Crime Grade · FBI UCR Data · 2024
Wellesley, MA Crime Grade
How Wellesley 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
1/10
vs. all U.S. cities ≥ 25,000 population
Massachusetts
1/10
vs. Massachusetts cities ≥ 10,000 population
In 2024, the violent crime rate in Wellesley, MA was 34.4 per 100,000 residents (11 incidents over a population of 31,973). That puts Wellesley Infinity% above the U.S. rate of 0.0 and 89% below the Massachusetts statewide rate of 309.9.
That ranks Wellesley #296 of 3,771 ranked U.S. cities, safer than 92% of them, and #10 of 186 in Massachusetts. Violent crime is up 34% year over year and down 2% over the last five years.
Wellesley, MA crime — key facts
- National Crime Grade
- A (1/10)
- Massachusetts Grade
- A (1/10)
- Violent crime rate
- 34.4 / 100k
- National rank
- #296 of 3,771
- MA rank
- #10 of 186
- Safer than
- 92% of U.S. cities
- Year over year
- up 34%
- 5-year change
- down 2%
- Population
- 31,973
- Reporting agency
- Wellesley Police Department
- Data year
- 2024 · FBI UCR
Reported by Wellesley Police Department (FBI ORI MA0112500) to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program. Download the full dataset (CSV) · methodology.
About Wellesley, MA
Also known as
- West Needham
History
Name derived from family of Samuel Welles, who established his home here in 1881. (MGB 1932) (AGS, 1937)
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. Wellesley (red), Massachusetts (blue), U.S. average (gray dashed).
Wellesley 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 | 35.0(10) | 17.3(5) | 60.8(19) | 25.7(8) | 34.4(11) |
| Murder | 0.0(0) | 0.0(0) | 0.0(0) | 0.0(0) | 0.0(0) |
| Rape | 21.0(6) | 3.5(1) | 16.0(5) | 6.4(2) | 9.4(3) |
| Robbery | 0.0(0) | 0.0(0) | 3.2(1) | 0.0(0) | 0.0(0) |
| Aggravated assault | 14.0(4) | 13.8(4) | 41.6(13) | 19.3(6) | 25.0(8) |
| Property crime | 378.1(108) | 427.8(124) | 377.5(118) | 440.1(137) | 491.0(157) |
| Burglary | 66.5(19) | 48.3(14) | 48.0(15) | 41.8(13) | 65.7(21) |
| Larceny | 297.6(85) | 334.7(97) | 323.1(101) | 353.3(110) | 384.7(123) |
| Motor vehicle theft | 14.0(4) | 41.4(12) | 6.4(2) | 45.0(14) | 40.7(13) |
How the Crime Grade is calculated
- What is the source of the Wellesley, 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 Wellesley 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 Wellesley calculated?
- Wellesley'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 Wellesley 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 Wellesley to other places
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