According to the FBI, Maine has one of the lowest crime rates in the entire nation, proving that not only is our state drop-dead gorgeous, but its also a very safe place to live. The combined violent and property crime rate in Maine is 127.8 per 100,000 residents – second only to Vermont (99.3 crimes per 100,000). The nationwide average is 375.5 crimes per 100,000 people.
Movoto.com ranked these 10 towns as the most “dangerous” places to live in Maine. The site uses data from the 2013 FBI Uniform Crime Report and looks at three categories: Murder, Violent Crime (including aggravated assault, robbery and rape) and Property Crime (including burglary, theft and vehicle theft).
- Augusta
Terry Ross/Wikipedia While you’re pretty safe from violent crimes in Augusta, it has the highest rate of property crimes in the state. In 2013, 1,206 property crimes were reported here. In a city of just under 19,000 residents, that’s relatively high.
- Biddeford
Tomasso/CC Wikipeda Biddeford had 119 violent crimes reported in 2013. The town has just 21,324 residents.1,139 property crimes were reported that year.
- Bangor
Wikipedia CC Bangor doesn’t rank highest in the state for murder, violent crimes or property crimes, but its three murders in 2013, combined with 1,844 property crimes helped it to the ranking of fourth highest per capita for crime.
- Waterville
Billy Hathorn/Wikipedia Waterville had 843 crimes reported in 2013, making it the fifth highest in the state for overall crime. No murders were reported that year, but the 43 reported violent crimes included robberies, aggravated assault and rape.
- Skowhegan
David Wilson/filckr The small town of Skowhegan has just about 9,000 residents, but had 516 reported crimes in 2013 (498 were property crimes; 18 were violent crimes).
- Portland
Bd2media/Wikipedia Maine’s largest city comes in sixth on this list, though you might think a big city would rank higher. There was just one murder in 2013, so you can safely assume that Portland is a pretty safe place. It ranks fifth in the state for violent crimes in general, however.
- Sanford
PrincessGirlyGirl/flickr Sanford had 70 violent crimes in 2013, and 803 total crimes that year. Residents had a 1-in-24 chance of being the victim of a crime.
- Auburn
Doug Kerr/flickr In 2013, Auburn had a high number of property crimes - 1,072. For a town with just 22,948 people, that’s a high number of property crimes (at least for Maine). The city also had 32 violent crimes.
- South Portland
Peter Dutton/Wikimedia South Portland didn’t have a single murder in 2013, but it did rank 5th highest for violent crimes, and 14th highest for property crimes. An overall low crime rate, to be sure, but still high enough to land it on this list.
- Lewiston
Doug Kerr/flickr Resident in Lewiston had a 1-in-28 chance of being the victim of a crime in 2013. It had 89 violent crimes and 1,217 property crimes.
We’re pretty sure that no one living in these beautiful towns in Maine is going to want to move based on these numbers…after all, Maine is the second safest state in the entire nation! To see 10 other ways in which Maine is underrated – check out this article.
Terry Ross/Wikipedia
While you’re pretty safe from violent crimes in Augusta, it has the highest rate of property crimes in the state. In 2013, 1,206 property crimes were reported here. In a city of just under 19,000 residents, that’s relatively high.
Tomasso/CC Wikipeda
Biddeford had 119 violent crimes reported in 2013. The town has just 21,324 residents.1,139 property crimes were reported that year.
Wikipedia CC
Bangor doesn’t rank highest in the state for murder, violent crimes or property crimes, but its three murders in 2013, combined with 1,844 property crimes helped it to the ranking of fourth highest per capita for crime.
Billy Hathorn/Wikipedia
Waterville had 843 crimes reported in 2013, making it the fifth highest in the state for overall crime. No murders were reported that year, but the 43 reported violent crimes included robberies, aggravated assault and rape.
David Wilson/filckr
The small town of Skowhegan has just about 9,000 residents, but had 516 reported crimes in 2013 (498 were property crimes; 18 were violent crimes).
Bd2media/Wikipedia
Maine’s largest city comes in sixth on this list, though you might think a big city would rank higher. There was just one murder in 2013, so you can safely assume that Portland is a pretty safe place. It ranks fifth in the state for violent crimes in general, however.
PrincessGirlyGirl/flickr
Sanford had 70 violent crimes in 2013, and 803 total crimes that year. Residents had a 1-in-24 chance of being the victim of a crime.
Doug Kerr/flickr
In 2013, Auburn had a high number of property crimes - 1,072. For a town with just 22,948 people, that’s a high number of property crimes (at least for Maine). The city also had 32 violent crimes.
Peter Dutton/Wikimedia
South Portland didn’t have a single murder in 2013, but it did rank 5th highest for violent crimes, and 14th highest for property crimes. An overall low crime rate, to be sure, but still high enough to land it on this list.
Resident in Lewiston had a 1-in-28 chance of being the victim of a crime in 2013. It had 89 violent crimes and 1,217 property crimes.
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