Safety · Reading
Reading, MA crime & safety
Reading's reported crime rate is well below Massachusetts's. Most reported incidents are property crimes, mainly thefts. 8 violent crimes were reported in 2025.
Crime reported to police, trends and how Reading compares with the towns next door, from FBI data.
Reported crime, 2025
Reading at a glance
Violent crime
0.3
per 1,000 residents · Massachusetts 3
Property crime
5.3
per 1,000 residents · Massachusetts 10.4
Incidents reported
147
8 violent · 139 property
Since 2022
▼ 10%
change in reported property crime
Violent crime per 1,000
Property crime per 1,000
Trend
Reported crime per 1,000 residents, 2022–2025
ReadingMassachusetts
Solid lines: property crime · dashed: violent crime.
Show as a table
| Year | Reading property | Massachusetts property | Reading violent | Massachusetts violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 5.9 | 10.9 | 0.2 | 3.3 |
| 2023 | 4.9 | 11.5 | 0.3 | 3.3 |
| 2024 | 5.3 | 11.3 | 0.4 | 3.2 |
| 2025 | 5.3 | 10.4 | 0.3 | 3 |
What gets reported
2025, by type
Larceny / theft
111
Burglary
20
Vehicle theft
8
Aggravated assault
5
Robbery
0
Rape
3
Homicide
0
Arson
0
Offenses reported to police, not convictions.
Who keeps Reading safe
Local public safety
👮 Reading 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
Reading 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reading | 0.3 | 5.3 | 2025 |
| North Reading | 0.9 | 3 | 2025 |
| Wakefield | 1.4 | 3.3 | 2025 |
| Woburn | 1.2 | 9 | 2025 |
| Lynnfield | 0.7 | 5.5 | 2025 |
| Wilmington | 1.3 | 5.7 | 2025 |
No town figures in the FBI's data: Reading, Wakefield, Lynnfield, Wilmington, Stoneham.
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 26,100, 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.