
| Mashpee | B+ | 1.7 | 5.3 |
| Swampscott | B+ | 0.8 | 9.0 |
| Dennis | B− | 2.9 | 8.1 |
The five graded Massachusetts towns closest to Holliston’s population (15,206), 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 Holliston. 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 Holliston’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (15,399 in 2025); our figure for Holliston is 15,206 (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 Holliston
Is Holliston, MA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Holliston reports less crime per resident than 96% of U.S. towns, an A+ Safety Grade and #6 of 276 in Massachusetts. Its police reported 0.3 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 Holliston?
0.3 violent and 1.9 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Massachusetts reports 3.0 and 10.4; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is Holliston safer than Sherborn?
Sherborn reports more crime per resident than Holliston: Sherborn grades A for safety and Holliston A+. Sherborn’s police reported 1.0 violent and 2.2 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Holliston?
Holliston’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Holliston”. 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 Holliston.
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.