Frightening! Cities You May Want To Avoid In Massachusetts

Are you a resident of a neighboring state to Massachusetts and are planning on visiting the Commonwealth? Or do you live in Massachusetts and you're planning a road trip within its borders? If that's the case, you may want to proceed with caution.

Listen, even though I wasn't born in the Bay State (born in Connecticut), I absolutely LOVE Massachusetts! But let's face it, we're living in dangerous times. The fact is, some areas of Massachusetts are a lot better than others.

Recently, TravelSafe-Abroad published a report on what they consider to be the 10 most dangerous cities and towns within our borders. The results were surprising, to say the least. One of those towns is located here in the Beautiful Berkshires!

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You may want to make some notes in your mental travel guide regarding some of these Massachusetts destinations. Again, these results are courtesy of the team at TravelSafe-Abroad.

The 10 Most Dangerous Towns In Massachusetts:

10. New Bedford

Don't be fooled by the quaint and cozy atmosphere of this beautiful town. And don't let those cobblestone streets lull you into a false sense of security. TravelSafe-Abroad says this town is quite the hotbed of criminal activity with over 1,000 crimes during a calendar year recently including arson, robbery, and rape.

9. Worcester

The second-largest city in Massachusetts recently recorded in one year approximately 1,200 incidents of assault out of 1,800 total crimes.

8. Brockton

Brockton is interesting on this list because TravelSafeAbroad reports that it has plenty of good family neighborhoods. However, Brockton also has high rates of assault, murder, and rape.

7. Fall River

Not only the birthplace of what is probably America's most famous axe murderer (Lizzie Borden) but also home to the Fall River satanic cult murders that occurred during the winter months of '79-'80. During one year recently almost 1,000 crimes were reported.

6. Chelsea

For being the smallest city (there are plenty of smaller towns) in Massachusetts, Chelsea has an amazingly high crime rate. That's not good for such a small area. Chelsea is smaller than 3 square miles.

5. Chicopee

The second most populated city in Western Massachusetts, Chicopee has the highest murder rate for a city of its size in the Commonwealth, according to TravelSafe-Abroad.

4. Springfield

The third-largest city in Massachusetts also runs large in crime numbers.

3. Boston

Here's a crazy statistic for you to think about: Boston is the most-populated city in Massachusetts, right? Nothing surprising there. But check this out. 37 out of every 1,000 people are involved in some sort of crime, according to TravelSafe-Abroad.

2. North Adams

I don't know about you, but the fact that one of Berkshire County's own ranked higher (more dangerous) than Boston, was a shock! The reason? With a population of approximately 14,000, North Adams recently had a year where over 300 crimes were committed. That's insane.

1. Holyoke

The violent crime rate for Holyoke is more than double the national average and another recent report indicated that the violent crimes in Holyoke accounted for nearly 2% of all violent crimes in Massachusetts.

Plan those road trips with a little more care now that you're armed with some more knowledge. Check out the full report at TravelSafe-Abroad's website here.