Children And Youth
Youth Arrests


Youth Arrests

What does this measure?

The number of arrests of youth ages 10-24 arrested for Group A offenses, expressed per 10,000 youth. Group A offenses include assault, theft, vandalism, homicide, sexual offenses and weapons violations.

Why is this important?

Youth arrests serve to remove offenders that may cause harm to other youth or the community. However, the likelihood of not completing high school or being incarcerated as an adult is higher for people arrested as youths, and can be affected by their age at the time of first arrest, frequency of subsequent arrests and incarceration. Interaction with the justice system at a young age may also cause a youth to be labeled in the community, reducing opportunities for future work and higher education.

How is our county doing?

In 2021, there were more than 1,700 youth arrests in Essex County, for a rate of 22 per 10,000. This was above the state rate of 15 in 2021. While Essex County's rate has fluctuated over time, the trend is decreasing from a high of 48 per 100,000 in 2007. Within Essex County, Haverhill and Lawrence had the highest rate (at 65 and 48 per 10,000 youths respectively), followed by West Newbury (27) in 2021.

How do we compare to other counties?

Essex County's rate was higher than in Middlesex, MA at 11 per 10,000 in 2021.

Notes on the data

Comparable data was not available for Lake, IL and Westchester, NY.

Youth Arrests
200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021
Essex County, MA47.745.641.141.138.937.139.434.930.228.123.320.118.719.922.2
Amesbury82.460.361.166.371.254.434.022.641.922.815.322.113.620.59.7
Beverly50.452.831.438.024.529.324.130.214.114.88.28.88.33.35.2
Gloucester23.613.276.0150.8184.4127.1120.044.633.638.238.440.228.320.021.3
Haverhill80.483.277.176.284.191.688.699.178.571.956.863.358.753.465.5
Lawrence46.648.4
Lynn84.270.659.045.140.638.943.738.239.845.032.125.521.722.822.3
Methuen51.764.743.336.039.437.147.846.741.733.929.427.426.213.422.0
Newburyport41.568.630.732.232.535.147.834.731.723.324.918.219.310.419.1
Peabody84.287.191.873.470.054.251.255.444.244.229.022.920.116.621.7
Salem28.276.768.550.939.935.523.635.224.819.9
Andover50.057.142.722.313.09.413.220.618.113.217.89.94.71.14.1
Boxford2.54.92.45.02.52.53.71.21.21.21.2
Danvers116.491.479.775.169.968.861.647.355.343.229.823.822.417.818.2
Essex5.25.2
Georgetown24.137.926.522.726.031.714.013.920.711.416.05.710.2
Groveland48.931.936.249.59.011.815.116.510.48.97.34.44.410.22.9
Hamilton55.13.74.89.029.927.314.84.911.07.311.02.55.05.06.2
Ipswich26.412.04.511.43.73.77.36.60.713.09.312.117.06.47.8
Lynnfield29.221.924.117.217.122.016.96.37.88.54.66.19.96.95.3
Manchester7.85.81.95.83.911.57.61.93.79.311.07.41.83.73.7
Marblehead22.723.18.010.613.019.48.97.86.84.99.23.41.90.54.4
Merrimac44.830.822.720.521.827.643.925.316.211.712.91.41.45.7
Middleton4.52.22.21.12.12.115.44.116.35.07.92.06.9
Nahant16.813.816.517.68.823.22.98.68.65.711.42.82.98.6
Newbury53.181.965.125.526.728.130.633.328.735.731.116.818.28.412.6
North Andover28.532.328.546.623.823.221.916.921.217.121.621.718.112.17.0
Rockport21.113.116.912.911.411.32.89.85.64.26.94.15.511.05.5
Rowley29.847.032.623.918.628.533.230.720.733.120.411.07.86.110.8
Salisbury100.6108.674.2138.887.2102.1113.351.842.173.253.622.020.913.515.6
Saugus39.743.041.236.430.421.916.622.217.510.014.97.78.55.36.0
Swampscott24.415.017.831.227.410.117.220.714.58.918.08.511.19.79.7
Topsfield16.51.611.53.21.61.66.19.17.612.17.513.56.0
Wenham16.933.829.524.610.122.011.71.97.73.83.83.85.7
West Newbury79.348.340.835.451.129.822.520.02.28.715.08.531.871.727.4
Middlesex County, MA24.133.429.729.129.626.924.922.020.520.218.816.514.711.110.9
Massachusetts47.454.346.045.142.239.136.432.027.226.423.819.818.115.615.1

Source: Massachusetts State Police
Notes: Rates per 10,000 youth ages 12 to 24




Number of Youth Arrests
200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021
Essex County, MA3,4973,3623,0533,0522,9242,8063,0072,6872,3402,1851,8311,5881,4771,5721,754
Amesbury13610010210811790573973402739243617
Beverly199209124150981189812458613437351422
Gloucester7140232434535371353132100114115122866165
Haverhill488509475464517566550618493452359405375342419
Lawrence373387
Lynn732615516407369355401352368416299241205215210
Methuen22628519217018817823223020716914813913368112
Newburyport7212054565762856257424533351935
Peabody43244847537636128126729023223215312210788115
Salem11932729321817115410315310786
Andover16619114474443246726447643617415
Boxford24242231111
Danvers3132472171991881861681311541218466624950
Essex22
Georgetown213122192227121218101459
Groveland342327326810117653372
Hamilton4534724221249692445
Ipswich351661555109118131724911
Lynnfield3325292020262181011681397
Manchester431326412564122
Marblehead45461621263918161410197419
Merrimac29201513141829171189114
Middleton422122154165827
Nahant65663813324113
Newbury3656451718192123202522121369
North Andover7889791326766645063516768573822
Rockport161013988274353484
Rowley17271914111720191321137547
Salisbury8593641157386974539695121201315
Saugus107118115978260466249284222241517
Swampscott342125433814242921132713171515
Topsfield10172114658594
Wenham81614125116142223
West Newbury3421181522131091474153413
Middlesex County, MA3,5594,9744,4674,3744,5094,1353,8853,4523,2523,2233,0122,6732,3771,7971,755
Massachusetts30,81135,54930,31829,52327,87725,97624,18221,43218,35617,97416,29313,69512,48210,76110,417

Source: Massachusetts State Police




INDICATORS TREND | ESSEX COUNTY