Violent crime
1,365 per 100,000 residents, per year
267 reported in the last 12 months
+31% vs. Boston (1,041)
Data through September 2026, Boston Police Department
Crime in Back Bay, Boston
The violent crime rate in Back Bay is 1,365 per 100,000 residents per year, 31% above Boston as a whole (1,041). It ranks 6 of 23 neighborhoods, where 1 is the highest rate.
The numbers
12 months to Sep 2026Property crime
7,857 per 100,000 residents, per year
1,537 reported in the last 12 months
+251% vs. Boston (2,236)
All reported
9,330 per 100,000 residents, per year
1,825 reported in the last 12 months
+154% vs. Boston (3,676)
About 77,518 people work in Back Bay, 4 times its 19,561 residents (Census jobs data, 2023). The rates divide by residents only, so they run high here: most people in Back Bay on a weekday live somewhere else. The counts, and how they change from year to year, say more than the rate.
Rates use an estimated population (2020 Census blocks, scaled to today’s city total) of 19,561 for Back Bay. Small areas swing more month to month, so all rates here use a 12-month window ending September 2026.
Where Back Bay sits in Boston
rank 6 of 23Loading map…
SaferHigher rateNot rated: park or fewer than 2,500 residentsViolent crimes per 100,000 residents per year, last 12 months. Click an area to open it.
Back Bay is in the middle of the city’s range: rank 6 of 23. Nearby in the ranking: South End (1,552), Chinatown (1,412), Dorchester (1,308), Mattapan (1,202).
Violent crime, month by month
Oct 2025 to Sep 2026| Month | Violent crimes in Back Bay |
|---|---|
| Oct 2025 | 23 |
| Nov 2025 | 18 |
| Dec 2025 | 26 |
| Jan 2026 | 20 |
| Feb 2026 | 26 |
| Mar 2026 | 26 |
| Apr 2026 | 10 |
| May 2026 | 27 |
| Jun 2026 | 23 |
| Jul 2026 | 21 |
| Aug 2026 | 24 |
| Sep 2026 | 23 |
When crime happens in Back Bay
12 months to Sep 2026In the last 12 months, half of the property crime reported in Back Bay happened between 2 pm and 7 pm. Tuesday and Wednesday had the most.
Property crime busiest hour 5 pm
No chart for violent crime: fewer than 300 incidents in 12 months, too few to show a pattern by hour.
Each line is an average day of that kind, as a multiple of the average hour of the week (dashed line), smoothed over three hours. Days run from 6 am to 6 am, so a Friday night stays on Friday. Times are when the incident happened, as recorded by Boston Police Department; 1% of incidents have no usable time (many unknown times are recorded as midnight or noon) and are left out.
See the numbers by hour
| Hour | Friday and Saturday | Sunday to Thursday | All days |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 am | 1 | 6 | 7 |
| 7 am | 3 | 15 | 18 |
| 8 am | 4 | 21 | 25 |
| 9 am | 11 | 22 | 33 |
| 10 am | 15 | 49 | 64 |
| 11 am | 22 | 57 | 79 |
| 12 pm | 20 | 79 | 99 |
| 1 pm | 23 | 81 | 104 |
| 2 pm | 39 | 104 | 143 |
| 3 pm | 52 | 99 | 151 |
| 4 pm | 33 | 131 | 164 |
| 5 pm | 59 | 118 | 177 |
| 6 pm | 46 | 110 | 156 |
| 7 pm | 24 | 87 | 111 |
| 8 pm | 27 | 58 | 85 |
| 9 pm | 10 | 27 | 37 |
| 10 pm | 7 | 12 | 19 |
| 11 pm | 4 | 6 | 10 |
| 12 am | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| 1 am | 6 | 4 | 10 |
| 2 am | 3 | 5 | 8 |
| 3 am | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 4 am | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| 5 am | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Total with a known time | 421 | 1,097 | 1,518 |
Reported crime by type
last 12 months| Offense | Reported | Per 100k, per year | vs. Boston |
|---|---|---|---|
| Assault and batteryViolent | 241 | 1,232 | +32% |
| RobberyTaking property by force or threatViolent | 25 | 128 | +27% |
| HomicideViolent | 1 | 5.1 | +32% |
| TheftShoplifting, pickpocketing and other theft without force or entryProperty | 1,392 | 7,116 | +442% |
| Property damage and arsonProperty | 51 | 261 | −26% |
| Theft from vehiclesItems or parts taken from a vehicle, break-ins includedProperty | 42 | 215 | −18% |
| BurglaryEntering a home or business to stealProperty | 39 | 199 | +64% |
| Vehicle theftProperty | 13 | 66 | −64% |
| Drug offensesOther | 19 | 97 | −73% |
| Weapons offensesOther | 2 | 10 | −75% |
Source and dates
b973d8cb-eeb2-4e7e-99da-c92938efc9c0- Source
- Boston Police Department, via Analyze Boston (dataset b973d8cb-eeb2-4e7e-99da-c92938efc9c0), aggregated by neighborhood
- Window
- October 2025 to September 2026 (12 months)
- Population
- 19,561 residents, estimated from 2020 Census blocks
- City page
- Crime in Boston, MA
- All neighborhoods
- Boston neighborhoods by reported crime rate