Photo: Rapidfire · CC BY-SA 3.0Crime per resident in Cape Elizabeth runs lower than in 97% of U.S. towns
The graded rate rose 38% from 2023 to 2025. By contrast, its Safety Grade is A+, on crimes Cape Elizabeth’s police reported from 2023 to 2025: #5 of 78 graded towns in Maine. In a usual year, 0.2 violent crime and 1.6 incidents of property crime are logged per 1,000 inhabitants; in the rest of Maine, 1.2 and 13.7. None of the 3 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 ME” is every other Maine 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 Cape Elizabeth
Cape Elizabeth reports less crime than every graded town next door
Of the 3 Maine towns on Cape Elizabeth’s borders, 3 have a Safety Grade: Scarborough (B+), South Portland (B), Portland (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 Cape Elizabeth’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.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Cape Elizabeth property | Rest of Maine property | Cape Elizabeth violent | Rest of Maine violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 2.6 | 15.6 | 0.1 | 1.2 |
| 2023 | 1.6 | 14.2 | 0.0 | 1.2 |
| 2024 | 1.7 | 14.7 | 0.2 | 1.2 |
| 2025 | 1.6 | 12.2 | 0.5 | 1.1 |
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 Maine.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Cape Elizabeth | Rest of Maine | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 0.1 | 1.2 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 0.0 | 1.2 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 0.2 | 1.2 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 0.5 | 1.1 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Cape Elizabeth’s police reported 7 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 0.2 per 1,000 residents a year, against 1.2 in the rest of Maine and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Crime in Cape Elizabeth 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.
21 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 16 property, as reported to the FBI by Cape Elizabeth’s police.
No one died in a crash on Cape Elizabeth’s roads in 2019–2023
That is fewer than is typical for Maine towns of 5,000–25,000 people: at their median rate (6.7 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Cape Elizabeth’s size would see about 3 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Cape Elizabeth’s own rate (0.0) 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.
Cape Elizabeth and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cape Elizabeth | A+ | 0.2 | 1.6 |
| Scarborough | B+ | 0.6 | 10.5 |
| South Portland | B | 0.8 | 11.9 |
| Portland | C | 2.5 | 20.4 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Maine towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cape Elizabeth | A+ | 0.2 | 1.6 |
| Yarmouth | A | 0.6 | 3.6 |
| Lisbon | A− | 0.7 | 5.7 |
| Topsham | B+ | 0.3 | 11.2 |
| Old Orchard Beach | B | 1.5 | 10.5 |
| Brewer | B− | 0.3 | 18.9 |
The five graded Maine towns closest to Cape Elizabeth’s population (9,827), 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 Cape Elizabeth. 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 Cape Elizabeth’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (9,726 in 2025); our figure for Cape Elizabeth is 9,827 (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 Cape Elizabeth
Is Cape Elizabeth, ME safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Cape Elizabeth reports less crime per resident than 97% of U.S. towns, an A+ Safety Grade and #5 of 78 in Maine. Its police reported 0.2 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 1.2 in the rest of Maine and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Cape Elizabeth?
0.2 violent and 1.6 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Maine reports 1.2 and 13.7; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is Cape Elizabeth safer than Scarborough?
Scarborough reports more crime per resident than Cape Elizabeth: Scarborough grades B+ for safety and Cape Elizabeth A+. Scarborough’s police reported 0.6 violent and 10.5 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Cape Elizabeth?
Cape Elizabeth’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Cape Elizabeth”. 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 Cape Elizabeth.
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.