Photo: John Phelan · CC BY 3.0Fewer crimes per resident are recorded in Northborough than in 95% of U.S. towns
For every 1,000 residents, 0.2 violent crime and 2.9 incidents of property crime were logged a year; in the rest of Massachusetts, the figures are 3.0 and 10.3. What’s more, a Safety Grade of A+ follows from crimes Northborough’s police reported over the years 2023 to 2025: #9 of 276 graded towns in Massachusetts. The rate the grade counts climbed 488% from 2023 to 2025. None of the 5 towns next door with figures records 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 Northborough
Northborough reports less crime than every graded town next door
Of the 5 Massachusetts towns on Northborough’s borders, 5 have a Safety Grade: Berlin (A), Shrewsbury (A−), Boylston (A−), Westborough (B), Marlborough (C). Neighbors ↓
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 Northborough’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.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Northborough property | Rest of Massachusetts property | Northborough violent | Rest of Massachusetts violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 0.1 | 10.5 | 0.3 | 3.2 |
| 2023 | 0.9 | 10.9 | 0.2 | 3.1 |
| 2024 | 1.9 | 10.3 | 0.1 | 3.0 |
| 2025 | 6.1 | 9.8 | 0.3 | 2.9 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
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.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Northborough | Rest of Massachusetts | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 0.3 | 3.2 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 0.2 | 3.1 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 0.1 | 3.0 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 0.3 | 2.9 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Northborough’s police reported 10 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 0.2 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 Northborough 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.
101 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.
5 violent and 96 property, as reported to the FBI by Northborough’s police.
Five people died in crashes on Northborough’s roads in 2019–2023
Northborough had 5 fatal crashes in five years, in which five people died. 2 died in crashes on an Interstate.
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 Northborough’s size would see about 4 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Northborough’s own rate (6.3) 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.
Northborough and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northborough | A+ | 0.2 | 2.9 |
| Westborough | B | 2.1 | 7.5 |
| Marlborough | C | 4.2 | 10.5 |
| Shrewsbury | A− | 0.5 | 6.2 |
| Berlin | A | 0.3 | 3.1 |
| Boylston | A− | 1.1 | 3.8 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Massachusetts towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northborough | A+ | 0.2 | 2.9 |
| Clinton | A+ | 0.4 | 0.5 |
| Easthampton | B+ | 1.5 | 5.6 |
| Westwood | B | 0.4 | 14.7 |
| Fairhaven | B− | 2.7 | 6.9 |
| Seekonk | C+ | 2.1 | 16.4 |
The five graded Massachusetts towns closest to Northborough’s population (16,080), 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 Northborough. 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 Northborough’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (15,865 in 2025); our figure for Northborough is 16,080 (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 Northborough
Is Northborough, MA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Northborough reports less crime per resident than 95% of U.S. towns, an A+ Safety Grade and #9 of 276 in Massachusetts. Its police reported 0.2 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 Northborough?
0.2 violent and 2.9 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Massachusetts reports 3.0 and 10.3; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is Northborough safer than Westborough?
Westborough reports more crime per resident than Northborough: Westborough grades B for safety and Northborough A+. Westborough’s police reported 2.1 violent and 7.5 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Northborough?
Northborough’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Northborough”. 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 Northborough.
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.