Is Downtown Safe? Crime & Safety Data

Over the last 12 months, 2,210 crimes were reported near the center of Downtown — about 103.6 per 1,000 residents per year, above the citywide rate of 43.3. There are also 192 traffic crashes in the same window and 14 open building violations on record nearby.

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Updated Oct 22, 2026 · Refreshes about every 48 hours.

By the numbers · Downtown

2,210

Crimes (12 mo)

+139%vs city rate (103.6 vs 43.3 per 1k)

192

Traffic crashes (12 mo)

+137%vs city avg 81

Open violations

-7%vs city avg 15

Crime is compared per resident (rate); counts are totals for the area. Other figures are compared to the average Boston neighborhood.

Incident map · Downtown

Breakdown · Downtown

Most common crimes in Downtown

Shoplifting
564
Simple Assault
328
Drug Offenses
265
Aggravated Assault
140
Threats To Do Bodily Harm
88
Other
825

Show all 49 types

Shoplifting564
Simple Assault328
Drug Offenses265

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Questions about Downtown

Frequently asked questions

How much crime is there in Downtown?

Over the last 12 months, 2,210 crimes were reported near the center of Downtown — about 103.6 per 1,000 residents per year, above the citywide rate of 43.3.

How do I check crime at a specific Downtown address?

Enter any Downtown address in the search box above to see block-level crime, violations, and crashes for that exact location — free.

Where does this Downtown safety data come from?

Directly from the Analyze Boston open-data portal, updated automatically.

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Crimes cover an approximate half-mile area around the center of Downtown (the crime and permit datasets aren't tagged by neighborhood, so we use a consistent radius), over the last 12 months. Crime is compared per resident (rate), so a large, busy area can have a high total but an average or below-average rate; crash and violation counts are compared to the average Boston neighborhood. Source: City of Boston open data (Analyze Boston). The Boston Police incident feed lists one offense per incident and contains no sexual-assault offense category, so those reports are not counted here; about 3% of incidents carry no location and cannot be mapped. Other agencies police Logan Airport (Massachusetts State Police), MBTA stations and trains (Transit Police), state reservations and most college campuses (their own police departments), and their incidents are not in this feed. These counts understate reported crime. Boston’s crash records list the date, location and mode (vehicle, pedestrian or bicycle) but publish no injury or fatality counts, so crash figures count recorded crashes only and say nothing about whether anyone was hurt. Open data updates on a delay, so the most recent records may be incomplete. For general information only — not legal, financial, or real-estate advice.