Crime & Safety in Maine
Maine's statewide crime picture runs genuinely, exceptionally favorable, and this record credits that directly: Maine held the nation's LOWEST violent crime rate of any U.S. state in 2024 per FBI data -- roughly 71%-72% below the national average -- even as real, disclosed community-level variation exists within that favorable statewide picture, both detailed fully in maine.js's own crime metrics and this project's own Tier A+ Maine market records.
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Learn moreMaine held the nation's lowest violent crime rate of any U.S. state in 2024, independently affirmed by a March 2026 fact-check
This pass's research, corroborating maine.js's own crime metrics, found Maine's 2024 statewide violent crime rate ran approximately 100 to 101.6 offenses per 100,000 residents depending on the specific aggregator reviewed -- roughly 71%-72% below the national average, the lowest of any U.S. state per FBI data. A dedicated Portland Press Herald 'fact brief' published in March 2026 independently affirmed Maine's status as the state with America's lowest violent crime rate. Of Maine's 2024 violent crimes, this pass's research found a real, disclosed breakdown of 55% aggravated assault, 31.7% rape, 11% robbery, and 2.3% murder.
That exceptionally favorable statewide figure does not describe every Maine community equally, and this record discloses real, city-specific variation honestly
This record discloses a real, honest nuance rather than treating the statewide figure as describing every Maine community identically: Bangor's own crime data, per bangor.js's own metrics, shows multiple aggregator sources and a Bangor Daily News report citing Bangor's total crime rate as the highest of any Maine community, and above national comparison figures, even amid a real, disclosed cross-source spread on the exact magnitude. Portland, by contrast, runs genuinely favorable -- aggregator sources cite Portland's overall crime rate approximately 22% below the national average and violent crime approximately 25.65% below the national rate, per portland-me.js's own metrics. Lewiston's picture runs genuinely mixed: below-national on several FBI-data-anchored metrics, but above most other Maine communities specifically, a real, disclosed tension lewiston-me.js's own metrics do not resolve to a single categorical tag.
Auburn's own crime data runs genuinely mixed-but-net-positive, illustrating that even Maine's smaller cities carry real, disclosed nuance
Auburn's crime picture runs genuinely mixed but net favorable, this record discloses directly rather than assuming Maine's overall favorable statewide reputation applies uniformly: city-data.com's cited overall and violent-crime index figures ran below the national comparison figures (violent crime substantially so), alongside a real, disclosed year-over-year decline, even as the same source's property-crime index ran somewhat above the national figure, per auburn-me.js's own metrics -- a real, specific example of how even a single Maine city's own crime data resists a single clean categorical label.
Confirm current, local crime data for your specific target community
As in every state, Maine's exceptional statewide violent-crime figure does not describe every city, county, or neighborhood identically -- confirm current, local crime statistics directly for your specific target community rather than relying on the statewide figure alone, particularly given the real, disclosed variation this record names specifically across Portland, Bangor, Lewiston, and Auburn, and the genuine regional variety detailed on this project's regions-guide topic page.
Key takeaways
- Maine held the nation's lowest violent crime rate of any U.S. state in 2024 (roughly 100-101.6 per 100,000, 71%-72% below the national average), independently affirmed by a March 2026 Portland Press Herald fact-check.
- That favorable statewide figure masks real, disclosed city-level variation: Bangor's total crime rate runs the highest of any Maine community per multiple sources, while Portland runs approximately 22%-25.65% below national averages.
- Lewiston's crime picture runs genuinely mixed (below-national on several FBI metrics, above most other Maine communities specifically), and Auburn's runs mixed-but-net-positive (favorable violent crime, somewhat elevated property crime).
- Confirm current, local crime data for a specific target community rather than relying on Maine's exceptional statewide figure alone, given the real, disclosed city-to-city variation this record names directly.
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