Massachusetts is one of the most historically rich, culturally diverse, and academically esteemed places not just in the northeast, but, as residents know, in the country. Bay Staters are proud of their home, and for good reason. It has some of the finest
cities in the nation and some of the best
suburbs; but just how safe is the Bay State?
In
Movoto Real Estate's latest analysis, we discovered just that. As it turns out, Massachusetts is pretty safe-especially in Sudbury. Of course this town didn't make it to the top of our list without some (non-violent) competition. Here are the 10 safest places in the Bay State:
1. Town of
Sudbury
2. Town of
Weston
3. Town of
Norfolk
4. Town of
Franklin
5. Town of
Hopkinton
6. Town of
Duxbury
7. Town of
Holden
8. Town of
Shrewsbury
9. Town of
Wayland
10. Town of
Bedford
Sudbury, Duxbury Shrewsbury, and Hopkinton... these places don't just sound like idyllic storybook locations; they actually kind of are. If you keep reading, we'll tell you just what made each of these places so safe and how we conducted our analysis in the first place. We'll also tell you which places in Massachusetts you may want to avoid, or at least be a little more careful in.
How We Did It
Just like our other safest places lists, in order to find the 10 , MA we relied on the FBI's report of crime statistics from 2012. We only looked at the places in the state with over 10,000 people, which turned out to be quite a lot in Massachusetts: 168 total. From there, we looked at each of these places in terms of these three criteria:
- Violent crime (rape, murder, and assault)
- Property crime (theft, burglary, and motor vehicle thefts)
- The chance a resident will be a victim of crime
For violent crime and property crime, we calculated the number of transgressions per resident. We used the total number of crimes in the city or town, in order to determine a resident's chances of being the victim of a crime. Then, we ranked each place from one to 168 across the three criteria. The lower the number, the better the score.
Of course, we know as well as you do that it isn't exactly the same to steal a piece of gum from a store as it is to hold up that store at gunpoint. So, in order to account for the differences in crime severity, we weighted each criteria differently, placing a greater emphasis on violent crime, followed by property crime, and then the chance a resident might be the victim of a crime. Violent crime made up 50 percent of our ranking, property crime made up 30 percent, and a resident's chances of being the victim of a crime made up 20 percent.
When all was said and done, there were 149,235 total crimes committed in 2012 across all of the places in our study. Of those, a vast majority were non-violent property crimes (83 percent), leaving just 27 percent, or 24,898 total violent crimes for all 168 places that year.
Now that you know how we got this list, let's take a closer look at our top 10, starting with our safest place, the Town of Sudbury.
The town of Sudbury, located in
Middlesex County, is known for its rich history, its beautiful colonial homes and buildings, its close-knit community feel, and of course, for its safety.
According to the FBI, this town of just over 18,000 residents only saw a total of 76 crimes in 2012-75 property crimes and only one violent crime (an aggravated assault), meaning residents only had a 1 in 18,002 chance of being the victim of a violent crime. Of the property crimes reported, there were 50 cases of theft, 45 cases of burglary, and one motor vehicle theft, which means that residents only had a 1 in 240 chance of being the victim of a property crime-and just a 1 in 237 chance of being the victim of a crime in general.
Another Middlesex County town, Weston is known for its rich history; in fact, it just celebrated its 300th anniversary last year. It is also known for its quintessential community feel, and much of that has to do with how safe it is.
For example, with a population of 11,472, Weston had just 52 total crimes in 2012, including one aggravated assault and 52 property crimes. Of those property crimes, a majority (34) were reports of theft, 15 were reports of burglary, and just two were reports of motor vehicle theft. All told, residents in Weston had just a 1 in 221 chance of being the victim of a crime.
Located in Norfolk County, this little town of just over 11,000 residents had just 57 crimes in 2012-56 property crimes and just one violent crime (one robbery). Of the non-violent property crimes, 61 percent, or 34 crimes, were theft, followed by 19 burglaries, and three vehicle thefts.
Compare that to, say, Athol, with roughly the same population size, where there were 46 violent crimes and 255 property crimes, and it's pretty clear why Norfolk made the top of the list.
The Town of Franklin sounds more like something more out of a historical novel than a modern day place in the U.S. It is home to the country's first library, where its first books were donated by Benjamin Franklin himself; it is the site of the country's oldest continuously operational one-room school house; and according to our analysis, is the fourth safest place in all of Massachusetts.
With over 32,000 residents, Franklin had a total of just 146 crimes in 2012-11 violent and 135 property. And there is more good news: of the 11 violent crimes, 0 were rape or murder, and of the 135 property crimes, a vast majority (100) were reports of theft (as opposed to burglary or motor vehicle theft.) All told, residents in Franklin had just a 1 in 220 chance of being the victim of a crime.
If we were awarding points for the absolute safest and adorable-sounding name, Hopkinton would definitely be at the top; but as it is, this town just west of Boston made our top 10 for its very low number of violent crimes proportionally. With its population of 15,214, Hopkinton saw just 2 violent crimes in 2012 (one robbery and one aggravated assault), and just 92 property crimes, giving the town a total of 96 crimes in all.
That means residents in Hopkinton had just a 1 in 158 chance of being the victim of a crime, and more impressive still, just a 1 in 7,607 chance of being the victim of a violent crime.
This coastal town has all of the benefits of being close to Boston (museums, night life, restaurants, things to do), without all of the hassle (namely, the crime).
Duxbury ranked well in our study, mainly for its low number of violent crimes for its size. With a population of 15,276, this town saw just 3 violent crimes in 2012, all of which were aggravated assaults. As far as property crime goes, there were just 95 reported in 2012, half of which were cases of theft. All and all, Duxbury residents had just a 1 in 156 chance of being the victim of a crime, and even more impressive, just a 1 in 5,092 chance of being the victim of a violent crime.
Located in
Worcester County, this town of 17,562 residents had only 106 reports of crime in 2012, making it one of the top places on our list. Of those 106 crimes, eight were violent (three forcible rapes, one robbery, and four aggravated assaults), and 98 were property crimes (75 thefts, 20 burglaries, and three motor vehicle thefts).
This may not sound so great all spelled out like this, but just for comparison's sake, let's take a look at Webster. This town has roughly the same-sized population (in fact, a bit smaller), but saw six cases of rape, 23 robberies, and 83 aggravated assaults; and those were just the violent crimes. All told, Webster saw a total of 666 crimes during 2012-making the Town of Holden look downright paradisial.
Another town that sounds just about as safe and quaint as it is: Shrewsbury. This suburb of both Worcester and Boston had just 279 total crimes in 2012, with a population of 36,048. To put that into perspective for you, compare Shrewsbury to Holyoke with roughly the same population size.
Where Shrewsbury had 279 crimes and residents only had a 1 in 129 chance of being a victim; Holyoke had 2,891 crimes and residents had much greater odds of being the victim of a crime: 1 in 14.
This Middlesex County town has a lot going for it: as the first settlement of Sudbury Plantation in 1639, it has a rich history and some of the most beautiful historical buildings in the area; as our study reveals, it is one of the , MA.
With 13,248 residents, Wayland had a total of just 58 crimes in 2012, just eight of them violent. Of the remaining 50 property crimes, there were 29 cases of theft, 17 burglaries, and four motor vehicle thefts, adding up to just a 1 in 228 chance that residents would be the victim of any type of crime.
Just 15 miles northwest of Boston, Bedford has all of the charm of an historic small town: the Job Lane House, Fitch Tavern, plus the Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, with the added bonus of being just a short drive from the city. Yes, our No. 10 town seems to have it all; everything except for crime, that is.
With just 13,575 residents, Bedford had a total of 83 crimes in 2012-76 property crimes and only seven violent crimes, giving residents a 1 in 164 chance of being the victim of a crime in general, and just a 1 in 1,939 chance of being involved in a violent crime.
The Bottom Of The List
Now that we've covered the 10 , MA, we're going to take a quick look at some of the most dangerous, starting with Holyoke.
This city of 40,260 residents was the third most dangerous on our list, with a staggering 2,891 total crimes in 2012, 382 of which were violent. But that's not the worst thing: residents in Holyoke had a 1 in 14 chance of being the victim of some type of crime.
The second most dangerous place in our analysis was Springfield. This city of 154,518 understandably had more crime, as it has a larger population, but 8,630 crimes in one year? Really? Of those, 1,606 were violent crimes, and more terrifying still, 11 were murders.
Finally, the most dangerous place on our list was the much smaller city of Chelsea. Even with a population of just 35,966, though, Chelsea still managed an impressive (/disturbing) 2,043 total crimes in 2012, 666 of which were violent.
So congratulations to our , MA: you truly are as idyllic as your names would suggest. And for those three places at the bottom of our list? Well, maybe it's time you take a page from Sudbury.
(click to enlarge table)
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