Safety · Needham
Needham, MA crime & safety
Needham's reported crime rate is below Massachusetts's. Most reported incidents are property crimes, mainly thefts. 26 violent crimes were reported in 2025.
Crime reported to police, trends and how Needham compares with the towns next door, from FBI data.
Reported crime, 2025
Needham at a glance
Violent crime
0.8
per 1,000 residents · Massachusetts 3
Property crime
5.9
per 1,000 residents · Massachusetts 10.4
Incidents reported
220
26 violent · 194 property
Since 2022
▲ 13%
change in reported property crime
Violent crime per 1,000
Property crime per 1,000
Trend
Reported crime per 1,000 residents, 2022–2025
NeedhamMassachusetts
Solid lines: property crime · dashed: violent crime.
Show as a table
| Year | Needham property | Massachusetts property | Needham violent | Massachusetts violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 5.2 | 10.9 | 0.8 | 3.3 |
| 2023 | 7.4 | 11.5 | 0.8 | 3.3 |
| 2024 | 6.5 | 11.3 | 0.5 | 3.2 |
| 2025 | 5.9 | 10.4 | 0.8 | 3 |
What gets reported
2025, by type
Larceny / theft
176
Burglary
8
Vehicle theft
10
Aggravated assault
12
Robbery
3
Rape
11
Homicide
0
Arson
3
Offenses reported to police, not convictions.
Who keeps Needham safe
Local public safety
👮 Needham 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
Needham 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Needham | 0.8 | 5.9 | 2025 |
| Dover | 1 | 3.6 | 2025 |
| Newton | 0.6 | 5.2 | 2025 |
| Dedham | 2 | 15 | 2025 |
| Wellesley | 0.5 | 3.3 | 2025 |
| Westwood | 0.2 | 19.6 | 2025 |
| Boston | 5.8 | 19.1 | 2025 |
No town figures in the FBI's data: Needham, Dover, Dedham, Wellesley.
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 33,000, 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.