Is Falmouth, MA Safe? A Look at Crime Rates in this Cape Cod Town

Overview of Falmouth

Introduction to Living in Falmouth, MA

Picture rolling out of bed, grabbing a coffee on Main Street, and pedaling the Shining Sea Bikeway for ten breezy miles from Woods Hole up to North Falmouth while the salt marshes wake up around you.

That kind of morning explains why so many Cape Cod day-trippers turn into full-time Falmouth residents. 

Weekends bring their own rhythm. One minute you’re cheering Olympians at the seven-mile Falmouth Road Race, a summer fixture since 1973 that threads runners along the Vineyard Sound shoreline. The next, you’re lining up at the Steamship Authority dock for a forty-five-minute ferry hop to Martha’s Vineyard. You’ll never run out of things to do in Falmouth.

Of course, every new arrival eventually opens a browser tab labeled homes for sale in Falmouth and starts wondering what a safe place to live on the Upper Cape costs these days. Prices can pinch, but locals will tell you the trade-off is easy access to beaches, bike trails, and clam shacks that stay open long after the leaf-peepers head home. 

Ask around and you’ll hear the same refrain: once you catch a Buzzards Bay sunset, it’s tough to picture living anywhere else.

Geographical Location

The town covers roughly 44 square miles, stretching from cozy Woods Hole up to North and East Falmouth.

Route 28 threads through village centers, but side roads can swing you from salt-marsh views to inland ponds in two minutes. Even with that spread, Falmouth’s official city boundaries still keep you close to beaches, trails, and a downtown that locals call “Main Street” rather than “the strip.”

Cost of Living in Falmouth

Sticker shock is real on this stretch of Cape Cod.

The latest figures from Salary.com’s cost of living tracker put a single-adult budget at roughly $2,757 a month while a four-person household needs around $6,071, placing everyday expenses about thirty percent above the national average.

Housing drives the gap: The median home value sits near $842,500, a price that can feel steep even before you factor in closing costs and upkeep. Property taxes add another layer, though the town’s fiscal-year 2025 rate of $5.87 per thousand of assessed value is lower than many Boston suburbs, softening the annual bite just a bit.

BestPlaces assigns Falmouth a composite cost-of-living index of 131.5, which translates to groceries running about ten percent higher than average and utilities closer to fifteen percent above norm.

On the plus side, average local wages hover near $96,000 a year, boosted by marine research, healthcare, and tourism roles.

Many residents argue that the premium buys quick beach access, a low crime rate, and a tight-knit community vibe that can be hard to price. 

Falmouth Crime Breakdown

Property Crime

Property crime, such as burglary, theft, and vehicle break-ins, runs 7.47 incidents per 1,000 residents, according to the latest FBI-fed crime data compiled by NeighborhoodScout.

That translates to a chance of being a victim of around 1 in 134 in a typical year.

The town does not have much in the way of organized car-theft rings, but porch-pirate spikes show up during peak vacation weeks when rental turnovers add outside traffic.

Violent Crimex

Violent crime in Falmouth clocks in at 2.87 per 1,000 residents, or roughly 95 cases a year, lower than the national average of 4.0 but higher than some Cape villages. Assaults dominate those numbers, with robberies trailing and homicides rare.

Put simply, Falmouth has a crime rate that leans moderate for property offenses and relatively low for serious violence.

Other Crime

Fraud, DUI, and disorderly conduct fill out the “other” category.

Summer crowds swell calls for service. Local police logs show total yearly incidents rising past 30,000 in peak tourism years, but the bulk involves traffic stops rather than felonies.

Drug-related arrests dipped after 2022 as regional task-force work targeted fentanyl supply lines.

Trends in Crime Rates in Falmouth

Look back five years and you’ll spot a mild downward slope in burglary and larceny, echoing national patterns, while aggravated assault bumps up one year, down the next. Analysts tracking detailed crime rates and maps see no sustained surge.

Put plainly, the overall crime rate moves sideways, not skyward. Which is good news when comparing crime to the residents and pocketbook costs.

Comparing Crime Rates

Comparison of Falmouth Crime Rates with Massachusetts

Statewide, Massachusetts logs about 3.14 violent crimes and 11.01 property crimes per 1,000 residents.

Falmouth, by contrast, records 2.87 violent and 7.47 property incidents per 1,000 residents, meaning the town sees roughly nine percent fewer violent offenses and more than thirty percent fewer property offenses than the state average. 

When you size-adjust for population, the overall crime rate in Falmouth lands comfortably below the Massachusetts state average, reinforcing its standing as one of the safest midsize communities on Cape Cod.

Crime Rate Comparison with Nearby Towns

Mashpee posts the lowest totals around, with 1.56 violent crimes and 4.94 property crimes per 1,000 residents, which means a 1-in-154 chance of being a victim in a typical year.

Cross the canal and Bourne climbs to 11.31 per 1,000, driven mostly by an 8.77 property-crime clip that locals blame on commuter traffic orbiting the rotary. 

Slide east and the numbers edge higher. Dennis tallies 12.08 per 1,000 (2.68 violent, 9.39 property), while Yarmouth tops the quartet at 12.79 per 1,000, including the area’s highest property rate of 9.56. 

Stacking those figures side-by-side, Falmouth’s overall crime rate lands closer to Mashpee’s low profile than to Yarmouth’s busier corridor. That spread lines up with on-the-ground chatter: Mashpee Neck goes quiet after dark, Bourne’s parking lots see smash-and-grabs when bridge backups peak, and Route 28 through Yarmouth keeps patrol cars circling.

Safety Measures and Resources

Chance of Being a Victim of Crime in Falmouth

Aggregating violent and property offenses yields an overall crime rate of 10.34 per 1,000, meaning the chance of being a victim in any given year is about 1 in 97. That figure becomes 1 in 348 for violent crime specifically.

Statisticians translate those odds into a total projected cost of crime of roughly $18 million annually, or a cost of crime per resident of around $550, far less than the national average when adjusted for population size.

Role of the Falmouth Police Department

The Falmouth Police Department fields roughly 30,000 calls a year, staffing marine patrols in summer and community resource officers in school zones.

Their monthly crime maps and rates feed into regional dashboards so residents can discover detailed crime rates in near real-time.

Quick neighbor tip: sign up for CrimeMapping alerts and you’ll know when a shed break-in pops up on your street.

Community Safety Initiatives

Neighborhood watch, bike-trail cameras, and grants supporting mental-health clinicians ride along with officers on crisis calls.

Local nonprofits hold Narcan training sessions, cutting overdose deaths.

These steps align with studies showing that when communities invest in prevention, the total cost of crime drops and intangible impacts shrink.

Living in Falmouth: Is it the Safest Town on Cape Cod?

Ask ten Falmouth residents at Coffee Obsession and you’ll get ten spins on danger.

The consensus? The town ranks safer than many coastal places to live with similar tourism swings.

Yes, parking lots see smash-and-grabs in July and August. No, you’re not walking a gauntlet after dark on Main Street. Locals tend to leave bikes unlocked at Shining Sea Bikeway trailheads, maybe too trusting, but it hints at comfort levels. 

Factor in moderate crime counts, robust policing, and a community that rallies fast after incidents, and you can call Falmouth a safe place by most metrics.

Conclusion and Recommendations

Summary of Crime Statistics

Summing up, Falmouth crime breakdown shows:

These rates sit under Massachusetts state averages and far below Texas state figures.

Future Outlook for Crime in Falmouth

Demographic forecasts predict minor population growth and a steady visitor influx.

Town planners want more LED streetlights and foot patrols, strategies linked to falling theft numbers in comparable Cape towns.

If funding holds, observers expect the crime rate in Falmouth to keep drifting downward or flat, reinforcing the town’s reputation as one of the safest midsize spots on Cape Cod.

Falmouth Safety FAQs