Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Oxford

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
Oxford Town HallPhoto: Public domain · Public domain
B+
Safety in Oxford · FBI data, 2023–2025

Oxford reports less crime per resident than 65% of U.S. towns

On crimes reported to the FBI by Oxford’s police in 2023–2025, it grades B+ for safety: #149 of 276 graded towns in Massachusetts.

Violent crime
1.4
per 1,000 a year · Well below rest of MA (3.0)
U.S. (FBI national estimate) 3.6
Property crime
7.5
per 1,000 a year · Below rest of MA (10.3)
U.S. (FBI national estimate) 17.6
Crimes reported
358
57 violent · 301 property
2023–2025
Trend
→ Steady
2023 to 2025
within ordinary swings

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 · In brief

What stands out about safety in Oxford

4 of the 6 graded towns next door report less crime

Of the 6 Massachusetts towns on Oxford’s borders, 6 have a Safety Grade: Douglas (A−), Dudley (A−), Sutton (A−), Charlton (A−), Millbury (C+), Auburn (C). Neighbors ↓

Among Massachusetts towns, closer to the middle

Massachusetts’ cities and towns report less crime than most states’, so Oxford’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 46% of the 276 Massachusetts towns we grade, against 65% nationally. Safety Grade ↓

Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.

Safety Grade

What’s behind Oxford’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.

Where Oxford sits
B Violent 1.4B+ Property 7.5
All U.S. towns we grade (7,426)Less crime than 65%
More reported crimeLess reported crime
Massachusetts towns we grade (276)Less crime than 46% · #149 of 276
Places of 5,000–25,000 people (3,282)Less crime than 64%
A fairly firm grade. Built on 358 reported crimes over three years. Ordinary swings could put Oxford anywhere from B to B+.

How TownRatings grades safety →

Violent crime

Violent crime, by year and by type

Oxford’s police reported 57 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 1.4 per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.0 in the rest of Massachusetts and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.

1,000 neighbors · one year

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.

Property crime (6.4)Violent crime (1)Everyone else

Violent crime per 1,000 residents, 2025

Oxford1.0
Rest of MA2.9
U.S. (FBI)3.3

Property crime per 1,000 residents, 2025

Oxford6.4
Rest of MA9.8
U.S. (FBI)15.5

Crimes reported to police in 2025 per resident; one person can be the victim of more than one, and some reports involve visitors.

Trend

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
YearOxford propertyRest of Massachusetts propertyOxford violentRest of Massachusetts violent
20227.410.52.43.2
20239.310.90.93.1
20246.610.32.43.0
20256.49.81.02.9

Crimes per 1,000 residents

What gets reported

100 crimes reported in 2025

13 violent and 87 property, as reported to the FBI by Oxford’s police.

2025 offenses reported

Larceny / theft71
Burglary10
Vehicle theft6
Aggravated assault11
Robbery0
Rape2
Homicide0
Arson1
13
violent crimes
87
property crimes

Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.

On the roads

Nine people died in crashes on Oxford’s roads in 2019–2023

Oxford had 9 fatal crashes in five years, in which nine people died; 2 were pedestrians. 4 died in crashes on an Interstate.

That is more than 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 Oxford’s size would see about 3 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Oxford’s own rate (13.4) is context, not a ranking.

9
people died in crashes, 2019–2023
2
pedestrians among them
0
cyclists among them
13.4
per 100,000 a year · Massachusetts towns of 5,000–25,000: 5.2

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.

Next door

Oxford and its neighbors

How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.

A rangeB rangeC rangeD rangeNot graded
TownGradeViolentProperty
OxfordB+1.47.5
MillburyC+2.113.8
SuttonA−1.33.1
CharltonA−1.15.1
AuburnC3.612.1
DouglasA−1.22.5
DudleyA−1.61.8

Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.

Massachusetts towns of a similar size

TownGradeViolentProperty
OxfordB+1.47.5
RehobothA0.82.5
MedwayA0.63.1
MedfieldA1.22.2
HarwichA−1.05.5
LynnfieldB+1.17.0

The five graded Massachusetts towns closest to Oxford’s population (13,514), by grade.

How to read these numbers

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 Oxford. 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 Oxford’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
  • Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (13,509 in 2025); our figure for Oxford is 13,514 (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 Oxford

Is Oxford, MA safe?

On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Oxford reports less crime per resident than 65% of U.S. towns, a B+ Safety Grade and #149 of 276 in Massachusetts. Its police reported 1.4 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 Oxford?

1.4 violent and 7.5 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 crime going up or down in Oxford?

Reported crime per resident was steady from 2023 to 2025: the change is within ordinary year-to-year swings.

Is Oxford safer than Millbury?

Millbury reports more crime per resident than Oxford: Millbury grades C+ for safety and Oxford B+. Millbury’s police reported 2.1 violent and 13.8 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.

Who polices Oxford?

Oxford’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Oxford”. Its figures are the ones on this page.

Heads-up board

Neighbors looking out for each other in Oxford.

Town Square →
Weigh in
Does Oxford feel safe walking around at night?

Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.

Post a heads-up

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.