See Which Massachusetts Cities Made the List

Based on a Population of at least 44k

Methodology: We use a variety of factors to determine these rankings. To see our full methodology, click here.

Massachusetts is steeped in history. The pilgrims landed here at Plymouth, the kick off of the Revolutionary War happened here with the Boston Tea Party, and the Salem Witch Trials were held here. Harvard, one of the most prestigious universities in the world, is located in Cambridge, MA. The state has a lot to offer and attracts some of the best across the world, so it’s no surprise that the safety ratings within the state are quite high across the board.

As we ranked the 25 safest cities within each state, Massachusetts came out with an impressively high rating for most of their cities. Newton ranks at the top with 90.11, with the lowest being 68.51. Compare that to the fact that states drop down as low as the 20s. Nationally, Massachusetts has 8 of the safest cities in the nation, with another 13 in the top 500. Only 4 of the 25 safest cities in Massachusetts did not make it onto the national listing, and it's because they had too low of a population to rank nationally.

The safest city was Newton, with a safety score of 90.11 and a population of 89,053. It is only seven miles from downtown Boston, and is replete with historic homes and great public schools. The median household income here is $137,493, indicating that it is an affluent city. Interestingly enough, 22% of the population here were born outside of the U.S. as Boston attracts a lot of foreigners with great jobs and education at nearby Harvard.

As for Boston itself, you’d think a city with a population of 665,258 would have a low safety rating, but it comes out with an impressive safety rating of 78.06. It’s also good to know that where the pilgrims landed over 300 years ago, Plymouth, has remained a safe area, with a rating of 89.54, making it the second safest city in the state.