Safety index · Boston · data through October 2026
Is Downtown Boston safe?
Downtown 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 24th of 25 Boston neighborhoods — based on 2,200 incidents reported to the Boston Police within 1 km of the neighborhood center over the 9 months to October 2026.
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 Downtown against other neighborhoods here, and cannot be read against a score in another city.
The largest reported category here is shoplifting (25% of reports); the full mix is broken down below.
Incidents spread across the day here — roughly 28% of severity-weighted reports come in the evening (6 p.m.–midnight) and 22% overnight.
Where incidents cluster
What's reported here
| Shoplifting | 540 · 25% | |
| Violent crime | 476 · 22% | |
| Other theft | 283 · 13% | |
| Drugs | 260 · 12% | |
| Public order | 249 · 11% | |
| Criminal damage & arson | 89 · 4% |
When it happens
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 Downtown 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 StoreNearby areas
- Leather District34/100 · Elevated
- Chinatown36/100 · Elevated
- Beacon Hill31/100 · Elevated
- North End51/100 · Moderate
- South Boston Waterfront82/100 · Low risk
Common questions
Is Downtown safe at night?
Elevated overall (safety index 31/100). About 49% of severity-weighted incidents in Downtown 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 Downtown?
Shoplifting — 540 of 2,200 incidents (25%) reported within 1 km of the neighborhood center over the 9 months to October 2026.
How is the Downtown 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.