Old Centre Historic District · Photo: John Phelan · CC BY 3.0Winchendon records less property crime than most U.S. towns, but more violence
Among its 4 neighbors with figures, 3 record less crime per resident. Overall, Winchendon grades B− for safety (#185 of 276 graded towns in Massachusetts): close to the middle of U.S. towns, on crimes its police reported in 2023–2025. What’s more, in a usual year, 2.7 violent crimes and 6.3 incidents of property crime are logged per 1,000 inhabitants; in the rest of Massachusetts, 3.0 and 10.3.
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 Winchendon
3 of the 4 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 4 Massachusetts towns on Winchendon’s borders, 4 have a Safety Grade: Royalston (A+), Templeton (A−), Ashburnham (A−), Gardner (B−). Neighbors ↓
Among Massachusetts towns, closer to the middle
Massachusetts’ cities and towns report less crime than most states’, so Winchendon’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 33% of the 276 Massachusetts towns we grade, against 53% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind Winchendon’s grade
Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Property crime holds Winchendon’s grade up; violent crime pulls it down. Its violent rate (2.7) is below the FBI’s national estimate (3.6) but higher than in most individual towns: the national figure is weighted by people, and the grade counts towns.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Winchendon | Rest of Massachusetts | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 2.8 | 3.2 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 3.5 | 3.1 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 2.3 | 3.0 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 2.3 | 2.9 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Winchendon’s police reported 86 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 2.7 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 Winchendon 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 2 violent crimes, 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 | Winchendon property | Rest of Massachusetts property | Winchendon violent | Rest of Massachusetts violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 8.2 | 10.5 | 2.8 | 3.2 |
| 2023 | 7.1 | 10.9 | 3.5 | 3.1 |
| 2024 | 5.7 | 10.3 | 2.3 | 3.0 |
| 2025 | 6.2 | 9.8 | 2.3 | 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.
90 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.
24 violent and 66 property, as reported to the FBI by Winchendon’s police.
Three people died in crashes on Winchendon’s roads in 2019–2023
Winchendon had 3 fatal crashes in five years, in which three 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 Winchendon’s size would see about 3 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Winchendon’s own rate (5.7) 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.
Winchendon and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winchendon | B− | 2.7 | 6.3 |
| Gardner | B− | 3.1 | 7.1 |
| Templeton | A− | 1.3 | 3.0 |
| Royalston | A+ | 0.5 | 0.5 |
| Ashburnham | A− | 1.4 | 4.3 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Massachusetts towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winchendon | B− | 2.7 | 6.3 |
| Southborough | A | 0.7 | 2.0 |
| Littleton | A | 0.5 | 4.1 |
| Brewster | A− | 1.1 | 3.5 |
| Acushnet | B+ | 1.9 | 3.2 |
| Maynard | B | 2.4 | 6.1 |
The five graded Massachusetts towns closest to Winchendon’s population (10,620), 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 Winchendon. 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 Winchendon’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (10,621 in 2025); our figure for Winchendon is 10,620 (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 Winchendon
Is Winchendon, MA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Winchendon reports less crime per resident than 53% of U.S. towns, a B− Safety Grade and #185 of 276 in Massachusetts. Its police reported 2.7 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 Winchendon?
2.7 violent and 6.3 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Massachusetts reports 3.0 and 10.3; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is Winchendon safer than Gardner?
Gardner reports more crime per resident than Winchendon: Gardner grades B− for safety and Winchendon B−. Gardner’s police reported 3.1 violent and 7.1 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Winchendon?
Winchendon’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Winchendon”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
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Neighbors looking out for each other in Winchendon.
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.