Do you live in one of the murder capitals of Maine?
We all watch the news with horror when we hear about a homicide that happens not that far away from us. While a murder just blocks or even a couple of towns away from your house would make anyone uneasy, in the long run, most likely, where you live is relatively safe.
To find the cities in Maine with the most murders and the highest murder rates per capita, we used Saturday Night Science to compare the FBI crime data on murders for the 10 cities in the Pine Tree State with over 6,000 residents.
What city has the highest murder rate in Maine? The city with the highest murder rate in Maine is Bath with 23 murders per 100,000 people.
What is the city in Maine with highest number of murders? The city in Maine with the highest number of murders is Bangor with 5 murders.
Read on below to see how we crunched the numbers and how your town in Maine ranked. There were ‘only’ 10 cities in Maine where a city reported a murder to the FBI, meaning 49 places had no murder.
23 per 100k · #1 highest murder rate in Maine
Located in
Sagadahoc County, Maine
Bath is a city in Sagadahoc County, Maine, in the United States. The population was 8,514 at the 2010 census, and 8,357 as of 2013, the population has had a change of -10.2% since 2000. It is the county seat of Sagadahoc County, which includes one city and 10 towns. The city is popular with tourists, many drawn by its 19th-century architecture. It is home to the Bath Iron Works and Heritage Days Festival, held annually on the Fourth of July weekend. It is commonly known as “The City of Ships.” Bath is part of the metropolitan statistical area of Greater Portland.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
18 per 100k · #2 highest murder rate in Maine
Located in
Kennebec County, Maine
Waterville is a city in Kennebec County of the U.S. state of Maine, United States, on the west bank of the Kennebec River. Home to Colby College and Thomas College, the population was 15,722 at the 2010 census. Waterville is also the latter of the cities which make up the Augusta-Waterville, ME Micropolitan Statistical Area.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
16 per 100k · #3 highest murder rate in Maine
Located in
Kennebec County, Maine
Gardiner is a city in Kennebec County, Maine, United States. The population was 5,800 at the 2010 census. Popular with tourists, Gardiner is noted for its culture and old architecture. Gardiner is included in the Augusta, Maine micropolitan New England City and Town Area.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
16 per 100k · #4 highest murder rate in Maine
Located in
Penobscot County, Maine
Bangor is a city along the Penobscot River in the U.S. state of Maine. The city proper has a population of 33,039, while the Bangor metropolitan area has a population of 153,746. Bangor is known as the “Queen City” of Maine.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
9 per 100k · #5 highest murder rate in Maine
Located in
York County, Maine
Biddeford is a city in York County, Maine, United States. It is the principal commercial center of York County. The population was 21,277 at the 2010 census. Twin city of Saco, Biddeford includes the resort community of Biddeford Pool, Fortunes Rocks and Granite Point. The town is the site of the University of New England and the annual La Kermesse Franco-Americaine Festival. First visited by Europeans in 1616, it is the site of one of the earliest European settlements in the United States.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
7 per 100k · #6 highest murder rate in Maine
Located in
Cumberland County, Maine
Portland is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine, with a population of 66,937 as of 2016. This makes it the fourth least populous city in the U.S. to be the most populous in its state. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, more than one-third of Maine’s total population. The Old Port district is frequented by tourists, while Portland Head Light is also a destination. The city seal depicts a phoenix rising from ashes, which is a reference to the recoveries from four devastating fires. Portland was named after the English Isle of Portland, and the city of Portland, Oregon, was in turn named after Portland, Maine.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
5 per 100k · #7 highest murder rate in Maine
Located in
Kennebec County, Maine
Augusta is the capital of the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat of Kennebec County.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
5 per 100k · #8 highest murder rate in Maine
Located in
Cumberland County, Maine
Westbrook is a city in Cumberland County, Maine, United States and a suburb of Portland. The population was 17,494 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Portland-South Portland-Biddeford, Maine metropolitan statistical area.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
4 per 100k · #9 highest murder rate in Maine
Located in
Androscoggin County, Maine
Auburn is a city in and the county seat of Androscoggin County, Maine, United States. The population was 23,055 at the 2010 census. Auburn and Lewiston are known locally as the Twin Cities or Lewiston-Auburn.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
3 per 100k · #10 highest murder rate in Maine
Located in
Androscoggin County, Maine
Lewiston is the second largest city in Maine and the most central city in Androscoggin County. The city borders the coastal sideways of the Gulf of Maine and is south of Augusta, the state’s capital and north of Portland, the cultural hub of Maine. It is one-half of the Lewiston-Auburn Metropolitan Statistical Area, commonly referred to as “L.A.” or “L-A.” Lewiston exerts a significant impact upon the diversity, religious variety, commerce, education, and economic power of Maine. It is known for a relatively low cost of living, substantial access to medical care, and an extremely low violent crime rate. While the dominant language spoken in the city is English, it is home to the largest French-speaking population in the United States while it is second to St. Martin Parish, Louisiana, in percentage of speakers.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is Maine’s statewide median.
On the map
Where Maine’s murders happen
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How we calculated the murder capitals of Maine
While there are surveys and public polls on what cities in a state are the most dangerous, we wanted to rely on something other than speculation and opinion. Instead, we used Saturday Night Science to compare the hard numbers from the FBI’s last year of reporting. Specifically, we analyzed the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report, which summarizes the number of murders in each city annually.
We only looked at every single city in Maine for which FBI data was available for the most recent FBI Crime In The United States. That left us with 10 cities to rank.
We took the number of murders per capita as the ranking factor. The place with the most murders per capita based on the most recent data is Bath. It is our eleventh time ranking the places with the most murders per capita in Maine. We updated the list for 2026.
The full plate
Murder Rates By City In Maine
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
Source: FBI Uniform Crime Report. 10 Maine cities that reported a murder.
Summary
Summary: The Places With The Most Murders In Maine For 2026
If you’re looking at the places in Maine with the most murders, and where residents have the highest chances of being killed themselves, this is an accurate list. Again, these statistics are an indication of where crimes occur, not a statement about the effectiveness of the law enforcement in the areas they serve.
The cities with the highest murder per capita in Maine are Bath, Waterville, Gardiner, Bangor, Biddeford, Portland, Augusta, Westbrook, Auburn, and Lewiston.
