Arlington is just northwest of Boston and feels more residential than urban day to day. It has a strong market for Arlington real estate thanks to its quiet side streets, small neighborhood centers, and established housing close to transit routes like the Red Line and major roads such as I-95. When people talk about safety in Arlington, the conversation is usually about property-related issues or isolated incidents, not patterns of violent crime.
This overview looks at publicly available crime data, local resources, and practical ways to evaluate safety for specific neighborhoods in Arlington so you can make informed decisions when considering moving to Arlington.
What Are The Official Crime Rates in Arlington?
The Town of Arlington and the Arlington Police publish local counts and a neighborhood crime search tool that show reported incidents by category and by date; those reports are the baseline for understanding local crime trends. The Arlington Police Department publishes Part 1 Offenses and other statistics in its annual data and maintains a searchable crime map that is refreshed regularly.
Independent aggregators that process FBI-reported data also place Arlington’s property crime numbers below many national comparators.
For example, NeighborhoodScout’s recent profile reports a lower-than-average property crime rate and a violent crime rate that is roughly at or below national medians; that translates into a comparatively low “chance of becoming a victim” metric for property offences.
How Does Crime In Arlington Compare To U.S. Averages?
Measured against national figures, Arlington typically shows lower property crime and modest violent crime levels when compared with many U.S. cities and suburbs. Statewide data for Massachusetts also shows violent and property crimes trending down through 2024, consistent with what local reporting has shown for Arlington. When compared to the national average, it is common to see Arlington’s overall crime rate described as lower than or close to the U.S. median, especially for theft and motor vehicle-related crimes.
Remember that national averages include very large cities with much higher violent crime rates, so a lower-than-U.S.-average result for Arlington is expected for an inner-ring suburb.
How Does Crime In Arlington Compare To Nearby Areas?
Comparing Arlington with nearby Boston-area towns gives clearer local context than national comparisons. The three municipalities below represent typical differences in offence mix and where crimes tend to cluster; these are general trends that may fluctuate year to year and by neighborhood.
Cambridge: Cambridge reports higher rates for both total and property crime per capita compared to Arlington. The many dense commercial corridors and large student populations, combined with heavy foot traffic, concentrate opportunistic thefts and push higher reported counts in places like Central Square and Harvard Square.
Somerville: Somerville often reports higher property-theft rates compared to Arlington, with many incidents clustered near transit hubs and busy retail strips. Its dense mixed-use streets mean thefts from stores and vehicles are more commonly reported than in quieter residential blocks.
Medford: Medford’s profile tends to fall between Arlington and the larger nearby cities; some offence categories align closely with Arlington while others can be higher depending on the year. Its mix of suburban neighborhoods and commercial nodes produces a variable pattern across burglary, vehicle theft, and disorder calls.
Arlington commonly posts lower total-crime and property-crime rates than Cambridge and Somerville on a per-capita basis, and it is generally comparable to or slightly safer than Medford depending on the offence and year. When you compare areas, match the same source and reporting year to avoid misleading “crimes per” comparisons.
How to Research Crime Data for Specific Neighborhoods in Arlington?
The Arlington Police Department’s neighborhood crime search and community crime map show incident locations, dates, and offence categories and let you filter by date range and type so you can see recent hotspots or recurring issues on a street-by-street basis.
- Use the Arlington Police neighborhood search to pull recent incidents by street, date range, and offence type; this gives the raw, local incident data the department records.
- Cross-check with state and federal datasets, such as Massachusetts’ crime dashboards and the FBI’s UCR/NIBRS feeds, to calculate standardized rates, like crimes per 1,000 or 100,000 residents, and ensure consistent offence definitions.
- Consult neighborhood-level aggregators like NeighborhoodScout, CrimeMapping, or community-mapping services to visualise multi-year trends and compare patterns across nearby towns; treat these as interpreted summaries rather than original incident reports.
- Always note the reporting period and the responsible agency when comparing sources; differences in reporting practice and time frames are the most common reason datasets do not match.
Who Provides Law Enforcement and Emergency Services in Arlington?
The Arlington Police Department is the primary law enforcement agency responsible for the town, covering patrol, investigations, traffic enforcement, and community policing programs. Such a department also runs certain online resources, such as crime maps and public information pages, to which residents subscribe for alerts and review data.
Emergency medical services and fire protection are provided by Arlington's municipal Fire and EMS units, while regional mutual-aid arrangements are in place with neighboring communities for larger incidents. The Arlington Police maintain community liaisons for non-emergency concerns or neighborhood-level issues and a records office for public records requests.
Is There A Community Watch in Arlington?
Yes. Arlington supports a mix of community safety initiatives. The town and the police department promote organised neighborhood watch groups, email alerts, and community meetings where residents and officers discuss trends, traffic safety, and prevention tactics. The police neighborhood-crime tools can feed automated neighborhood reports to groups that want regular summaries.
Beyond formal watch groups, Arlington has active civic associations and school-based safety communications that help share information about parking thefts, suspicious activity, and seasonal patterns such as increased thefts from motor vehicles near transit hubs. These community-level efforts complement routine police patrols and local prevention outreach.
FAQs
Does Arlington have a high violent crime rate?
No. Arlington’s violent crime totals are modest compared with larger urban centres and many U.S. cities; most recent local reporting and aggregator summaries place violent crime at or below national medians for similar suburbs. For exact violent-crime rates, check the Arlington Police annual stats and the FBI/NIBRS feeds for the specific year you want to measure.
What kinds of property crimes are most common in Arlington?
The most commonly reported property offences around Arlington are larceny/theft and occasional motor vehicle theft; burglaries occur but at lower rates than thefts from vehicles or unlocked properties. Use the town’s crime map to see where vehicle-related thefts have been clustered recently.
How often does Arlington publish crime data?
The Arlington Police update online incident searches monthly and publish annual summaries and reports; the town also posts an annual report that includes public-safety and police metrics for the calendar year. For month-by-month trends use the police neighborhood search and look for the “published” or “as of” dates in each dataset.
How does public transport affect crime in Arlington?
Transit nodes can concentrate opportunistic property offences, especially thefts from vehicles or unattended items near commuter lots and stations; Arlington’s proximity to MBTA routes means occasional transit-related incidents, but police and transit authorities monitor problem corridors and public-safety outreach is used to reduce opportunities for theft. For corridor-specific trends, consult police reports and MBTA safety advisories.
If I’m researching a particular street, what should I do?
Pull records from the Arlington Police neighborhood crime search for your date range, then compare those incidents to the town’s annual report and, if relevant, Cambridge/Somerville/Medford dashboards to see whether the pattern is local or regional. Consider both incident counts and whether offences are repeat patterns, like repeated vehicle break-ins at a commuter lot.
