Photo: Kenneth C. Zirkel · CC BY-SA 4.0Reported crime per resident in Saco fell 33% from 2023 to 2025
Overall, Saco grades B for safety (#53 of 78 graded towns in Maine): less crime per resident than 60% 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 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 Saco
2 of the 4 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 5 Maine towns on Saco’s borders, 4 have a Safety Grade: Buxton (A−), Scarborough (B+), Old Orchard Beach (B), Biddeford (C−). Dayton has no FBI figures of its own for 2023–2025. Neighbors ↓
Among Maine towns, closer to the middle
Maine’s cities and towns report less crime than most states’, so Saco’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 32% of the 78 Maine towns we grade, against 60% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
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 Saco’s grade
Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Violent crime holds Saco’s grade up; property crime pulls it down. Its property rate (11.7) is below the FBI’s national estimate (17.6) but higher than in most individual towns: the national figure is weighted by people, and the grade counts towns.
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 Maine.
Show as a table
| Year | Saco property | Rest of Maine property | Saco violent | Rest of Maine violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 15.1 | 15.5 | 1.4 | 1.2 |
| 2023 | 14.3 | 14.1 | 1.2 | 1.2 |
| 2024 | 10.8 | 14.7 | 0.8 | 1.2 |
| 2025 | 10.0 | 12.1 | 0.3 | 1.1 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
Violent crime, by year and by type
Saco’s police reported 49 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 0.8 per 1,000 residents a year, against 1.2 in the rest of Maine and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Show as a table
| Year | Saco | Rest of Maine | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1.4 | 1.2 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 0.8 | 1.2 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 0.3 | 1.1 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
For every 1,000 residents, about 10 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.
220 crimes reported in 2025
7 violent and 213 property, as reported to the FBI by Saco’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
11 people died in crashes on Saco’s roads in 2019–2023
Saco had 11 fatal crashes in five years, in which 11 people died; 2 were pedestrians.
That is 10.6 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, above the median for Maine towns of 5,000–25,000 people (6.7, 78 towns).
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.
Saco and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saco | B | 0.8 | 11.7 |
| Old Orchard Beach | B | 1.5 | 10.5 |
| Biddeford | C− | 3.0 | 24.3 |
| Dayton | — | — | — |
| Scarborough | B+ | 0.6 | 10.5 |
| Buxton | A− | 0.9 | 6.6 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Dayton has no FBI figures of its own for 2023–2025.
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 Saco. 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 Saco’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (21,229 in 2025); our figure for Saco is 21,159 (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 Saco
Is Saco, ME safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Saco reports less crime per resident than 60% of U.S. towns, a B Safety Grade and #53 of 78 in Maine. Its police reported 0.8 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 Saco?
0.8 violent and 11.7 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Maine reports 1.2 and 13.6; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is crime going up or down in Saco?
Reported crime per resident fell from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings.
Is Saco safer than Old Orchard Beach?
Old Orchard Beach reports more crime per resident than Saco: Old Orchard Beach grades B for safety and Saco B. Old Orchard Beach’s police reported 1.5 violent and 10.5 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Saco?
Saco’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Saco”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Saco.
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.