by our College Data Analytics TeamHow safe is Harvard? Let’s review crime statistics for the college campus and surrounding areas.
What you’ll find in our crime and safety report on Harvard:
Our crime statistics come from the U.S. Department of Education’s Campus Safety and Security data. The four types of crimes we will be analyzing are violence against women, arrests for major crimes, arrests for possession, and disciplinary actions.
Murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, and arson are the types of things included in the arrests for major crimes category. The violence against women grouping includes things such as domestic violence, date rape, and stalking. The arrests for possession classification deals with things such as weapons possession, alcohol violations, and drug violations. The disciplinary actions category involves possession of weapons, alcohol violations, and drug violations in the cases where no arrest occurred but some action was taken.
Many colleges and universities report zero incidents in some or all of these categories. In fact, 56% of the schools we cover reported no arrests for major crimes, 67% reported no violence against women, 70% reported no arrests for possession, and 68% reported no disciplinary actions.
While zero reported crimes may seem like a good sign, it does not necessarily indicate that the school has been safer. It may just be that the school doesn’t have as strict reporting as others. Likewise, a high number of incidents may just mean that the school is stricter about law enforcement and reporting.
Harvard University reported 295 incidents related to crime and safety in 2024. These student-involved incidents took place at or near campus or on other properties affiliated with the school. That works out to 9.75 incidents per 1,000 students, considering that the student body population is 30,259. Below, you can see the number of incidents by category.
| Category | Number of Incidents | Number of Incidents per 1,000 students |
|---|---|---|
| Arrests for Major Crimes | 264 | 8.72 |
| Arrests for Possession | 3 | 0.10 |
| Violence Against Women | 20 | 0.66 |
| Disciplinary Actions | 8 | 0.26 |
The chart below shows what percentage of Harvard crime and safety incidents are in each category.
Disciplinary actions account for 2.7% of all crime and safety incidents at the school. Around 1.0% of the crime and safety-related incidents at Harvard University resulted in arrests for possession. About 89.5% of incidents were arrests for major crimes. Acts of violence against women accounted for 6.8% of incidents.
The chart below shows what percentage of Harvard crime and safety incidents happened in each location.
In 2024, Harvard University reported 238 incidents related to crime and safety that involved students on campus. Since the number of students at the school that year was 30,259, that’s 7.87 incidents per 1,000 students. Below, you can see the number of incidents by category.
| Category | Number of Incidents | Number of Incidents per 1,000 students |
|---|---|---|
| Arrests for Major Crimes | 216 | 7.14 |
| Arrests for Possession | 0 | 0.00 |
| Violence Against Women | 15 | 0.50 |
| Disciplinary Actions | 7 | 0.23 |
The percentage breakdown of Harvard on-campus crime and safety incidents by category is shown in the following chart.
In 2024, Harvard University reported 4 incidents related to crime and safety that involved students on affiliated off-campus properties. Since the number of students at the school that year was 30,259, that’s 0.13 incidents per 1,000 students. Below, you can see the number of incidents by category.
| Category | Number of Incidents | Number of Incidents per 1,000 students |
|---|---|---|
| Arrests for Major Crimes | 4 | 0.13 |
| Arrests for Possession | 0 | 0.00 |
| Violence Against Women | 0 | 0.00 |
| Disciplinary Actions | 0 | 0.00 |
The chart below shows what percentage of Harvard crime and safety incidents on affiliated off-campus properties are in each category.
In 2024, Harvard University reported 100 incidents related to crime and safety that involved students in residence halls. Note that these numbers are also included in the on-campus crimes category. That works out to 3.30 incidents per 1,000 students, considering that the student body population is 30,259. Below, you can see the number of incidents by category.
| Category | Number of Incidents | Number of Incidents per 1,000 students |
|---|---|---|
| Arrests for Major Crimes | 88 | 2.91 |
| Arrests for Possession | 0 | 0.00 |
| Violence Against Women | 9 | 0.30 |
| Disciplinary Actions | 3 | 0.10 |
The chart below shows what percentage of Harvard crime and safety incidents in residence halls are in each category.
Harvard University reported 53 incidents related to crime and safety in 2024. These student-involved incidents took place on Cambridge public property in areas surrounding the campus. That works out to 1.75 incidents per 1,000 students, considering that the student body population is 30,259. Below, you can see the number of incidents by category.
| Category | Number of Incidents | Number of Incidents per 1,000 students |
|---|---|---|
| Arrests for Major Crimes | 44 | 1.45 |
| Arrests for Possession | 3 | 0.10 |
| Violence Against Women | 5 | 0.17 |
| Disciplinary Actions | 1 | 0.03 |
The percentage breakdown of Harvard student-related crime and safety incidents by category in the surrounding Cambridge neighborhood is shown in the following chart.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.