Looking for a new place to live in the Northeast? We don’t blame you if you’re feeling a little bit stressed. Not because there aren’t many good options. As a matter of fact, quite the opposite. It seems like the whole area is dotted with charming cities and towns with good school districts, rich culture, and low crime rates. In fact, in another recent post here at the Movoto Real Estate blog, we found that many of safest states in the nation are located in the northeast. But just like anywhere else, with the good also comes the bad. With the safe, the dangerous. And that’s what we’re focusing on today, specifically in Maine. Here are the 10 most dangerous places in Maine, starting with the most dangerous of them all, Augusta: 1. City of Augusta
2. City of Biddeford
3. City of Bangor
4. City of Waterville
5. Town of Skowhegan
6. City of Portland
7. City of Sanford
8. City of Auburn
9. City of South Portland
10. City of Lewiston

Our Methodology

This Big Deal List was not created based on our own opinions, but with facts, figures, and careful analysis. To get these numbers, we went straight to the experts in the field, the FBI, and used their 2013 Uniform Crime Report. There, we looked at all of the places in the state with populations of 5,000 people or more that reported crime data that year, in terms of the following criteria:
  • Murder
  • Rape
  • Robbery
  • Assault
  • Burglary
  • Theft
  • Vehicle theft
We divided these crimes into four categories:
  • Murders
  • Violent crimes
  • Property crimes
  • Total crimes
Then we calculated the number of crimes per person, or per capita, for each of our 56 places and ranked them from one to 56 in each category. The next step was to weight violent crimes, murders, and property crimes to make up 30 percent of the overall score, where total crimes made up just 10 percent. And finally, we averaged each of these weighted scores into one overall Big Deal Score, where the lowest score was our most dangerous place. If you want to see more than just these top 10 dangerous places, feel free to scroll down to the bottom of the post where we’ve included a more in depth table. Otherwise, keep reading to find out what makes each of our top 10 places more dangerous than the rest, starting with No. 1, Augusta.
  • This ranking is not a critique of police practices or effectiveness. It is simply an analysis of where crimes occurred.

1. Augusta

With its population of just under 19,000 residents, Augusta had a total of 1,206 property crimes in 2013, giving it the most per person in the state. This, plus its 68 violent crimes (including one murder, 25 rapes, 16 robberies, and 26 assaults) gave Augusta the highest number of crimes per person in the state. Residents had just a 1 in 15 chance of being the victim of a crime.

2. Biddeford

With a total of 119 violent crimes for its population of just 21,324, Biddeford had the most violent crimes per person in the state. On top of that, Biddeford had 1,139 property crimes, which was the fourth highest per person in the category, all adding up to a total of 1,258 crimes for the year. With this high total number of crimes, residents had just a 1 in 17 chance of being the victim of a crime in 2013.

3. Bangor

This city may not have ranked quite as badly for its number of violent crimes overall as some of the others in our top 10 (it had the ninth most violent crimes per person), but that certainly doesn’t make it much safer. As a matter of fact, Bangor had the fifth most murders per person in the state, with three in 2013. This, plus its 1,844 property crimes, or the third most per person, gave Bangor the fourth most crimes per person in the state.

4. Waterville

Waterville ranked high in our analysis for its overall number of crimes. It had a total of 847 in 2013, and with its population of just under 16,000 residents, this meant it had the fifth most crimes per person. These included 804 property crimes (the fifth most per person) and 43 violent crimes (the fourth most per person). And while these violent crimes did include 13 robberies, 15 rapes, and 15 aggravated assaults, there were no reported murders.

5. Skowhegan

This may be the smallest place in our top 10 with just under 9,000 residents, but that certainly doesn’t make it any safer. As a matter of fact, it’s largely due to its small population that it ranked so high since we calculated crimes per person, rather than the total number of crimes. For example, in 2013, Skowhegan had a total of 516 crimes, including 498 property crimes and 18 violent crimes, which gave them the second highest number of crimes per capita overall.

6. Portland

With over 66,000 residents, Portland is easily the largest city in Maine, which might leave you unsurprised to find it on our list. The truth, though, is that considering Portland’s size, it didn’t have as many crimes as it could have. For example, it had a total of just one murder in 2013, which is fewer than Bangor and equal to several other places with much smaller populations. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean that Portland didn’t have a high number of violent crimes in general. In fact, it had the fifth most per person. This plus the eighth most property crimes gave Portland the seventh most crimes per person overall.

7. Sanford

This York County city came in high on our list for its particularly high number of violent crimes in 2013—70 for its population of 20,913. This gave it the third highest number of violent crimes per person. It also had a pretty high number of property crimes—a total of 803 for the year. These were made up of 135 burglaries, 642 thefts, and 26 vehicle thefts, and gave Sanford the ninth highest number of property crimes per person in the state.

8. Auburn

The main reason Auburn ranked among our top 10 was for a high number of total crimes—the sixth highest per person. This was mostly due to Auburn’s particularly high number of property crimes—a total of 1,072 for its population of 22,948. Additionally, Auburn had a total of 32 violent crimes. None of these included any murders, but there were 10 rapes, 10 robberies, and 12 aggravated assaults.

9. South Portland

Despite its name, South Portland was actually never a part of Portland. Of course, it still comes in among our top 10, but South Portland is not quite as dangerous as its northern neighbor. Where Portland had the fifth most violent crimes in the state, South Portland had the seventh; where Portland had the eighth most property crimes per person, South Portland had the 14th. Most notably, where Portland reported one murder in 2013, South Portland had none. All of that said, South Portland was still dangerous enough to make our top 10.

10. Lewiston

Even though Lewiston and Auburn are often referred to as one single entity (L-A), the two do report their crime data separately. Lewiston had a particularly high number of violent crimes—a total of 89 in 2013. With its population of 36,422, this gave Lewiston the sixth most violent crimes per person. Luckily, none of these were murders. These 89 violent crimes plus the reported 1,217 property crimes gave Lewiston a total of 1,306 crimes in 2013, or the 13th most per person in our study.

Finding a Safe Place to Live in Maine

Like we said in the beginning, finding a place to live in the Northeast, and perhaps Maine in particular, might be a little bit stressful—because there are so many wonderful options. Sure, we focused on the 10 most dangerous places within its borders today, but remember, these are the 10 most dangerous places within the fifth safest state, so that’s still better than most. And of course if you are feeling overwhelmed with options, that’s what we’re here for. Aside from writing lists like this one, we’ll actually help you find that dream house. Hopefully someplace safe. Most Dangerous Places In Maine
Who is Movoto Real Estate, you might ask? Movoto is an online real estate brokerage based in San Mateo, CA. Our blog has been recognized for its unique approach to Our blog has been recognized for its unique approach to city-based research by major news organizations around the world such as Forbes and CBS News.