Photo: T.S. Custadio aka ToddC4176 at en.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0Pembroke has less property crime per resident than 89% of U.S. towns
Of the 7 towns on its borders with figures, one records less crime per resident. Counting crimes Pembroke’s police reported from 2023 to 2025, it grades A for safety: #55 of 276 graded towns in Massachusetts. On top of that, typical years here bring 0.7 violent crime plus 3.3 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents, against 3.0 plus 10.4 in the rest of 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 Pembroke
1 of the 7 graded towns next door reports less crime
Of the 8 Massachusetts towns on Pembroke’s borders, 7 have a Safety Grade: Marshfield (A), Duxbury (A), Hanson (A−), Plympton (B+), Halifax (B+), Hanover (B+), Kingston (B+). Norwell reported to the FBI for 2023 and 2024 but not 2025. Neighbors ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind Pembroke’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 | Pembroke | Rest of Massachusetts | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 0.8 | 3.2 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 0.8 | 3.1 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 0.9 | 3.0 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 0.5 | 2.9 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Pembroke’s police reported 42 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.
Crime in Pembroke 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 | Pembroke property | Rest of Massachusetts property | Pembroke violent | Rest of Massachusetts violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 2.3 | 10.5 | 0.8 | 3.2 |
| 2023 | 3.1 | 10.9 | 0.8 | 3.1 |
| 2024 | 3.5 | 10.3 | 0.9 | 3.0 |
| 2025 | 3.2 | 9.8 | 0.5 | 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.
68 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.
9 violent and 59 property, as reported to the FBI by Pembroke’s police.
Six people died in crashes on Pembroke’s roads in 2019–2023
Pembroke had 5 fatal crashes in five years, in which six people died.
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 Pembroke’s size would see about 5 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Pembroke’s own rate (6.5) 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.
Pembroke and its neighbors
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Norwell reported to the FBI for 2023 and 2024 but not 2025.
Massachusetts towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pembroke | A | 0.7 | 3.3 |
| Sharon | A+ | 0.3 | 2.5 |
| Concord | A− | 0.8 | 5.5 |
| Winthrop Town | B+ | 1.6 | 6.1 |
| Somerset | B | 1.8 | 6.4 |
| Southbridge Town | C+ | 3.7 | 9.5 |
The five graded Massachusetts towns closest to Pembroke’s population (18,492), 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 Pembroke. 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 Pembroke’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (18,398 in 2025); our figure for Pembroke is 18,492 (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 Pembroke
Is Pembroke, MA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Pembroke reports less crime per resident than 87% of U.S. towns, an A Safety Grade and #55 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 Pembroke?
0.7 violent and 3.3 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 Pembroke safer than Duxbury?
Duxbury reports more crime per resident than Pembroke: Duxbury grades A for safety and Pembroke A. Duxbury’s police reported 1.0 violent and 2.5 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Pembroke?
Pembroke’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Pembroke”. 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 Pembroke.
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.