SAFEROUTE

Safety index · Boston · data through October 2026

Is Beacon Hill safe?

Beacon Hill records a high level of reported crime for Boston. Its SafeRoute safety index is 31 out of 100 — 23 points below the citywide median of 54, ranking 23rd of 25 Boston neighborhoods — based on 2,235 incidents reported to the Boston Police within 1 km of the neighborhood center over the 9 months to October 2026.

31/100
Elevated
SafeRoute safety index for the area within 1 km of the center of Beacon Hill — higher is safer. 23rd of 25 Boston neighborhoods.

DATA THROUGH OCTOBER 2026 · 9 MONTHS OF DATA

The 0–100 scale is calibrated to Boston — a typical Boston neighborhood sits near 54. It ranks Beacon Hill against other neighborhoods here, and cannot be read against a score in another city.

Most of what's reported here is property-related — shoplifting alone is 28% of reports — rather than violence against strangers, though the full mix below is worth a look.

Incidents spread across the day here — roughly 28% of severity-weighted reports come in the evening (6 p.m.–midnight) and 19% overnight.

Where incidents cluster

Storrow DriveCommonwealth Avenue neighborhood center 500 m N ↑
1 dot = 1 report · darker = more severe · rings every 250 m from the neighborhood center2,235 incidents reported within 1 km of the Beacon Hill center (500 shown) · Boston Police data through October 2026 · basemap © OpenStreetMap contributors. Reports cluster toward the east of the map — the area immediately around the neighborhood center is comparatively quiet.
Open Beacon Hill on the live interactive map →

What's reported here

Shoplifting
626 · 28%
Violent crime
433 · 19%
Other theft
287 · 13%
Drugs
258 · 12%
Public order
232 · 10%
Criminal damage & arson
95 · 4%

When it happens

6a–6p6p–12a12a–6aMON–FRI6a–6p6p–12a12a–6aSAT–SUN

Severity-weighted share of reported incidents by time of day, from police incident timestamps.

Is Boston safe at night? See which neighborhoods see the most reported crime after dark →

Walking in Beacon Hill at night?

SafeRoute scores every walking route against the same official crime data on this page — and shows how much of each route runs on lit streets. Compare the routes and share your walk. Free, no account.

Get SafeRoute on the App Store

Nearby areas

Common questions

Is Beacon Hill safe at night?

Elevated overall (safety index 31/100). About 47% of severity-weighted incidents in Beacon Hill are reported between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. At night, prefer lit, busier streets — a block or two of detour often avoids the clusters on the map above.

What is the most common crime in Beacon Hill?

Shoplifting — 626 of 2,235 incidents (28%) reported within 1 km of the neighborhood center over the 9 months to October 2026.

How is the Beacon Hill safety index calculated?

SafeRoute weights each incident reported to the Boston Police Department by severity (violence weighs more than shoplifting), sums the last available period within 1 km of the neighborhood center, and normalizes against citywide crime rates onto a 0–100 scale — higher is safer. It describes reported crime only; it is not a guarantee of safety. The scale is calibrated within Boston, so scores compare neighborhoods to each other and cannot be read against another city's.