How Does Reading's Crime Rate Compare to Neighboring Communities?

Here’s how the communities stack up:

Population – To give a fairer gauge, let’s first rank the communities by population – Andover, 33,753; Reading, 25,223; Wilmington, 22,758; North Reading, 15,182; Lynnfield, 11,791; and Middletown, 9,130. Reading’s population has increased by 2,000 people over the past three years, according to the FBI figures.

Note: Other factors can play into a community’s crime rate, such as number of retail businesses. Having many retailers, for instance, can lead to more car thefts and thefts out of vehicles.

Here are the stats:

Violent crimes – Wilmington, 28; Andover, 23; North Reading, 15; Middleton, 14; Reading, 10; and Lynnfield, 7.

Robberies – Reading, 6; North Reading, 5; Wilmington, 3; Andover, 2; Lynnfield, 1; Middleton, 0.

Aggregated assault – Wilmington, 23; Andover, 20; Middleton, 14; North Reading, 9; Lynnfield, 6; and Reading, 4.

Property crime – Andover, 290; Wilmington, 275; Reading, 189; North Reading, 148; Lynnfield, 106; and Middleton, 82.

Burglary – Wilmington, 58; Andover, 50, Reading, 44; North Reading, 40; Lynnfield, 30; and Middleton, 3.

Larceny-theft – Andover, 226; Wilmington, 213; Reading, 136; North Reading, 101; Middleton, 77; and Lynnfield, 70.

Motor vehicle thefts – Andover, 14; Reading, 9; North Reading, 7; Lynnfield, 6; Wilmington, 4; and Middleton, 2.