Boston’s neighborhoods conjure up too many stereotypes to count. You’ve got hipster areas, preppy places, neighborhoods where college kids thrive, and of course, ghettos.
It seems as if there’s a neighborhood for everyone in Boston.
And while the city consistently ranks as one of the best places to live in Massachusetts thanks in part to tons of entertainment and jobs, it’s not all rainbows and sunshine in Boston. Some neighborhoods aren’t as safe as others.
So the question arises, which Boston neighborhoods are the most dangerous and which are the safest?
Today, we’ll use Saturday Night Science to determine which Boston hoods need a little tender loving care. We examined 16 of Boston’s neighborhoods to find out the most dangerous places to live.
$39,763 median income
$59,871 median income
$48,949 median income
$85,927 median income
$78,922 median income
$72,827 median income
$69,978 median income
$61,281 median income
$93,484 median income
$92,096 median income
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is Massachusetts’s statewide median.
Massachusetts statewide median: $656,690
Massachusetts statewide median: $103,960
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How we determined the most dangerous Boston neighborhoods in 2026
To figure out how bad a place is to live in, we only needed to know what kinds of things people like and then decide what places have the least amount of those things. We plugged the following criteria into Saturday Night Science to get the worst neighborhoods in Boston:
- High crime (Estimated)
- High unemployment (Less jobs)
- Low median income (Less pay)
- Low population density (No things to do)
- Low home values (No one’s willing to pay to live here)
Then, we ranked each neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts for each of these criteria from worst to best.
Next, we averaged the individual rankings for each criterion into a “Worst Score.”
The neighborhood with the lowest “Worst Score” ranks as the most dangerous neighborhood of Boston.
The article is an opinion based on facts and is meant as infotainment. We updated this article for 2026. Skip to the end to see the list of all 16 neighborhoods ranked from worst to best.
The full plate
Most dangerous neighborhoods to live in Boston for 2026
Click any column to sort. Search by neighborhood name.
| Rank | Neighborhood | Population | Home Value | Median Income |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Roxbury | 58,696 | $536,559 | $39,763 |
| 2 | Mattapan | 42,727 | $455,068 | $59,871 |
| 3 | Fenway-Kenmore | 38,280 | $241,970 | $48,949 |
| 4 | Hyde Park | 38,370 | $433,932 | $85,927 |
| 5 | North Dorchester | 26,430 | $574,240 | $78,922 |
| 6 | South Dorchester | 68,359 | $499,479 | $72,827 |
| 7 | East Boston | 45,902 | $549,416 | $69,978 |
| 8 | Allston-Brighton | 67,713 | $306,048 | $61,281 |
| 9 | Central | 33,579 | $595,762 | $93,484 |
| 10 | Roslindale | 31,348 | $503,105 | $92,096 |
| 11 | Jamaica Plain | 47,098 | $632,712 | $104,228 |
| 12 | South End | 33,120 | $1,078,380 | $101,034 |
| 13 | West Roxbury | 33,915 | $558,847 | $122,248 |
| 14 | Back Bay-Beacon Hill | 28,988 | $776,224 | $93,684 |
| 15 | South Boston | 41,090 | $746,666 | $132,281 |
| 16 | Charlestown | 19,678 | $742,385 | $123,289 |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024. All 16 Boston neighborhoods.
Summary
Summary: The worst neighborhoods around Boston
Well, there you have it — the worst of the neighborhoods in Boston with Roxbury landing at the bottom of the pack.
The worst neighborhoods in Boston are Roxbury, Mattapan, Fenway-Kenmore, Hyde Park, North Dorchester, South Dorchester, East Boston, Allston-Brighton, Central, and Roslindale.
As mentioned earlier, the neighborhoods in Boston aren’t all bad. Charlestown takes the cake as the best place to live in Boston.
We ranked the neighborhoods from worst to best in the chart below. Not sold on Massachusetts? Take the two-minute Find Your Place quiz and see which state actually fits you.
Questions and answers
Worst Neighborhoods In Boston FAQs
What is the most dangerous neighborhood in Boston?
Roxbury ranks as the worst neighborhood in Boston for 2026, according to Saturday Night Science. Mattapan and Fenway-Kenmore are next on the list.
What are the worst neighborhoods in Boston?
The worst-ranked neighborhoods in Boston are Roxbury, Mattapan, Fenway-Kenmore, Hyde Park, North Dorchester, South Dorchester, East Boston, Allston-Brighton, Central, and Roslindale. We scored all 16 neighborhoods in the city.
Why does Roxbury rank as the worst?
Roxbury posts the roughest combined numbers in Boston: a median household income of $39,763 and a median home value of $536,559, with crime, unemployment, and density folded into the score.
Are these neighborhoods dangerous everywhere?
No. The scores are neighborhood-wide averages, and conditions change block by block and hour by hour. Plenty of people live in these neighborhoods without incident; the numbers just say the odds run tougher.
How do you rank the worst neighborhoods?
Each neighborhood is scored on crime, unemployment, income, density, and home values, using Census tract and FBI data. The worst combined score tops the list.
