Photo: User:Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 4.0Needham reports less crime per resident than 77% of U.S. towns
On crimes reported to the FBI by Needham’s police in 2023–2025, it grades A− for safety: #109 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 Needham
3 of the 6 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 6 Massachusetts towns on Needham’s borders, 6 have a Safety Grade: Wellesley (A), Newton (A−), Dover (A−), Westwood (B), Dedham (C+), Boston (D). Neighbors ↓
Among Massachusetts towns, closer to the middle
Massachusetts’ cities and towns report less crime than most states’, so Needham’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 61% of the 276 Massachusetts towns we grade, against 77% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
A job center
Needham has 22,294 jobs based in town for 32,897 residents (Census LEHD), so some reports involve people who work or shop there rather than residents. How to read it ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind Needham’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; violent crime is the stronger of the two.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Needham’s police reported 68 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 0.7 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 | Needham | Rest of Massachusetts | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 0.8 | 3.2 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 0.8 | 3.1 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 0.5 | 3.0 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 0.8 | 2.9 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
For every 1,000 residents, about 6 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.
Reported crime is steady
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.
Show as a table
| Year | Needham property | Rest of Massachusetts property | Needham violent | Rest of Massachusetts violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 5.2 | 10.5 | 0.8 | 3.2 |
| 2023 | 7.4 | 10.9 | 0.8 | 3.1 |
| 2024 | 6.5 | 10.3 | 0.5 | 3.0 |
| 2025 | 5.9 | 9.8 | 0.8 | 2.9 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
220 crimes reported in 2025
26 violent and 194 property, as reported to the FBI by Needham’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
Five people died in crashes on Needham’s roads in 2019–2023
Needham had 4 fatal crashes in five years, in which five people died; 1 was a pedestrian. 1 died in crash on an Interstate.
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 Needham’s size would see about 7 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Needham’s own rate (3.1) 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.
Needham and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Massachusetts towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Needham | A− | 0.7 | 6.6 |
| Franklin Town | A | 0.9 | 2.4 |
| North Andover | A− | 1.0 | 5.2 |
| Dracut | B+ | 1.7 | 6.0 |
| Falmouth | B− | 2.5 | 7.2 |
| Tewksbury | B− | 2.6 | 9.5 |
The five graded Massachusetts towns closest to Needham’s population (32,897), 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 Needham. 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 Needham’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (33,018 in 2025); our figure for Needham is 32,897 (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 Needham
Is Needham, MA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Needham reports less crime per resident than 77% of U.S. towns, an A− Safety Grade and #109 of 276 in Massachusetts. Its police reported 0.7 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 Needham?
0.7 violent and 6.6 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Massachusetts reports 3.0 and 10.4; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is crime going up or down in Needham?
Reported crime per resident was steady from 2023 to 2025: the change is within ordinary year-to-year swings.
How many homicides were there in Needham in 2025?
Needham’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 Needham safer than Dover?
Dover reports less crime per resident than Needham: Dover grades A− for safety and Needham A−. Dover’s police reported 1.0 violent and 4.0 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Needham?
Needham’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Needham”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Needham.
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.