Photo: Henry Hudson Kitson · Public domainLexington reports less crime per resident than 91% of U.S. towns
On crimes reported to the FBI by Lexington’s police in 2023–2025, it grades A for safety: #29 of 276 graded towns in 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 Lexington
2 of the 8 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 8 Massachusetts towns on Lexington’s borders, 8 have a Safety Grade: Lincoln (A+), Winchester (A), Bedford (A), Arlington (A−), Belmont (A−), Woburn (B), Waltham (B−), Burlington (C+). Neighbors ↓
A job center
Lexington has 24,023 jobs based in town for 34,648 residents (Census LEHD), so some reports involve people who work or shop there rather than residents. 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 Lexington’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 is rising
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.
Show as a table
| Year | Lexington property | Rest of Massachusetts property | Lexington violent | Rest of Massachusetts violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 2.9 | 10.5 | 0.4 | 3.2 |
| 2023 | 2.9 | 10.9 | 0.3 | 3.1 |
| 2024 | 3.3 | 10.3 | 0.5 | 3.0 |
| 2025 | 4.3 | 9.8 | 0.5 | 2.9 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
Violent crime, by year and by type
Lexington’s police reported 47 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 0.5 per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.0 in the rest of Massachusetts and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Show as a table
| Year | Lexington | Rest of Massachusetts | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 0.4 | 3.2 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 0.3 | 3.1 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 0.5 | 3.0 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 0.5 | 2.9 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
For every 1,000 residents, about 4 property crimes reported
And about 1 violent crime, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
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.
167 crimes reported in 2025
19 violent and 148 property, as reported to the FBI by Lexington’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
Three people died in crashes on Lexington’s roads in 2019–2023
Lexington had 2 fatal crashes in five years, in which three people died. Most of these deaths (2 of 3) were on an Interstate passing through, so they say more about through-traffic than about the town’s own streets.
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 Lexington’s size would see about 7 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Lexington’s own rate (1.7) 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.
Lexington and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lexington | A | 0.5 | 3.5 |
| Burlington | C+ | 2.0 | 16.8 |
| Winchester | A | 0.2 | 4.0 |
| Woburn | B | 1.7 | 9.3 |
| Bedford | A | 0.5 | 4.3 |
| Lincoln | A+ | 0.0 | 2.4 |
| Arlington | A− | 0.7 | 4.5 |
| Belmont | A− | 0.5 | 7.8 |
| Waltham | B− | 2.4 | 7.6 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Massachusetts towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| Dartmouth | C+ | 2.6 | 12.1 |
The five graded Massachusetts towns closest to Lexington’s population (34,648), by grade.
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 Lexington. 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 Lexington’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (34,738 in 2025); our figure for Lexington is 34,648 (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 Lexington
Is Lexington, MA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Lexington reports less crime per resident than 91% of U.S. towns, an A Safety Grade and #29 of 276 in Massachusetts. Its police reported 0.5 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 Lexington?
0.5 violent and 3.5 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 crime going up or down in Lexington?
Reported crime per resident rose from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings.
How many homicides were there in Lexington in 2025?
Lexington’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 Lexington safer than Burlington?
Burlington reports more crime per resident than Lexington: Burlington grades C+ for safety and Lexington A. Burlington’s police reported 2.0 violent and 16.8 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Lexington?
Lexington’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Lexington”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Lexington.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
Please don’t name or describe individuals. In an emergency, call 911.
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.