Massachusetts Cities With The Highest Number of Burglary, Motor Vehicle and Larceny Thefts Reported in 2019

An analysis of the rates of three different property crimes by Massachusetts City & Town

Each year the FBI issues its “Crime in the United States Report” offering the latest Crime Statistic data

In connection with our Market Share Reports on both the Homeowner’s Multi-Peril and the Burglary & Theft lines of insurance in Massachusetts, Agency Checklists now offers a look at the rate of Property Crime in the Commonwealth. Similar to the Massachusetts Division of Insurance, each year the FBI issues a report outlining the overall trends in property crime within certain areas of the U.S. as well as nationally.

According to the FBI’s definition, crimes that would be categorized as “Property Crime” for the purposes of the FBI reporting guidelines, include Burglary, Larceny-theft, and Motor Vehicle Theft and Arson. “The object of the theft-type offenses is the taking of money or property, but there is no force or threat of force against the victims.”

A few national statistics with respect to Property Crime in the United States

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According to the FBI, 18,667 federal, state, county, city, university, and college, as well as tribal agencies participated in this year’s annual Uniform Crime Reporting Program. While the statistics look at violent crime, the UCR Reports also publishes separate data with regards to property crimes including burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle left, and arson.

The following are a few highlights provided by the FBI with regards to this years UCR Report on Property Crime:

Nationwide, there were an estimated 6,925,677 property crimes. The estimated numbers for all three property crimes showed declines when compared with the previous year’s estimates. Burglaries dropped 9.5%, larceny-thefts decreased 2.8%, and motor vehicle thefts were down 4.0%.
Collectively, victims of property crimes (excluding arson) suffered losses estimated at $15.8 billion in 2019.
The FBI estimated law enforcement agencies nationwide made 10.1 million arrests, (excluding those for traffic violations) in 2019.
Of the property crime offenses, the arrest rate for burglary was 52.3 per 100,000 inhabitants; larceny-theft, 263.0; and motor vehicle theft, 25.1. The arrest rate for arson was 2.8 per 100,000 inhabitants.

Property crime statistics in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts

The following is a list of the twenty major cities and towns by population in Massachusetts along with their corresponding property crime statistics for 2019. The FBI cautions that while numbered, the following should not be construed as a ranking per se, as it “provide[s] no insight into the numerous variables that mold crime in a particular state, county, city, town, tribal area, or region” and can lead to a “simplistic and/or incomplete analyses that often create misleading perceptions adversely affecting communities and their residents.” It is however, data worth knowing and as such it is provided below without additional analysis or opinion.

A look at cities with the highest rate of Burglary crimes

The following are the 25 cities and towns in Massachusetts that reported the highest number of Burglary crimes in 2019. It is also worthwhile to note that there were eight cities and towns which reported zero burglaries in 2019. They are as follows: Aquinnah, Boylston, Cheshire, Chilmark, East Brookfield, Oakham, Truro, and Worthington.

	City	Population	Burglary Statistics
1.	Boston	698.941	1,703
2.	Worcester	184,945	786
3.	Springfield	154,306	746
4.	New Bedford	94,613	465
5.	Fall River	89,066	412
6.	Lynn	94,449	302
7.	Lowell	111,423	292
8.	Pittsfield	42,268	263
9.	Brockton	95,287	248
10.	Chicopee	55,293	245
11.	Quincy	94,113	216
12.	Holyoke	40,178	213
13.	Haverhill	63,935	179
14.	Cambridge	119,908	161
15.	Framingham	73,127	158
16.	Somerville	81,668	140
17.	Agawam	28,736	133
18.	Lawrence	80,243	113
19.	Falmouth	30,717	112
20.	Chelsea	40,496	105
21.	Everett	47,195	104
22.	Malden	60,746	103
23.	West Springfield	28,628	101
24.	Fitchburg	40,621	94
25.	North Adams	12,800	88

A look at the cities with the highest number of reported Motor Vehicle thefts in 2019

The following are the 25 cities and towns in Massachusetts that reported the highest number of Motor Vehicle crimes in 2019. Due to some reporting dispute statistics and inconsistencies for 2019, the FBI did not include a total number of Motor Vehicle thefts for the City of Boston. As a result, Boston is not included on the list below although referring to past reviews we have done it would like to be included among the first five cities reported. Perhaps, the most surprising result of this review, however, is that there are 38 cities and towns in Massachusetts which had no reported Motor Vehicle thefts during 2019. They are as follows: Lunenburg, Chatham, Hatfield, Northborough, Harvard, Medway, Orleans, Wellfleet, Great Barrington, Lexington, Littleton, Carlisle, Groton, Hardwick, Marion, Stow, Williamsburg, Bernardston, Dover, Norfolk, Princeton, Wales, Bolton, Boxford, Goshen, Hopedale, Lincoln, Pelham, Becket, Gill, Millville, Northfield, Wayland, Aquinnah, Boylston, Chilmark, Truro, and Worthington.

	City	Population	Motor Vehicle incidents
1.	Springfield	154,306	493
2.	Worcester	184,945	369
3.	Brockton	95,287	288
4.	Lowell	111,423	170
5.	Lawrence	80,243	164
6.	Fall River	89,066	163
7.	New Bedford	94,613	149
8.	Lynn	94,449	137
9.	Chicopee	55,293	104
10.	Cambridge	119,908	98
11.	Holyoke	40,178	97
12.	Malden	60,746	95
13.	Haverhill	63,935	89
14.	Somerville	81,668	89
15.	Chelsea	40,496	83
16.	Everett	47,195	74
17.	Revere	53,654	61
18.	Quincy	94,113	55
19.	West Springfield	28,628	54
20.	Methuen	50,727	48
21.	Salem	43,443	46
22.	Fitchburg	40,621	45
23.	Woburn	40,251	45
24.	Pittsfield	42,268	43
25.	Leominster	41,631	40

A look at the cities with the highest number of Larceny-Theft reports in 2019

The following are the 25 cities and towns in Massachusetts that reported the highest number of Larceny-theft crimes in 2019. Again, in addition to the following cities which reported the most Larceny-thefts in the Commonwealth during 2019, there were four cities which had no reported Larceny-thefts incidents. They are as follows: Wayland, Aquinnah, Cheshire, and Worthington.

	City	Population	Larceny-theft
1.	Boston	698,941	10,590
2.	Springfield	154,306	2,766
3.	Worcester	184,945	2,637
4.	Cambridge	119,908	1,724
5.	New Bedford	94,613	1,513
6.	Brockton	95,287	1,317
7.	Lowell	111,423	1,190
8.	Holyoke	40,178	1,184
9.	Chicopee	55,293	971
10.	Lynn	94,449	908
11.	Quincy	94,113	875
12.	West Springfield	28,628	814
13.	Somerville	81,668	796
14.	Lawrence	80,243	677
15.	Framingham	73,127	609
16.	Salem	43,443	594
17.	Haverhill	63,935	570
18.	Revere	53,654	524
19.	Malden	60,746	521
20.	Fall River	89,066	499
21.	Leominster	41,631	495
22.	Pittsfield	42,268	490
23.	Plymouth	60,870	490
24.	Brookline	58,928	453
25.	Methuen	50,727	446

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