Neighborhood safety · Boston · data through September 2026
How safe is your Boston neighborhood?
SafeRoute scores every Boston neighborhood 0–100 from incidents reported to the Boston Police Department — severity-weighted, within 1 km of each area's center, normalized citywide. Higher is safer. The same data powers the SafeRoute app's crime-aware walking routes.
These figures describe reported crime around each neighborhood's center — they are informational, not a judgment of any community. Citywide median index: 55/100.
Is Boston safe at night? See which neighborhoods see the most reported crime after dark →
All 25 Boston neighborhoods, safest first
| Neighborhood (safest first) | Index | Band | Incidents |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Roxbury | 91/100 | Low risk | 97 |
| Roslindale | 86/100 | Low risk | 144 |
| South Boston Waterfront | 83/100 | Low risk | 149 |
| Charlestown | 77/100 | Low risk | 244 |
| Allston | 75/100 | Low risk | 282 |
| South Boston | 67/100 | Moderate | 398 |
| Longwood | 66/100 | Moderate | 519 |
| East Boston | 65/100 | Moderate | 473 |
| Hyde Park | 64/100 | Moderate | 497 |
| Mission Hill | 62/100 | Moderate | 489 |
| Fenway | 60/100 | Moderate | 632 |
| Brighton | 58/100 | Moderate | 667 |
| Jamaica Plain | 55/100 | Moderate | 736 |
| North End | 51/100 | Moderate | 759 |
| Mattapan | 48/100 | Elevated | 950 |
| Roxbury | 47/100 | Elevated | 877 |
| West End | 47/100 | Elevated | 938 |
| Back Bay | 42/100 | Elevated | 1,629 |
| Chinatown | 36/100 | Elevated | 1,507 |
| Dorchester | 35/100 | Elevated | 1,669 |
| Leather District | 35/100 | Elevated | 1,578 |
| Bay Village | 33/100 | Elevated | 1,885 |
| Beacon Hill | 32/100 | Elevated | 1,886 |
| Downtown | 31/100 | Elevated | 1,848 |
| South End | 31/100 | Elevated | 1,879 |
Walking in Boston at night?
SafeRoute scores every walking route against the same live crime data on this page — and shows how much of each route runs on lit streets. Pick the safer way, share your walk, and check in when you arrive. Free, no account.
Get SafeRoute on the App StoreMethodology
Each incident reported to the Boston Police Department (via Analyze Boston) is weighted by severity — violence counts for more than shoplifting. For every neighborhood we sum weighted incidents within 1 km of its center, and normalize against citywide crime rates onto a 0–100 index, higher = safer. Boundaries are the BPDA's official neighborhood set; the Harbor Islands are excluded because the uninhabited park has no reported crime and would read as falsely "safe". Because Boston is compact and densely built, neighborhood centers sit close together and their 1 km circles overlap — adjacent areas will show similar figures. Time-of-day charts use BPD incident timestamps, severity-weighted. Pages regenerate as new data is published.
The index compares areas within Boston. It is not comparable between cities: each police force publishes a different set of offences over a different period — Boston's figures cannot be read against another city's on the same 0–100 scale.