Center Township, PA is close to the national middle for violent crime, and earns a B PlainCrime safety grade, where violent crime runs 68% below the U.S. average
According to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program for 2024, Center Township, PA shows violent crime at 114.1 per 100,000 residents and property crime at 1,890 per 100,000. Violent crime runs 68% below the U.S. average. PlainCrime assigns grade B from those rates. Figures are voluntary agency submissions joined to population denominators; incomplete coverage can move the number.
B safety grade
114.1/100K violent
1890/100K property
-68% vs U.S.
What the 2024 FBI UCR record shows for Center Township, PA
Small-count caution
The violent-crime count is small enough that the derived rate is unstable
Center Township reported 14 violent offences in 2024 against a population of 12,275. At this volume one additional or one fewer report moves the per-100,000 rate noticeably, so the figure is better read as a data point than as a precise measurement, and year-to-year swings here are expected.
Comparable rate records
Center Township's closest reported-rate comparisons are in the Pennsylvania cohort
The nearest comparable 2024 records to Center Township's 114.1 violent-crime rate per 100,000 are West Shore Regional (114.0), East Norriton Township (114.1), Hellertown (114.5), Tyrone (113.6). These are same-year agency submissions that pass the same completeness screen, not a claim that the cities have identical conditions. They make the cohort position above checkable against named records instead of a generic state average.
Position in the state cohort
Center Township sits mid-pack among comparable Pennsylvania cities
At 114.1 reported violent offenses per 100,000 residents in 2024, Center Township ranks 281 of 838 — above 557 of the 837 other Pennsylvania cities whose 2024 submission passes this site’s completeness test. That is +74.6% against the cohort median of 65.3. Cities that did not report, or that reported implausibly low totals, are excluded from this cohort rather than counted as low-crime.
2020–2024 direction
The reported violent-crime rate ended the window higher
Across 4 comparable reporting years, the rate moved from 96.3 per 100,000 in 2020 to 114.1 in 2024 (+18.4%). The highest observed value was 137.0 in 2023 and the lowest 96.3 in 2020. Years whose submission failed the completeness test are left out of this comparison rather than plotted as change.
Offense mix
The reported mix leans further toward property offenses than the state cohort
Violent offenses are 5.7% of the 246 Part I offenses reported in Center Township for 2024, against a median of 10.0% across comparable Pennsylvania cities — a gap of 4.3 points. Offense mix is shaped by which agencies report and how incidents are classified as well as by the underlying offenses, so it describes the reported record rather than a settled difference in conditions.
Property-offense composition
Larceny-theft dominates the property total more than it does across the cohort
Larceny-theft is 95.3% of reported property offenses in Center Township, against a cohort median of 85.8%. The remainder is burglary (6) and motor vehicle theft (5). Composition differences of this size usually track what kinds of places and property are present in a jurisdiction.
Property counts dominate Center Township's FBI UCR Table 8 municipal row. Per-100,000 rates use the reporting-year population on that row; cities that fail the completeness test stay out of rate rankings. A citywide figure rarely describes any single neighbourhood inside the municipal boundary.
Based on 14 reported violent incidents in a population of 12,275. At this volume, one additional or one fewer report can shift the rate and letter grade noticeably; small-city crime counts are inherently more volatile year to year than large-city counts, so treat this grade as a data point, not a precise ranking.
Mid-size municipal totals above are reported offenses, not safety advice for any single block. Reporting completeness still varies by year and agency.
Center Township's 2024 municipal footprint
Center Township's 2024 book concentrates in larceny-theft (90% of 246 offenses; mix index 8,109).
Violent offenses are only 6% of the municipal total - a property-led book.
Density uses Census Gazetteer land area (when validated); mix index is HHI x 10,000 on the offense-type shares above. Distinct from the per-100K rates in the hero.
Violent rate moved most (2023→2024)
Violent Crime Rate
-16.7%
137 → 114.1/100K
Property Crime Rate
+8.2%
1747 → 1890/100K
Property offenses lead Center Township's 2024 record
Offense
Count
Rate /100K
vs PA
Property Crime
232
1890
1457.1
Larceny-Theft
221
1800.4
-
Burglary
6
48.9
-
Motor Vehicle Theft
5
40.7
-
Arson
0
0
-
Violent Crime
14
114.1
249.5
Aggravated Assault
13
105.9
-
Robbery
1
8.1
-
Murder
0
0
-
Rape
0
0
-
Center Township Crime Trend (2020-2024)
The chart omits 2021 rather than drawing an unsupported zero or partial-coverage dip. The table preserves the year and marks the gap.
Center Township property crime rate trend
Lead series · fell across 4 comparable years · FBI UCR
Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program · split lines are the U.S. national averagesRead the chart as a list
Center Township: 114 violent, 1890 property per 100,000 (grade B)
New Britain Township: 33 violent, 506 property per 100,000 (grade A+)
St. Marys City: 122 violent, 618 property per 100,000 (grade A)
Lower Gwynedd Township: 73 violent, 1338 property per 100,000 (grade A)
Yeadon: 219 violent, 1883 property per 100,000 (grade B)
Emmaus: 74 violent, 873 property per 100,000 (grade A)
Elizabethtown: 83 violent, 644 property per 100,000 (grade A)
Logan Township: 0 violent, 1388 property per 100,000 (grade A)
Jefferson Hills Borough: 157 violent, 562 property per 100,000 (grade A)
Center Township Police Department
Reporting agency for Center Township Summary Reporting (SRS)
Center Township Police Department filed the 2024 UCR row behind Center Township's 246 reported offenses (4-year span 2020-2024, with internal gaps).
This agency reports via the traditional Summary Reporting System (SRS): aggregate monthly offense counts rather than incident-level detail.
Similar-Size Cities in Pennsylvania
Crime rates read differently at different scales, so these are the Pennsylvania cities closest to Center Township in population. Their populations run from 12,096 to 12,319, against 12,275 here. Or use our
side-by-side compare tool
to benchmark two cities directly.
Center Township at 114.1/100K violent and 1,890/100K property - matched below outside Pennsylvania (≥10k pop, latest UCR vintage; not the in-state lists above).
In 2024, Center Township reported 14 violent crimes and 232 property crimes, for a total of 246 reported offenses.
Is crime increasing or decreasing in Center Township?
From 2023 to 2024, Center Township's violent crime rate decreased by 16.7%, and the property crime rate increased by 8.2%.
What is the most common crime in Center Township?
The most common crime type in Center Township is larceny-theft, accounting for 89.8% of all reported crimes (221 incidents in 2024).
Mid-size read: Center Township figures are FBI UCR CIUS Table 8 (vintage 2024), population-adjusted per 100,000.
Denominators are the reporting-year population on the municipal row. Incomplete years are dropped from rankings. Confirm at FBI Crime Data Explorer and Census.gov QuickFacts.
Disclaimer (mid-size municipal): figures are informational, not advice. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program is the source. Consult a professional before decisions.
Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program CIUS Table 8 municipal crime rates · 2024 Center Township, PA rates use the reporting-year population on the municipal row.