Safety · Essex
Essex, MA crime & safety
Essex's reported crime rate is well below Massachusetts's. 6 violent crimes were reported in 2025.
Crime reported to police, trends and how Essex compares with the towns next door, from FBI data.
Reported crime, 2025
Essex at a glance
Violent crime
1.6
per 1,000 residents · Massachusetts 3
Property crime
1.9
per 1,000 residents · Massachusetts 10.4
Incidents reported
13
6 violent · 7 property
Since 2022
▼ 50%
change in reported property crime
Violent crime per 1,000
Property crime per 1,000
Trend
Reported crime per 1,000 residents, 2022–2025
EssexMassachusetts
Solid lines: property crime · dashed: violent crime.
Show as a table
| Year | Essex property | Massachusetts property | Essex violent | Massachusetts violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 3.8 | 10.9 | 1.1 | 3.3 |
| 2023 | 2.4 | 11.5 | 1.6 | 3.3 |
| 2024 | 3.4 | 11.3 | 2.9 | 3.2 |
| 2025 | 1.9 | 10.4 | 1.6 | 3 |
What gets reported
2025, by type
Larceny / theft
6
Burglary
1
Vehicle theft
0
Aggravated assault
6
Robbery
0
Rape
0
Homicide
0
Arson
0
Offenses reported to police, not convictions.
Who keeps Essex safe
Local public safety
👮 Essex Police DepartmentReports its crime counts to the FBI — the figures on this page.
🚨 EmergenciesCall 911. For non-emergency numbers, alerts and preparedness, see the town guide.
Next door
Essex and its neighbors
Reported crime per 1,000 residents in each town's latest year. * = a count, for towns under 1,000 people.
| Town | Violent | Property | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essex | 1.6 | 1.9 | 2025 |
| Ipswich | 0.3 | 2.9 | 2025 |
| Hamilton | 0.7 | 2.6 | 2025 |
| Gloucester | 2.3 | 5.3 | 2025 |
| Manchester-by-the-Sea | 0.9 | 2.2 | 2025 |
How to read these numbers
What this data can and can't tell you
- It's reported crime. Only incidents reported to and recorded by police appear here. Many thefts and some assaults are never reported.
- Small numbers swing. In a town of about 3,800, a handful of incidents moves the rate noticeably from year to year. The trend matters more than any one year.
- Visitors count too. Towns with a campus, highway, beach or shopping center see incidents involving people who don't live there, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Gaps are real gaps. A missing year means the department didn't report a full year, not that nothing happened.
Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program, Crime Data Explorer: offenses known to law enforcement by city, 2025, and state and national rates. Counts are crimes reported to police, not convictions. This isn't an official statement of public safety — in an emergency, call 911.