Photo: Daderot · Public domainReported crime per resident in Williamstown fell 45% from 2023 to 2025
Overall, Williamstown grades B+ for safety (#129 of 276 graded towns in Massachusetts): less crime per resident than 72% of U.S. towns, on crimes its police reported to the FBI in 2023–2025.
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 Williamstown
Williamstown reports less crime than every graded town next door
Of the 3 Massachusetts towns on Williamstown’s borders, 2 have a Safety Grade: Adams (C+), North Adams (D−). Clarksburg reported to the FBI for 2023 but not 2024 or 2025. Neighbors ↓
Among Massachusetts towns, closer to the middle
Massachusetts’ cities and towns report less crime than most states’, so Williamstown’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 53% of the 276 Massachusetts towns we grade, against 72% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
A college town
Williamstown is home to Williams College, with 2,168 students taking classes on campus (federal college data), and 29% of residents are enrolled in college (Census). Students who live in town count as residents, so they are part of the per-resident rate. How to read it ↓
Reported crime is falling
Crime reported per resident fell 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 Williamstown’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 is falling
Reported crime per resident fell from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings. Per 1,000 residents, 2022–2025, against the rest of Massachusetts.
Show as a table
| Year | Williamstown property | Rest of Massachusetts property | Williamstown violent | Rest of Massachusetts violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 6.5 | 10.5 | 0.7 | 3.2 |
| 2023 | 9.5 | 10.9 | 1.3 | 3.1 |
| 2024 | 8.7 | 10.3 | 1.0 | 3.0 |
| 2025 | 5.7 | 9.8 | 0.2 | 2.9 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
Violent crime, by year and by type
Williamstown’s police reported 19 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 0.8 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 | Williamstown | Rest of Massachusetts | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 0.7 | 3.2 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 1.3 | 3.1 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 1.0 | 3.0 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 0.2 | 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 fewer than 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.
55 crimes reported in 2025
2 violent and 53 property, as reported to the FBI by Williamstown’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
Two people died in crashes on Williamstown’s roads in 2019–2023
Williamstown had 2 fatal crashes in five years, in which two 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 Williamstown’s size would see about 2 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Williamstown’s own rate (4.4) 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.
Williamstown and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Williamstown | B+ | 0.8 | 7.8 |
| North Adams | D− | 11.5 | 25.3 |
| Clarksburg | — | — | — |
| Adams | C+ | 2.7 | 12.6 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Clarksburg reported to the FBI for 2023 but not 2024 or 2025.
Massachusetts towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Williamstown | B+ | 0.8 | 7.8 |
| Blackstone | A | 1.0 | 1.6 |
| Lancaster | A− | 1.0 | 5.1 |
| Townsend | A− | 1.2 | 3.8 |
| Southwick | A− | 0.9 | 5.6 |
| Ayer | B | 2.1 | 5.4 |
The five graded Massachusetts towns closest to Williamstown’s population (9,186), 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 Williamstown. 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 Williamstown’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (9,315 in 2025); our figure for Williamstown is 9,186 (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 Williamstown
Is Williamstown, MA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Williamstown reports less crime per resident than 72% of U.S. towns, a B+ Safety Grade and #129 of 276 in Massachusetts. Its police reported 0.8 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 Williamstown?
0.8 violent and 7.8 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 Williamstown?
Reported crime per resident fell from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings.
Is Williamstown safer than North Adams?
North Adams reports more crime per resident than Williamstown: North Adams grades D− for safety and Williamstown B+. North Adams’s police reported 11.5 violent and 25.3 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Williamstown?
Williamstown’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Williamstown”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Williamstown.
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.