Maine’s 10 Safest Cities of 2021

The SafeWise Team is pleased to release the seventh annual Safest Cities report.

1. Cumberland
2. Sabattus
3. Cape Elizabeth
4. Yarmouth
5. Hampden
6. South Berwick
7. Belfast
8. Kennebunk
9. Gorham
10. Bar Harbor

See if your city made the full list.

Maine residents aren’t as concerned about their overall safety compared to the rest of the nation. Of those who call The Pine Tree State home, only 34% say they feel a high daily concern for their safety. And with crime rates well below the national and regional average, it’s easy to see why.

As far as biggest concerns go, Mainers came out with a three-way tie between violent crime, property crime, and package theft. Our data showed that 31% of those surveyed in Maine were concerned about these issues. Yet, despite the tie, it’s a lower percentage of concern than much of the country. 

We found that 77% of Maine residents feel safe in their state compared to 55% of the US.

However, we did see a rise in firsthand experience from Maine residents who experienced violent crime and gun violence in the last year.

Gun violence is the biggest concern among Maine residents we surveyed, but violent crime, property crime, and package theft had a three-way tie.

We asked Maine residents which crimes they worry may happen to them. See if Mainers are concerned about the same crime issues as the rest of the country. 

View the complete 2021 State of Safety report.

While violent crime is generally low in Maine, a majority of cases were aggravated assault. However, reports of rape in Maine were alarmingly high compared to other states. But overall, each of the safest cities have low rates of violent crime across the board.

• Aggravated assault was the most common violent crime in Maine and the safest cities. It accounted for 55% of violent crime in the safest cities and 53% statewide (US 68%).
• Rape came in a close second for most common violent crimes in Maine. It made up 42% of violent crime in the safest cities and 33% statewide—both much higher than the 8% national average.
• Every one of the safest cities reported under 1 violent crime per 1,000 people.
• South Berwick saw the biggest improvement in violent crime, dropping incidents from 0.9 to 0.5 per 1,000 people in the last year.
• There were 0 murders in the safest cities in the last year. And the top city, Cumberland, saw no violent crime.
• 40% of Mainers said they worry about gun violence and 28% worry it will happen to them.
• 56% of Maine residents say they have confidence in law enforcement, matching the national average. The Pine Tree State saw a drop in officer-related shootings last year with 7 fewer incidents than in 2019.
• In Maine, 22% of our survey respondents said they use some form of personal protection.
• 34% said their personal safety was affected by the pandemic.

Property crime has dropped steadily since 2019 in Maine and across New England. And while property crime rates are higher than violent crime rates in Maine, each of the safest cities have less than the rest of the state, region, and national average.

• An overwhelming majority of property crime was larceny-theft, making up 82% of property crime in Maine.
• Belfast saw the biggest drop in property crime among the safest cities, dropping to 5.7 incidences per 1,000 people from 13.9 last year. The city also jumped 22 spots from last year, making it the most improved of the safest cities. 
• Of those who we surveyed from Maine, 54% said they use some form of property protection. Guard dogs were the most popular method. 
• 20% of Mainers said their property’s safety was affected by the pandemic.

For the purposes of this report, the terms “dangerous” and “safest” refer explicitly to crime rates as calculated from FBI crime data—no other characterization of any community is implied or intended.

• Cumberland remains Maine’s safest city for the second year in a row. The city saw zero violent crimes in the last year.
• Cape Elizabeth and Sabattus switched places this year with Sabattus rising to the number 2 spot. 
• While Belfast was the most improved, other cities saw big wins this year. Bar Harbor jumped 13 spots to number 10, and South Berwick jumped 10 spots to number 6. 
• Kennebunk holds its spot from last year at number 8. 
• Last year’s number 4, Eliot, dropped off the top 10 to number 11. 
• The violent and property crime rates in the safest cities were far lower than the national average. The 10 safest cities had a 5.1 average property crime rate (US 21.1) and a 0.3 average violent crime rate (US 3.7). 

Learn how we identified the safest cities on our methodology page.

Whether your city made our list or not, we encourage everyone to be proactive about home security. Learn more about your home security options—and find out which companies we recommend for every budget and lifestyle in our roundup of the Best Home Security Systems.

We calculated crime rates for every city in the state that met our population threshold, based on the state’s median population. See how the remaining cities ranked in the list below.

NOTE: If you don’t see your city on the list, it means that it was below the population threshold or didn’t submit a complete crime report to the FBI in 2019.

Click on the state image or dropdown menu below to check out the safest cities for each state.

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FBI: Uniform Crime Reporting Program, “2019 Crime in the United States,” Accessed March 15, 2021.

US Census Bureau, "Data Explorer," Accessed November 18, 2020.

Best Places, “Find a Place Search Tool,” Accessed January 6, 2021.

SafeWise, “2021 State of Safety survey,” Accessed March 15, 2021.

Gun Violence Archive, “Past Summary Ledgers,” Accessed January 6, 2021.

Gun Violence Archive, “General Methodology,” Accessed March 15, 2021.

Melody Hicks, Ben Stickle, Joshua Harms, American Journal of Criminal Justice, “Assessing the Fear of Package Theft,” January 04, 2021. Accessed March 15, 2021.

For definitions and more on data sources, see our methodology page.