The number of reported crimes against people, per 1,000 residents. Murder, kidnapping/abduction, forcible and statutory rape, aggravated and sexual assault, and intimidation/stalking are included in this measure.
Crime detracts from the quality of life of those who directly experience and witness it, but it also impacts the lives of others within the community, as well as housing stability, and a community's attractiveness as a place to live, work, and do business.
The rate of reported crimes against people in Essex County was 9 per 1,000 residents in 2021, lower than the statewide rate of 10.6, and a slight increase in rate for both since 2020. Essex County's rate fell steadily from 2013-18 but has slowly increased from 2019-2021.
The cities of Haverhill and Lynn (22.9 and 15.2 respectively) had the highest crime rates in the county, while a number of towns had very low rates.
Essex County had a higher crime rate than Middlesex, MA in 2021. The rate in Middlesex was 5.8 per 1,000 residents in 2021, a slight increase since 2020. Comparable data for Lake, IL and Westchester, NY was not available.
The City of Lawrence did not report data prior to 2020. Crime reports are never complete because some crimes, such as rape and assault, are believed to be underreported. Comparable national data and rates for comparison counties were not available. Data for this indicator is expected to be released annually in July.
| 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essex County, MA | 9.0 | 9.3 | 9.0 | 8.4 | 8.4 | 7.8 | 7.3 | 7.5 | 8.1 | 9.0 |
| Amesbury | 12.9 | 11.3 | 7.1 | 9.6 | 8.9 | 7.5 | 7.0 | 6.0 | 5.3 | 5.2 |
| Beverly | 8.4 | 7.8 | 7.7 | 6.6 | 7.1 | 2.3 | 2.3 | 2.7 | 2.9 | 2.6 |
| Gloucester | 8.9 | 11.1 | 11.6 | 11.6 | 9.9 | 11.0 | 9.5 | 8.1 | 7.2 | 8.3 |
| Haverhill | 23.2 | 23.1 | 23.8 | 20.1 | 19.6 | 19.0 | 17.7 | 19.3 | 18.3 | 22.9 |
| Lawrence | 13.2 | 14.1 | ||||||||
| Lynn | 19.6 | 19.4 | 18.7 | 19.7 | 19.4 | 15.9 | 15.2 | 13.7 | 13.5 | 15.2 |
| Methuen | 6.4 | 6.4 | 6.1 | 5.9 | 4.7 | 5.0 | 3.1 | 7.3 | 5.9 | 6.7 |
| Newburyport | 7.3 | 7.4 | 6.9 | 6.3 | 5.7 | 8.3 | 5.6 | 6.6 | 3.5 | 5.0 |
| Peabody | 9.5 | 8.8 | 8.1 | 7.5 | 9.1 | 8.2 | 8.2 | 7.3 | 6.6 | 7.9 |
| Salem | 5.7 | 18.0 | 17.9 | 15.1 | 16.6 | 16.2 | 16.6 | 18.7 | 14.0 | 15.1 |
| Andover | 3.8 | 2.8 | 2.9 | 2.6 | 2.8 | 3.7 | 3.0 | 2.5 | 2.4 | 2.5 |
| Boxford | 0.4 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.4 | |
| Danvers | 13.2 | 11.1 | 9.5 | 8.5 | 7.9 | 9.1 | 10.3 | 11.1 | 9.0 | 8.9 |
| Essex | 2.9 | 4.2 | ||||||||
| Georgetown | 5.4 | 4.1 | 5.6 | 3.0 | 2.8 | 2.8 | 3.1 | 3.5 | 1.8 | 2.9 |
| Groveland | 2.2 | 2.7 | 3.1 | 2.2 | 1.6 | 1.5 | 0.9 | 1.2 | 1.3 | 0.6 |
| Hamilton | 5.6 | 3.9 | 1.6 | 2.0 | 2.3 | 1.6 | 1.2 | 0.9 | 1.5 | 2.1 |
| Ipswich | 2.0 | 1.9 | 1.5 | 0.9 | 4.5 | 3.4 | 4.2 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.0 |
| Lynnfield | 5.6 | 3.4 | 3.7 | 4.5 | 2.8 | 2.2 | 2.7 | 2.9 | 2.8 | 2.3 |
| Manchester | 1.3 | 2.5 | 0.9 | 2.4 | 1.9 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 1.5 | 1.3 | 1.7 |
| Marblehead | 5.3 | 3.9 | 4.4 | 3.9 | 3.6 | 4.4 | 4.2 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 2.7 |
| Merrimac | 6.1 | 5.4 | 6.6 | 3.7 | 4.4 | 1.7 | 4.9 | 3.4 | 2.4 | 2.4 |
| Middleton | 1.9 | 1.5 | 2.3 | 3.0 | 2.8 | 3.5 | 3.7 | 2.2 | 2.1 | 3.2 |
| Nahant | 6.7 | 5.8 | 6.1 | 5.7 | 6.0 | 5.7 | 4.6 | 4.6 | 5.4 | 4.0 |
| Newbury | 5.8 | 5.1 | 7.7 | 7.2 | 7.7 | 6.1 | 5.6 | 5.3 | 5.4 | 5.6 |
| North Andover | 2.6 | 2.3 | 2.3 | 2.1 | 2.2 | 2.8 | 3.3 | 2.6 | 3.0 | 1.9 |
| Rockport | 3.7 | 3.0 | 2.4 | 5.1 | 3.2 | 3.7 | 4.5 | 4.8 | 4.5 | 3.4 |
| Rowley | 4.4 | 3.8 | 6.0 | 2.6 | 5.2 | 5.8 | 4.1 | 2.7 | 5.1 | 2.6 |
| Salisbury | 26.4 | 23.7 | 21.2 | 14.6 | 14.3 | 14.8 | 13.1 | 11.9 | 8.8 | 10.4 |
| Saugus | 7.7 | 7.0 | 6.7 | 7.4 | 7.9 | 7.7 | 6.2 | 6.8 | 5.3 | 5.5 |
| Swampscott | 3.5 | 5.7 | 4.7 | 3.7 | 3.2 | 4.3 | 2.9 | 2.8 | 3.5 | 3.1 |
| Topsfield | 0.3 | 1.1 | 0.9 | 1.8 | 1.2 | 2.1 | 1.4 | 2.3 | ||
| Wenham | 4.6 | 4.5 | 1.2 | 1.4 | 1.5 | 0.6 | 1.3 | 1.9 | 1.3 | 1.5 |
| West Newbury | 6.2 | 5.0 | 2.9 | 0.9 | 3.5 | 6.6 | 3.6 | 3.4 | 3.4 | 2.1 |
| Middlesex County, MA | 7.7 | 7.4 | 6.9 | 7.0 | 6.6 | 6.3 | 6.3 | 6.2 | 5.7 | 5.8 |
| Massachusetts | 10.6 | 10.3 | 9.9 | 9.7 | 9.5 | 9.2 | 9.0 | 9.3 | 10.2 | 10.6 |
| 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essex County, MA | 6,775 | 7,101 | 6,933 | 6,539 | 6,551 | 6,125 | 5,795 | 5,903 | 6,366 | 7,123 |
| Amesbury | 214 | 189 | 123 | 167 | 156 | 133 | 123 | 106 | 93 | 91 |
| Beverly | 337 | 318 | 318 | 272 | 291 | 96 | 96 | 112 | 122 | 110 |
| Gloucester | 261 | 325 | 343 | 345 | 296 | 331 | 287 | 246 | 219 | 254 |
| Haverhill | 1,431 | 1,435 | 1,484 | 1,262 | 1,229 | 1,199 | 1,131 | 1,231 | 1,168 | 1,463 |
| Lawrence | 1,055 | 1,124 | ||||||||
| Lynn | 1,786 | 1,781 | 1,721 | 1,825 | 1,791 | 1,484 | 1,434 | 1,290 | 1,276 | 1,436 |
| Methuen | 305 | 310 | 302 | 293 | 235 | 250 | 156 | 369 | 297 | 342 |
| Newburyport | 128 | 131 | 124 | 114 | 103 | 150 | 101 | 119 | 64 | 92 |
| Peabody | 495 | 457 | 425 | 394 | 475 | 432 | 434 | 386 | 348 | 419 |
| Salem | 240 | 766 | 766 | 649 | 711 | 703 | 724 | 810 | 606 | 653 |
| Andover | 128 | 98 | 103 | 92 | 98 | 131 | 107 | 92 | 87 | 91 |
| Boxford | 3 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | |
| Danvers | 356 | 303 | 263 | 237 | 220 | 256 | 284 | 308 | 248 | 244 |
| Essex | 11 | 16 | ||||||||
| Georgetown | 45 | 35 | 48 | 26 | 24 | 24 | 27 | 31 | 16 | 25 |
| Groveland | 15 | 18 | 21 | 15 | 11 | 10 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 4 |
| Hamilton | 45 | 32 | 13 | 16 | 19 | 13 | 10 | 7 | 12 | 17 |
| Ipswich | 27 | 26 | 21 | 13 | 63 | 47 | 59 | 49 | 49 | 42 |
| Lynnfield | 66 | 42 | 47 | 57 | 36 | 29 | 36 | 38 | 36 | 30 |
| Manchester | 7 | 13 | 5 | 13 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 9 |
| Marblehead | 106 | 79 | 89 | 80 | 74 | 90 | 87 | 61 | 61 | 56 |
| Merrimac | 40 | 36 | 44 | 25 | 30 | 12 | 34 | 24 | 17 | 17 |
| Middleton | 18 | 14 | 22 | 29 | 28 | 34 | 37 | 22 | 21 | 33 |
| Nahant | 23 | 20 | 21 | 20 | 21 | 20 | 16 | 16 | 19 | 14 |
| Newbury | 39 | 35 | 53 | 50 | 54 | 43 | 40 | 38 | 39 | 40 |
| North Andover | 75 | 67 | 69 | 63 | 65 | 86 | 104 | 83 | 93 | 60 |
| Rockport | 26 | 21 | 17 | 37 | 23 | 27 | 33 | 35 | 33 | 25 |
| Rowley | 26 | 23 | 37 | 16 | 33 | 37 | 26 | 17 | 33 | 17 |
| Salisbury | 222 | 203 | 184 | 135 | 135 | 141 | 125 | 114 | 85 | 100 |
| Saugus | 211 | 195 | 186 | 206 | 221 | 218 | 177 | 192 | 149 | 155 |
| Swampscott | 48 | 79 | 65 | 54 | 47 | 65 | 44 | 43 | 54 | 47 |
| Topsfield | 2 | 7 | 6 | 12 | 8 | 14 | 9 | 15 | ||
| Wenham | 23 | 23 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 7 | 8 |
| West Newbury | 27 | 22 | 13 | 4 | 16 | 31 | 17 | 16 | 16 | 10 |
| Middlesex County, MA | 11,848 | 11,506 | 10,832 | 11,106 | 10,438 | 10,154 | 10,142 | 10,089 | 9,161 | 9,355 |
| Massachusetts | 70,738 | 68,593 | 66,410 | 65,095 | 64,687 | 62,955 | 61,941 | 64,373 | 70,167 | 72,903 |
| INDICATORS | TREND | ESSEX COUNTY |
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