(WHDH) — Hopkinton ranked as the safest community in Massachusetts for the second year in a row.
SafeWise released its sixth annual Safest Cities report Monday and determined the 20 safest communities in the Bay State by comparing their crime rates.
The town of Hopkinton placed first, boasting a violent crime rate of 0.1 incidents per 1,000 and a property crime rate of 1.6.
This community was followed by Franklin, Shrewsbury and Milton.
Norton ranked fifth despite having the fewest total number of property crimes at 23 and the lowest property crime rate at 1.2, according to SafeWise. The town did, however, have a slightly higher violent crime rate at 0.7.
Andover moved up the most in the overall ranking, jumping 66 spots to number eight.
Lexington and Scituate were two new towns that joined the list this year, placing sixth and 15th, respectively.
All communities in the top 20 list came in under the state and national violent crime rates, with no city or town reporting more than one violent crime incident per 1,000 people.
They also fell below the state and national property crime rates, with no community reporting more than 6.3 incidents per 1,000 residents.
20 safest communities in Massachusetts:
- Hopkinton
- Franklin
- Shrewsbury
- Milton
- Norton
- Lexington
- Westford
- Andover
- Sharon
- Wellesley
- Holliston
- Winchester
- Bedford
- Reading
- Scituate
- Needham
- North Reading
- Belmont
- Arlington
- Billerica
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