Seawall Campground · Photo: Suekoehler · CC BY-SA 4.0Less violent crime is recorded per resident in Southwest Harbor than in 83% of U.S. towns
The rate the grade counts held about level from 2023 to 2025. Police counts work out at 0.5 violent crime and 5.9 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents annually; in the rest of Maine they are 1.1 and 13.6. What’s more, its letter for safety is A−, worked out from crimes Southwest Harbor’s police reported over 2023 to 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’s behind Southwest Harbor’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.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Southwest Harbor | Rest of Maine | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 0.0 | 1.2 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 0.0 | 1.1 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 0.5 | 1.1 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Southwest Harbor’s police reported 3 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 0.5 per 1,000 residents a year, against 1.1 in the rest of Maine and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Crime in Southwest Harbor 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 | Southwest Harbor property | Rest of Maine property | Southwest Harbor violent | Rest of Maine violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 3.8 | 15.5 | 0.0 | 1.2 |
| 2023 | 4.9 | 14.1 | 1.1 | 1.2 |
| 2024 | 7.6 | 14.6 | 0.0 | 1.1 |
| 2025 | 5.3 | 12.0 | 0.5 | 1.1 |
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 Maine.
11 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.
1 violent and 10 property, as reported to the FBI by Southwest Harbor’s police.
Two people died in crashes on Southwest Harbor’s roads in 2019–2023
Southwest Harbor had 2 fatal crashes in five years, in which two people died; 2 were pedestrians.
That is about what is typical for Maine towns of 2,500–5,000 people: at their median rate (8.4 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Southwest Harbor’s size would see about 1 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Southwest Harbor’s own rate (25.8) 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.
Southwest Harbor and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Harbor | A− | 0.5 | 5.9 |
| Tremont | — | — | — |
| Mount Desert | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Tremont and Mount Desert have no FBI figures of their own for 2023–2025.
Maine towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Harbor | A− | 0.5 | 5.9 |
| Gouldsboro | A+ | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Veazie | A+ | 0.4 | 1.5 |
| Greenville | A | 0.2 | 4.4 |
| Boothbay Harbor | A | 0.6 | 4.0 |
| Machias | B+ | 0.8 | 6.9 |
The five graded Maine towns closest to Southwest Harbor’s population (1,873), 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 Southwest Harbor. 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 Southwest Harbor’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (1,870 in 2025); our figure for Southwest Harbor is 1,873 (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 Southwest Harbor
Is Southwest Harbor, ME safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Southwest Harbor reports less crime per resident than 81% of U.S. towns, an A− Safety Grade. Its police reported 0.5 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 1.1 in the rest of Maine and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Southwest Harbor?
0.5 violent and 5.9 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Maine reports 1.1 and 13.6; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Who polices Southwest Harbor?
Southwest Harbor’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Southwest Harbor”. 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 Southwest Harbor.
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.