West Orange, NJ is close to the national middle for violent crime, and earns a B PlainCrime safety grade, where violent crime runs 60% below the U.S. average
According to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program for 2024, West Orange, NJ shows violent crime at 139.8 per 100,000 residents and property crime at 1,416.6 per 100,000. Violent crime runs 60% 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
139.8/100K violent
1416.6/100K property
-60% vs U.S.
What the 2024 FBI UCR record shows for West Orange, NJ
Comparable rate records
West Orange's closest reported-rate comparisons are in the New Jersey cohort
The nearest comparable 2024 records to West Orange's 139.8 violent-crime rate per 100,000 are South Amboy (139.1), Sea Isle City (141.0), Clayton (141.4), Brick Township (137.3). 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
West Orange sits mid-pack among comparable New Jersey cities
At 139.8 reported violent offenses per 100,000 residents in 2024, West Orange ranks 116 of 417 — above 301 of the 416 other New Jersey cities whose 2024 submission passes this site’s completeness test. That is +105.2% against the cohort median of 68.1. 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 123.8 per 100,000 in 2020 to 139.8 in 2024 (+13.0%). The highest observed value was 196.8 in 2023 and the lowest 123.8 in 2020. Years whose submission failed the completeness test are left out of this comparison rather than plotted as change.
Property counts dominate West Orange'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.
Mid-size municipal totals above are reported offenses, not safety advice for any single block. Reporting completeness still varies by year and agency.
West Orange's 2024 municipal footprint
Across 12 Census sq mi, West Orange logged 57.4 property and 5.7 violent offenses per square mile in 2024.
West Orange's 2024 book concentrates in larceny-theft (69% of 757 offenses; mix index 5,091).
Violent offenses are only 9% of the municipal total - a property-led book.
Density uses Census Gazetteer land area (12 sq mi); 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
-29%
196.8 → 139.8/100K
Property Crime Rate
-8.3%
1545.3 → 1416.6/100K
Property offenses lead West Orange's 2024 record
Offense
Count
Rate /100K
vs US avg
Property Crime
689
1416.6
1711
Larceny-Theft
524
1077.3
-
Burglary
104
213.8
-
Motor Vehicle Theft
61
125.4
-
Arson
1
2.1
-
Violent Crime
68
139.8
352
Aggravated Assault
48
98.7
-
Robbery
17
35
-
Rape
2
4.1
-
Murder
1
2.1
-
West Orange 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.
West Orange 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
West Orange: 140 violent, 1417 property per 100,000 (grade B)
Evesham Township: 82 violent, 1351 property per 100,000 (grade A)
Egg Harbor Township: 146 violent, 1675 property per 100,000 (grade B)
Monroe Township, Middlesex County: 12 violent, 262 property per 100,000 (grade A+)
Manchester Township: 61 violent, 451 property per 100,000 (grade A+)
South Brunswick Township: 101 violent, 790 property per 100,000 (grade A)
Mount Laurel Township: 196 violent, 2046 property per 100,000 (grade B)
Bridgewater Township: 23 violent, 997 property per 100,000 (grade A)
East Brunswick Township: 127 violent, 1171 property per 100,000 (grade A)
West Orange Police Department
Reporting agency for West Orange NIBRS-participating
West Orange Police Department filed the 2024 UCR row behind West Orange's 757 reported offenses (4-year span 2020-2024, with internal gaps).
This agency reports via NIBRS, the incident-based system that captures more detail per offense (multiple crimes per incident, victim/offender data) than the older summary counts.
Similar-Size Cities in New Jersey
Crime rates read differently at different scales, so these are the New Jersey cities closest to West Orange in population. Their populations run from 46,946 to 50,487, against 48,638 here. Or use our
side-by-side compare tool
to benchmark two cities directly.
West Orange at 139.8/100K violent and 1,416.6/100K property - matched below outside New Jersey (≥10k pop, latest UCR vintage; not the in-state lists above).
In 2024, West Orange reported 68 violent crimes and 689 property crimes, for a total of 757 reported offenses.
Is crime increasing or decreasing in West Orange?
From 2023 to 2024, West Orange's violent crime rate decreased by 29%, and the property crime rate decreased by 8.3%.
What is the most common crime in West Orange?
The most common crime type in West Orange is larceny-theft, accounting for 69.2% of all reported crimes (524 incidents in 2024).
Mid-size read: West Orange 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 West Orange, NJ rates use the reporting-year population on the municipal row.