What is the crime rate in Reading, MA?

In 2025, the Reading Police Department reported 8 violent crimes and 139 property crimes to the FBI.

That is 31 violent and 533 property crimes per 100,000 of the 26,103 residents it serves.

Across Massachusetts the rates were 301 and 1,037.

Nationally they were 330 and 1,552.

Figures last updated on November 12, 2026.

Violent per 100,000: 31
Property per 100,000: 533
Violent crimes: 8
Property crimes: 139

Crime reported by the Reading Police Department, 2023 to 2025

Offenses known to law enforcement, reported to the FBI; rates per 100,000 residents of the area the department serves
Year	Violent crimes	Violent per 100,000	Property crimes	Property per 100,000	Residents served
2023	7	28	122	485	25,135
2024	10	39	138	533	25,871
2025	8	31	139	533	26,103

Violent crimes reported went from 7 in 2023 to 8 in 2025.

Property crimes reported went from 122 in 2023 to 139 in 2025.

In a small town a handful of incidents moves these numbers a long way, so one year’s change says little on its own.

Reading against Massachusetts and the nation

Crimes per 100,000 residents, 2025
	Violent crime	Property crime
Reading	31	533
Middlesex County	196	913
Massachusetts	301	1,037
United States	330	1,552

These are rates per resident; they are not adjusted for visitors, commuters or the size of the area, which raise or lower a town’s figures without changing anybody’s risk.

Crime reported in places near Reading, 2025

Each place’s own police department; rates per 100,000 residents served
Place	Distance	Violent per 100,000	Property per 100,000
Reading	—	31	533
Wakefield	3.0 mi	138	333
North Reading	3.2 mi	91	308
Lynnfield	3.4 mi	68	551
Wilmington	3.6 mi	134	578
Woburn	4.1 mi	123	904
Stoneham	4.2 mi	105	869
Burlington	5.4 mi	184	1,528
Melrose	6.0 mi	154	555

Neighboring departments count the same offenses the same way, but their areas, populations and visitors differ, so a difference between two towns is a starting point for a question, not an answer.

How to read these numbers

These are offenses known to the police and reported to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program: crimes nobody reported, or that a department did not record, are not in them.

Violent crime is murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, rape, robbery and aggravated assault; property crime is burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft and arson.

A department reports the crimes in the area it polices, which can differ from the town’s boundaries, and the FBI estimates the population it serves.

The FBI asks that these figures not be used to rank places or to judge how safe a neighborhood is: crime depends on many local factors, and the counts describe a whole town, not any street or home.

A year is shown only when the department reported all twelve months.

FBI: Uniform Crime Reporting statistics and their proper use

The figures for Reading include the places inside it that have pages of their own: Reading (community).

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