Overview of Boston crime rate
Boston is categorized with a high crime rate, securing the 8th spot among 25 adjacent areas. The town reported 6,838 incidents in 2023, with a population of 70,502, leading to a 96.99 crimes per 1,000 people rate, reflecting a 6.04% reduction from the year before.
Leading crime categories in Boston included Violence and sexual offences (40.3%), Anti-social behaviour (16.4%), and Shoplifting (9.5%), with Possession of weapons, Robbery, and Theft from the person as the least common, each under 1.2%.
Among its 15 wards, Boston’s Station (323.1), Witham (Boston) (195.2), and Trinity (Boston) (143.0) reported the highest crime rates. In contrast, Five Village (48.3), Coastal (Boston) (37.5), and West (Boston) (32.4) were significantly safer.
When examining postcode districts, PE21 (120.2), PE11 (83.8), and PE12 (55.4) emerged as the most crime-prone, whereas PE20 (54.4), LN4 (46.9), and PE22 (42.5) were the least affected.
In Boston, there was a significant increase in Anti-social behaviour in 2020, with Violence and sexual offences experiencing increases in both 2021 and 2022. However, there were notable decreases in Anti-social behaviour in 2021 and 2022, along with reductions in Burglary, Other theft in 2020, and a decrease in Shoplifting in 2021. Violence and sexual offences also saw a reduction in 2020.
Boston crime incidents by crime type
A total of 6838 crime incidents were reported in 2023. Below is the breakdown by crime type.
- Violence and sexual offences – 2758 (40.3)%
- Anti-social behaviour – 1121 (16.4)%
- Shoplifting – 649 (9.5)%
- Criminal damage and arson – 538 (7.9)%
- Other theft – 411 (6.0)%
- Public order – 354 (5.2)%
- Burglary – 218 (3.2)%
- Drugs – 203 (3.0)%
- Vehicle crime – 186 (2.7)%
- Other crime – 136 (2.0)%
- Bicycle theft – 124 (1.8)%
- Possession of weapons – 74 (1.1)%
- Robbery – 41 (0.6)%
- Theft from the person – 25 (0.4)%
How does Boston compare against nearby areas ?
Boston ranks 8th when compared against 25 nearby boroughs/local administrative districts.
List of nearby boroughs/local administrative districts from high crime rate to low (2023):
Heat map for all nearby areas Boston is compared against
Crime rates in Boston wards
There are 15 wards within Boston. Station, Witham (Boston), Trinity (Boston) has highest crime rate (crime per 1000 residents). Below map shows 2023 crime rates broken down by crime types.
get-ward-map/boston/
List of all 15 wards from high crime rate to low.
Analyze trends and crime types for Boston wards
Crime rates in postcode districts under Boston
There are 6 postcode districts/outcodes under or overlapping with Boston. Highest crime rates in PE21, PE11, PE12 .
- PE21 – 120.2
- PE11 – 83.8
- PE12 – 55.4
- PE20 – 54.4
- LN4 – 46.9
- PE22 – 42.5
Postcode districts in Boston
For postcode level details drill down the postcode districts or visit Postcode Search