Crime Grade · FBI UCR Data · 2024
Watertown, MA Crime Grade
How Watertown grades for violent crime against every other reporting U.S. city — and against the rest of Massachusetts — based on the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting data.
National
5/10
vs. all U.S. cities ≥ 25,000 population
Massachusetts
5/10
vs. Massachusetts cities ≥ 10,000 population
In 2024, the violent crime rate in Watertown, MA was 153.3 per 100,000 residents (55 incidents over a population of 35,885). That puts Watertown Infinity% above the U.S. rate of 0.0 and 51% below the Massachusetts statewide rate of 309.9.
That ranks Watertown #1,653 of 3,771 ranked U.S. cities, safer than 56% of them, and #89 of 186 in Massachusetts. Violent crime is up 12% year over year and up 79% over the last five years.
Watertown, MA crime — key facts
- National Crime Grade
- B (5/10)
- Massachusetts Grade
- B (5/10)
- Violent crime rate
- 153.3 / 100k
- National rank
- #1,653 of 3,771
- MA rank
- #89 of 186
- Safer than
- 56% of U.S. cities
- Year over year
- up 12%
- 5-year change
- up 79%
- Population
- 35,885
- Reporting agency
- Watertown Police Department
- Data year
- 2024 · FBI UCR
Reported by Watertown Police Department (FBI ORI MA0094800) to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program. Download the full dataset (CSV) · methodology.
About Watertown, MA
Also known as
- Saltonstall Plantation
Name history sourced from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) — public-domain federal geographic-names data.
Violent crime rate, 5-year trend
Per 100,000 residents. Watertown (red), Massachusetts (blue), U.S. average (gray dashed).
Watertown vs. U.S., 2024 — by offense
Rates per 100,000 residents for each offense category.
Full data, last 5 years
Rates per 100,000 residents. Raw counts in parentheses.
| Offense | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crime | 85.6(31) | 108.5(40) | 139.6(49) | 137.2(48) | 153.3(55) |
| Murder | 0.0(0) | 0.0(0) | 0.0(0) | 0.0(0) | 0.0(0) |
| Rape | 13.8(5) | 19.0(7) | 11.4(4) | 34.3(12) | 25.1(9) |
| Robbery | 13.8(5) | 10.9(4) | 11.4(4) | 28.6(10) | 8.4(3) |
| Aggravated assault | 58.0(21) | 78.7(29) | 116.8(41) | 74.3(26) | 119.8(43) |
| Property crime | 712.7(258) | 721.7(266) | 1034.5(363) | 1334.7(467) | 1864.3(669) |
| Burglary | 102.2(37) | 70.5(26) | 99.7(35) | 82.9(29) | 52.9(19) |
| Larceny | 582.9(211) | 588.7(217) | 892.0(313) | 1194.7(418) | 1780.7(639) |
| Motor vehicle theft | 24.9(9) | 59.7(22) | 39.9(14) | 54.3(19) | 25.1(9) |
How the Crime Grade is calculated
- What is the source of the Watertown, MA Crime Grade?
- FBI Uniform Crime Reporting via the Crime Data Explorer. Agency-level data, pulled directly. No third-party aggregators, no proprietary score.
- What metric does the Watertown Crime Grade use?
- Violent crime rate per 100,000 residents (murder + rape + robbery + aggravated assault), most recent fully-reported year.
- How is the national decile for Watertown calculated?
- Watertown's rate placed against all FBI-reporting U.S. cities with population ≥ 25,000. 1 = safest.
- How is the Massachusetts state decile calculated?
- Same calculation restricted to Massachusetts cities with population ≥ 10,000.
- How do decile scores convert to a letter grade?
- 1–3 = A · 4–5 = B · 6–7 = C · 8 = D · 9–10 = F.
- How often is the Watertown Crime Grade refreshed?
- Twice a year. The FBI typically releases the prior year's full data each September.
- What are the limits of this Crime Grade?
- The FBI relies on local agency reporting. Rates reflect what was reported, not what occurred.
Nearby cities in Massachusetts
Comparable Massachusetts cities by population.
Compare Watertown to other places
Want crime data for your application?
SpotCrime's Real-Time Crime Data API delivers incident-level data, not just aggregate grades. Used by family-safety apps, real-estate platforms, executive protection teams, and government agencies.