---
title: "Areas to Avoid in Boston: Neighborhood Safety Map (2026 Data)"
url: https://33travels.com/areas-to-avoid-in-boston/
author: "Lena Marchetti"
published: 2026-11-02
updated: 2026-11-02
place: "Massachusetts"
---

# Areas to Avoid in Boston: Neighborhood Safety Map (2026 Data)

The areas to avoid in Boston are concentrated in the south of the city, in the band of Roxbury, Dorchester and Mattapan that runs from Nubian Square down Blue Hill Avenue to Mattapan Square, plus Downtown, the business district, where few people live and a large daily crowd raises the rate per resident. Between October 2025 and September 2026, 4 of the city’s official neighborhoods recorded 8 or more violent crimes per 1,000 residents, against a citywide rate of 5.1. They are home to 32% of Bostonians, yet they account for 59% of violent crime, 78% of the people shot and 20 of the 26 homicide victims.

**Neighborhoods to avoid in Boston:** Mattapan, Roxbury and Dorchester in the south of the city, and Downtown in the center. The West End, between Cambridge Street and North Station, is the one neighborhood rated use caution.

Boston’s violent crime rate is about 70% of Philadelphia’s and a quarter higher than Austin’s. The neighborhoods most visitors stay in (Back Bay, Beacon Hill, the North End, the Seaport and Fenway) rate average or lower risk. Downtown tops the map because only 13,985 people live among its offices, stores and South Station, and theft there outnumbers violent crime almost four to one. Violent crime rose 4% on the previous 12 months, while homicide victims fell 10% and shooting victims 5%.

## Boston safety map

Colors show each neighborhood’s violent crime rate. Red means avoid, orange means use caution, yellow is average and green is lower risk. Grey neighborhoods have too few residents for a fair rate: Bay Village, the Leather District and the Harbor Islands. Use the buttons to zoom to Downtown & Central, North, West, Southwest or South & Southeast. Turn on the **Theft & robbery** layer to see where pickpocketing, shoplifting and car break-ins happen instead. Tap a neighborhood for its full counts and its police district.

Interactive tool: https://33travels.com/areas-to-avoid-in-boston/

## Table of Contents

- [Areas to avoid in Boston](#areas-to-avoid-in-boston)
- [Areas to be careful in](#areas-to-be-careful-in)
- [Is downtown Boston safe?](#is-downtown-boston-safe)
- [Is Boston Common safe at night?](#is-boston-common-safe-at-night)
- [Is Mass and Cass safe?](#is-mass-and-cass-safe)
- [Is the T safe?](#is-the-t-safe)
- [Boston crime rate](#boston-crime-rate)
- [Car break-ins and stolen cars in Boston](#car-break-ins-in-boston)
- [Safest neighborhoods to stay in Boston](#safest-neighborhoods-to-stay-in-boston)
- [Cambridge, Somerville, Quincy and the suburbs](#boston-suburbs)
- [Boston safety tips for visitors](#boston-safety-tips)
- [How this map was made](#how-this-map-was-made)
- [FAQ](#faq)

## Areas to avoid in Boston

Each of these 4 neighborhoods recorded at least 8 violent crimes per 1,000 residents. The last column is the number of people struck by gunfire, killed or wounded, taken from the Boston Police shootings records.

| Neighborhood | Police district | Violent crimes per 1,000 | vs. city avg | Homicides | Shooting victims | Thefts + robberies |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| DowntownDistrict A1 | District A1 | 17.4 | 3.4x | 1 | 4 | 1,033 |
| MattapanDistrict B3 | District B3 | 10.7 | 2.1x | 8 | 16 | 571 |
| RoxburyDistrict B2 | District B2 | 9.7 | 1.9x | 3 | 36 | 1,000 |
| DorchesterDistrict C11 | District C11 | 8.4 | 1.6x | 8 | 37 | 2,513 |

### Mattapan

Mattapan sits at the southern edge of the city, between Dorchester and Hyde Park, and its center is Mattapan Square, where Blue Hill Avenue, River Street and Cummins Highway meet. With 23,949 residents it is a mid-sized neighborhood, but it recorded 8 homicide victims, as many as Dorchester with five times the population, and 16 shooting victims. Its rate of 10.7 is second only to Downtown’s. Mattapan matches police district B-3, whose station is on Blue Hill Avenue.

### Roxbury: Nubian Square, Grove Hall and Melnea Cass Boulevard

Roxbury (9.7) recorded 522 violent crimes and 36 shooting victims, second only to Dorchester on both counts. Its commercial center is Nubian Square, formerly Dudley Square, the Silver Line bus hub. Grove Hall is along Blue Hill Avenue and Seaver Street, and the neighborhood borders Franklin Park. Columbia Road is the line with Dorchester: one side is Roxbury, the other Dorchester. In the north, Melnea Cass Boulevard runs toward Massachusetts Avenue and the Mass and Cass area, covered [below](#is-mass-and-cass-safe). Roxbury also had 195 stolen vehicles, the second-highest count in the city.

### Dorchester

Dorchester is Boston’s largest neighborhood, with 122,169 residents, nearly one Bostonian in five. That size puts it first in almost every raw count: 1,027 violent crimes, 762 aggravated assaults, 8 homicide victims and 37 people shot. Its rate of 8.4 per 1,000 is lower than Roxbury’s or Mattapan’s because the crime is spread over far more people.

Dorchester is too big to judge as one place. Dorchester Avenue runs its whole length, from Lower Mills on the Neponset River to the edge of downtown, and passes Fields Corner, the business district at Adams Street. Codman Square is on Washington Street at Talbot Avenue, and Uphams Corner is at Dudley Street and Columbia Road. The map gives Dorchester one rate because police data withholds the street location of many violent incidents. Dorchester is police district C-11, with its station on Gibson Street.

### Downtown

Downtown is the official neighborhood that covers the Financial District, Government Center, Faneuil Hall, Downtown Crossing and South Station. Its rate of 17.4 is the highest on the map, and the reason is the small denominator: 243 violent crimes divided among only 13,985 residents. Downtown recorded 947 thefts, nearly four for every violent crime,. The [downtown section](#is-downtown-boston-safe) covers the hours and the streets where police have added patrols.

## Areas to be careful in

Only one neighborhood falls between 7 and 8 violent crimes per 1,000 residents. The West End (7.5) runs from Cambridge Street north to North Washington Street, with the Charles River on the west and New Sudbury Street on the east. North Station and TD Garden fill much of its northern half, and Massachusetts General Hospital its northwest corner. Like Downtown, it has few residents (7,705); it recorded 58 violent crimes and no homicides.

| Neighborhood | Police district | Violent crimes per 1,000 | vs. city avg | Homicides | Shooting victims | Thefts + robberies |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| West EndDistrict A1 | District A1 | 7.5 | 1.5x | 0 | 1 | 238 |

Chinatown (5.2) and the South End (5.0) rate average, close to the city rate. The South End holds Boston Medical Center and borders Mass and Cass, and it had 5 shooting victims, the second-most outside the avoid tier after Hyde Park.

## Is downtown Boston safe?

For visitors, yes, with care for your phone and bag. The risk is theft. Across the Downtown & Central view, which adds Beacon Hill, the North End, the West End, Chinatown, Back Bay, the South End and the Seaport to Downtown itself, police logged 6.1 thefts and robberies for every violent crime. 46% of those thefts happened between noon and 6 p.m., peaking at 5 p.m. when stores and offices empty. Violent crime has two equal peaks, at 7 p.m. and at 1 a.m.

The city reported that violent crime downtown fell 24% in 2025 compared with 2024, with 31% more directed patrols. In August 2026 police added visible patrols at Brewer Fountain Plaza on the Common, at Park and Tremont Streets, along Winter Street and at Summer and Arch Streets, after a run of incidents near Park Street station, Downtown Crossing and the Theater District that summer. A survey by the Downtown Boston Neighborhood Association in October 2026 found 56% of respondents felt less safe downtown and on the Common than at the start of the year.

## Is Boston Common safe at night?

After dark, keep to the lit paths along Tremont and Charles Streets or walk around it. The official neighborhood map puts the Common, Park Street station and Brewer Fountain Plaza inside Beacon Hill, which rates lower risk at 3.2. The 2026 incidents in the news were reported at Boylston and Tremont Streets, near Park Street station and at Brewer Fountain Plaza. In late July 2026 a man died after an attack near Boylston and Tremont Streets, and the suspect was charged with murder.

## Is Mass and Cass safe?

No. Mass and Cass is the area around Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard, in the Newmarket area, which overlaps Roxbury, the South End, South Boston and Dorchester. It is the focus of the city’s response to street drug use and homelessness. The city cleared the tent encampment in 2023, and its 2025 year-end update reported violent crime there down 8% and arrests up 54%. In April 2026 Boston Police, the State Police and the MBTA Transit Police began a joint warm-weather operation in the area.

## Is the T safe?

Crimes on the MBTA subway (the Red, Orange, Green and Blue Lines) are handled by the MBTA Transit Police, not Boston Police, so they are not on this map. Trains run from about 5 a.m. to 1 a.m. Monday to Thursday, and to about 2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights. To reach Transit Police, call 617-222-1212 or text 617-600-0683. From Logan Airport, take the free shuttle to the Blue Line’s Airport station, or the Silver Line SL1 bus to South Station.

## Boston crime rate

Boston Police recorded 3,488 violent crimes in the 12 months to September 2026, 5.1 per 1,000 residents. Aggravated assaults rose 6%, robberies were flat at 756 and sex offenses fell 10%. The shootings records counted 120 people shot, 21 of them fatally. Boston Police announced 31 homicides for calendar 2025, three of them deaths from earlier years, after 24 in 2024, which the city called a 67-year low.

By police district, B-3 (Mattapan) has the highest rate at 10.7 per 1,000 residents, followed by C-11 (Dorchester) at 8.4 and A-1 (Downtown, Beacon Hill, the North End, the West End and Chinatown) at 7.9. D-14 (Allston and Brighton) is the lowest at 1.7. The South & Southeast part of the city, which includes South Boston, has 8.3 violent crimes per 1,000 residents; the West, from Fenway to Brighton, has 1.9.

## Car break-ins and stolen cars in Boston

Boston Police recorded 1,588 thefts from cars in 12 months, 14% of all thefts and 14% fewer than a year earlier. Stolen vehicles went the other way, up 12% to 1,240. Dorchester and Roxbury lead both counts. Jamaica Plain, which rates average for violent crime, is third for stolen vehicles and fourth for break-ins, and South Boston is in the top five for both. Park overnight in a hotel or public garage rather than on the street.

## Safest neighborhoods to stay in Boston

The North End (2.1), along Hanover Street, has the lowest rate in the central part of the city, and Beacon Hill (3.2), next to the State House and the Public Garden, has the second lowest. Charlestown (2.9), across the harbor with the Navy Yard and the Bunker Hill Monument, also rates lower risk. Back Bay (3.9) and the Seaport, officially the South Boston Waterfront (3.8), rate average. Back Bay, with Copley Square and the Boylston Street stores, had more thefts per resident than any other neighborhood.

| Neighborhood | Police district | Violent crimes per 1,000 | vs. city avg | Homicides | Shooting victims | Thefts + robberies |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| North EndDistrict A1 | District A1 | 2.1 | 0.4x | 0 | 0 | 85 |
| Beacon HillDistrict A1 | District A1 | 3.2 | 0.6x | 0 | 1 | 185 |
| CharlestownDistrict A15 | District A15 | 2.9 | 0.6x | 0 | 1 | 173 |
| Back BayDistrict D4 | District D4 | 3.9 | 0.8x | 1 | 0 | 1,616 |
| South Boston WaterfrontDistrict C6 | District C6 | 3.8 | 0.7x | 0 | 1 | 129 |
| FenwayDistrict D4 | District D4 | 1.8 | 0.4x | 0 | 0 | 568 |
| East BostonDistrict A7 | District A7 | 3.3 | 0.6x | 2 | 3 | 434 |
| South EndDistrict D4 | District D4 | 5.0 | 1.0x | 0 | 5 | 459 |
| Jamaica PlainDistrict E13 | District E13 | 3.7 | 0.7x | 0 | 4 | 580 |
| BrightonDistrict D14 | District D14 | 1.6 | 0.3x | 0 | 0 | 309 |

Brighton (1.6) has the lowest rate of any rated neighborhood, followed by West Roxbury (1.7), then Allston and Fenway (both 1.8). Fenway, home to Fenway Park, had no homicides.

## Cambridge, Somerville, Quincy and the suburbs

The nine nearby cities in the table recorded 4.12 violent crimes per 1,000 residents together in 2025, against 5.83 for Boston in the same FBI data. Chelsea has the highest rate in the table, above Boston’s. Cambridge, home to Harvard and MIT, rates below Boston, and Somerville has the lowest rate in the table.

| City | Population | Violent crimes | Per 1,000 | Year |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Chelsea | 40,069 | 317 | 7.9 | 2025 |
| Boston | 671,262 | 3,915 | 5.8 | 2025 |
| Lynn | 103,819 | 582 | 5.6 | 2025 |
| Lowell | 121,283 | 613 | 5.1 | 2025 |
| Cambridge | 121,634 | 530 | 4.4 | 2025 |
| Lawrence | 89,201 | 322 | 3.6 | 2025 |
| Everett | 52,437 | 167 | 3.2 | 2025 |
| Revere | 60,265 | 189 | 3.1 | 2025 |
| Quincy | 103,649 | 313 | 3.0 | 2025 |
| Somerville | 82,255 | 160 | 2.0 | 2025 |

Murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault reported to the FBI by each agency, per 1,000 residents of the population the agency reports. Source: [FBI Crime Data Explorer](https://cde.ucr.cjis.gov/). Agencies that report no complete year are left out.

## Boston safety tips for visitors

- Book in Back Bay, Beacon Hill, the North End, the Seaport or Charlestown, and check this map before taking a short-term rental in Dorchester, Roxbury or Mattapan.
- Keep your phone in a front pocket at Downtown Crossing, Faneuil Hall and along Boylston Street, where thefts peak in the late afternoon.
- Cross Boston Common on the lit paths after dark, or walk around it on Tremont or Beacon Street.
- Skip Mass and Cass on foot, including as a shortcut between the South End and South Boston.
- Call 911 in an emergency. For a police matter that is not urgent, Boston Police Operations is (617) 343-4200, and the city’s 311 line takes non-emergency reports.

## How this map was made

The crime counts are the Boston Police Department’s public incident records for October 2025 to September 2026, coded under the FBI’s NIBRS system. Violent crime is homicide, rape and other sexual assault, robbery and aggravated assault. Each offense in an incident counts once, and homicides count each victim. The shooting column uses the police department’s persons-shot records, which count every person struck, fatally or not. Population is the 2020 Census count by block.

Boston Police withhold the street location of 30.8% of violent incidents, but nearly every record keeps its neighborhood. Each crime is therefore placed in the neighborhood police assigned it to, not by map point, and the map stops at the 26 official neighborhoods drawn by the city’s planning agency. Aggravated assaults in the public records run about 18% below what Boston reports to the FBI; robbery and rape match within a few percent. Crimes handled by the MBTA Transit Police, the State Police at Logan Airport and the university and hospital police forces are not included. The tiers are Avoid (8 or more violent crimes per 1,000 residents), Use caution (7 to 8), Average (3.5 to 7) and Lower risk (under 3.5).

We built the same map for the [areas to avoid in Chicago](https://33travels.com/areas-to-avoid-in-chicago/), the [areas to avoid in New York City](https://33travels.com/areas-to-avoid-in-new-york-city/), the [areas to avoid in San Francisco](https://33travels.com/areas-to-avoid-in-san-francisco/), the [areas to avoid in Los Angeles](https://33travels.com/areas-to-avoid-in-los-angeles/), the [areas to avoid in Miami](https://33travels.com/areas-to-avoid-in-miami/), the [areas to avoid in Atlanta](https://33travels.com/areas-to-avoid-in-atlanta/), the [areas to avoid in Baltimore](https://33travels.com/areas-to-avoid-in-baltimore/), the [areas to avoid in Detroit](https://33travels.com/areas-to-avoid-in-detroit/), the [areas to avoid in Austin](https://33travels.com/areas-to-avoid-in-austin/), the [areas to avoid in Philadelphia](https://33travels.com/areas-to-avoid-in-philadelphia/) and the [areas to avoid in St. Louis](https://33travels.com/areas-to-avoid-in-st-louis/).

## FAQ

What are the areas to avoid in Boston?

Mattapan, Roxbury and Dorchester in the south of the city, and Downtown. Each recorded 8 or more violent crimes per 1,000 residents between October 2025 and September 2026. Downtown's rate comes from crowds rather than residents, and its main risk is theft. The West End, around North Station and TD Garden, is the one neighborhood rated use caution.

Is Boston safe for tourists?

Yes. The neighborhoods where most visitors stay, including Back Bay, Beacon Hill, the North End, Charlestown and the Seaport, rate average or lower risk. The common problem for visitors is theft, which peaks in the afternoon around Downtown Crossing, Faneuil Hall and Boylston Street.

What is the most dangerous neighborhood in Boston?

Downtown has the highest rate, 17.4 violent crimes per 1,000 residents, but it has only 13,985 residents among its offices and stores. Among residential neighborhoods, Mattapan has the highest rate (10.7) and recorded 8 homicide victims. Dorchester has the most violent crimes overall (1,027) because it is by far the largest neighborhood.

Is Dorchester safe?

Dorchester rates avoid at 8.4 violent crimes per 1,000 residents and had 37 shooting victims, the most in Boston. With 122,169 residents it is the city's largest neighborhood, and the map gives it a single rate.

What is the safest neighborhood in Boston?

Brighton has the lowest violent crime rate of any rated neighborhood, 1.6 per 1,000 residents. In the center of the city, the North End (2.1) and Beacon Hill (3.2) have the lowest rates.

Is crime in Boston going up?

Violent crime in the Boston Police records rose 4% in the 12 months to September 2026, and aggravated assaults rose 6%. Homicide victims fell 10% and people shot fell 5%. Stolen vehicles rose 12%.

Is Boston safer than Cambridge?

No. In 2025 FBI data Boston had 5.83 violent crimes per 1,000 residents and Cambridge had 4.36. Somerville had 1.95 and Chelsea 7.91.