Here’s a little news that may make you feel good about our hometown. Southborough was just ranked as the 15th safest city in Massachusetts. (And I didn’t even think we were a city.)
Last week, Safewise home security published its list of the 50 safest cities in Massachusetts. That is, the safest out of communities with over 8,000 residents who submitted completed crime reports to the FBI in 2013.
The site reports of Southborough:
Residents enjoy a high quality of life in this affluent Worcester County city. Local law enforcement is constantly on the lookout for new ways to improve community safety. That’s why they recently created an Internet Transaction Safety Zone, where residents can complete Internet transactions without fear.
Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.20
Property Crimes per 1,000: 5.85
Our town ranked higher than any of our direct neighbors. (Most of them didn’t even make the list.) We also ranked higher than Wellesly, which came in at 19.
To determine rankings based on the crime reports, Safewise:
assessed each remaining city based on the number of reported property crimes (arson, burglary, motor vehicle theft, and larceny-theft) and violent crimes (robbery, murder, aggravated assault, and rape). Finally, to level the playing field for all cities, [Safewise] determined the chance of these crimes happening out of 1,000 people in each city.
The same week as Safewise posted their rankings, Southborough Wicked Local shared more recent 2014 data from the FBI. According to that report, Southborough violent crimes were consistent, but the property crimes fell to 4.52 per 1,000.*
Towns ranked higher than us were:
1. Wayland (Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.37; Property Crimes per 1,000: 3.13)
2. Norfolk (Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.00; Property Crimes per 1,000: 3.51)
3. Clinton (Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.72; Property Crimes per 1,000: 2.91)
4. Duxbury (Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.13; Property Crimes per 1,000: 3.87)
5. Sharon (Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.05; Property Crimes per 1,000: 4.23)
6. Boxford (Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.49; Property Crimes per 1,000: 4.17)
7. Norton (Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.41; Property Crimes per 1,000: 4.63)
8. Sudbury (Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.00; Property Crimes per 1,000: 5.13)
9. Franklin (Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.21; Property Crimes per 1,000: 5.24)
10. Medfield (Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.97; Property Crimes per 1,000: 4.71)
11. Weston (Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.25; Property Crimes per 1,000: 5.46)
12. Bedford (Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.43; Property Crimes per 1,000: 5.30)
13. Westford (Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.60; Property Crimes per 1,000: 5.21)
14. Holden (Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.45; Property Crimes per 1,000: 5.40)
Neighboring towns also in the top 50: Hopkinton at 16th, Shrewsbury at 20th, and Westborough at 31st. Direct neighbors not on the list were Ashland, Framingham, Marlborough, and Northborough.
To take a look at the top 50 rankings, click here.
Updated (10/15/15 3:48 pm): I included info on Southborough’s 2014 crime stats.
