Jerry Nichols Tavern · Photo: User:Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 4.0North Reading records less property crime per head than 88% of U.S. towns
Among its 6 neighbors with figures, 2 record less crime per resident. Annual rates stand at 0.9 violent crime and 3.5 incidents of property crime for every thousand residents, next to 3.0 and 10.3 in the rest of Massachusetts. Add to that, its letter for safety is A−, worked out from crimes North Reading’s police reported over 2023 to 2025: #67 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 North Reading
2 of the 6 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 6 Massachusetts towns on North Reading’s borders, 6 have a Safety Grade: Reading (A), Middleton (A), Andover (A−), North Andover (A−), Lynnfield (B+), Wilmington (B). Neighbors ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind North Reading’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.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | North Reading | Rest of Massachusetts | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 0.9 | 3.2 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 1.2 | 3.1 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 0.7 | 3.0 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 0.9 | 2.9 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
North Reading’s police reported 44 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 0.9 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 North Reading 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 1 violent crime, 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 | North Reading property | Rest of Massachusetts property | North Reading violent | Rest of Massachusetts violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 3.6 | 10.5 | 0.9 | 3.2 |
| 2023 | 3.3 | 10.9 | 1.2 | 3.1 |
| 2024 | 4.1 | 10.3 | 0.7 | 3.0 |
| 2025 | 3.0 | 9.8 | 0.9 | 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.
65 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.
15 violent and 50 property, as reported to the FBI by North Reading’s police.
Four people died in crashes on North Reading’s roads in 2019–2023
North Reading had 4 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 North Reading’s size would see about 4 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so North Reading’s own rate (5.1) 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.
North Reading and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Reading | A− | 0.9 | 3.5 |
| Reading | A | 0.3 | 5.2 |
| Lynnfield | B+ | 1.1 | 7.0 |
| Middleton | A | 0.8 | 3.8 |
| Wilmington | B | 1.7 | 8.1 |
| North Andover | A− | 1.0 | 5.2 |
| Andover | A− | 0.7 | 6.1 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Massachusetts towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Reading | A− | 0.9 | 3.5 |
| Duxbury | A | 1.0 | 2.5 |
| Northbridge | A− | 1.2 | 3.9 |
| Westwood | B | 0.4 | 14.7 |
| Raynham | B− | 2.2 | 9.9 |
| East Longmeadow | C+ | 2.2 | 13.6 |
The five graded Massachusetts towns closest to North Reading’s population (16,553), 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 North Reading. 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 North Reading’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (16,563 in 2025); our figure for North Reading is 16,553 (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 North Reading
Is North Reading, MA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, North Reading reports less crime per resident than 84% of U.S. towns, an A− Safety Grade and #67 of 276 in Massachusetts. Its police reported 0.9 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 North Reading?
0.9 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 10.3; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is North Reading safer than Reading?
Reading reports less crime per resident than North Reading: Reading grades A for safety and North Reading A−. Reading’s police reported 0.3 violent and 5.2 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices North Reading?
North Reading’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “North Reading”. 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 North Reading.
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.