Crime & Safety

How Does Newton's Crime Rate Compare to Neighboring Communities?

Property crimes remain the most common crimes reported in Newton, according to the FBI's Uniform Crime Report. 

See a full break down of Newton's numbers here.

How does Newton compare to neighboring communities? 

Five neighboring towns with data on the FBI site did not have any murders in 2012.

Here’s how the communities stack up:

Population – To give a fairer gauge, let’s first rank the communities by population – Newton, 86,710; Waltham, 61,725; Brookline, 59,658; Watertown, 32,535; Needham, 29,342; and Wellesley, 28,402. Newton’s population has increased by more than 2,900 people since 2010, according to the FBI figures.

Find out what's happening in Newtonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Note: Other factors can play into a community’s crime rate, such as number of retail businesses. Having many retailers, for instance, can lead to more car thefts and thefts out of vehicles.

Violent crimes – Waltham, 146; Brookline, 82; Newton, 76; Watertown, 56; Wellesley, 12; Needham, 2. 

Find out what's happening in Newtonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Robberies – Brookline, 31; Waltham, 24; Newton, 17; Watertown, 6; Wellesley, 1, Needham, 0.

Aggregated assault – Waltham, 110; Newton, 59; Watertown 47; Brookline, 47; Wellesley, 10; Needham, 2.

Property crime – Newton, 894; Waltham, 849; Brookline, 803; Watertown, 528; Needham, 276; Wellesley, 211.

Burglary – Waltham, 191; Newton, 185; Brookline, 148; Watertown, 66; Needham, 48, Wellesley, 46.

Larceny-theft – Newton, 693; Brookline, 637; Waltham, 610; Watertown, 442; Needham, 220; Wellesley, 161.

Motor vehicle thefts – Waltham, 48; Watertown, 20; Brookline, 18; Newton, 16; Needham, 8; Wellesley, 4.


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