49. Massachusetts – Brockton
Massachusetts is one of the safer states in America although it has had to contend with crime in certain places. Brockton is located about half an hour south of Boston in Plymouth county. While cities like Springfield, Lowell, or Boston have a higher crime rate, Brockton leads the state with the highest violent crime rate with 672 per 100,000 residents with a major of these crimes being assaults and most these assaults being between people who know each other rather than random acts on strangers. Known as the “City of Champions” for its rich boxing history, modern violent crime is primarily driven by local juvenile gang disputes and domestic violence incidents. Property crime heavily impacts the area as well, with specific sections like North Brockton experiencing localized property crime rates exceeding 1,692 per 100,000 residents due to frequent vehicle thefts. Why so low? Well because Massachusetts being such a safe state has one of the lowest serious violent crime rates, such as homicide in America.
