State crime profile · 2024

New Jersey Crime Rates: Safest & Most Dangerous Cities

Crime data for 417 cities and 20 counties in New Jersey (NJ), ranked safest to most dangerous from 579 reporting agencies.

215.7
Violent / 100K
1,395.7
Property / 100K
417
Cities
20
Counties

The verdict

New Jersey's 215.7 violent crimes per 100,000 runs 39% below the U.S. average, making it one of the safest states in the country.

215.7
violent crimes per 100K
-39%
vs. the U.S. average
8th
safest of 51 states & DC
1,395.7
property crimes per 100K

How safe is New Jersey? FBI UCR data snapshot

New Jersey (NJ) reported 20,492 violent crimes and 132,607 property crimes in 2024, based on FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program submissions from 579 law enforcement agencies. That translates to a statewide violent crime rate of 215.7 per 100,000 residents and a property crime rate of 1395.7 per 100,000 against a reporting population of 9,500,851. The PlainCrime dataset indexes 417 New Jersey cities and 20 counties, each with their own detail pages and local crime figures drawn from FBI UCR Tables 8 and 10.

The FBI's state-level summary reports violent and property crime as aggregate totals rather than broken out by individual offense type (murder, rape, robbery, assault, burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft, arson). For an offense-by-offense breakdown, see the individual city and county pages for New Jersey below, which draw on FBI UCR Tables 8 and 10 and do report each offense type separately.

Across 11 years of state-level UCR history (2014–2024), the violent crime rate moved from 257 to 215.7 per 100,000, a decline of 16.1%. City-level detail pages within New Jersey include safety grades (A+ to F), benchmarks against national averages, per-capita risk estimates, and multi-year trend tables for users comparing specific jurisdictions. All figures above are drawn from FBI UCR 2024 submissions; reporting completeness varies by agency, and the FBI periodically restates prior-year figures as late submissions arrive.

State figures roll up the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) submissions from local and county agencies across the state, then express them per 100,000 residents so one state can be compared with another. Statewide averages hide a great deal of variation: a handful of large cities often account for much of a state's reported violent crime, while most of its land area and population live with markedly lower rates. Reporting completeness also differs between states, so a year-over-year change can reflect which agencies filed data as much as any real shift on the ground. Read a state number as the broad backdrop, then drill into the city and county pages for the local detail that actually shapes day-to-day decisions.

Violent Crime Rate
215.7/100K
Property Crime Rate
1395.7/100K
Population
9,500,851
Data Year
2024

How New Jersey ranks nationally

New Jersey vs. every U.S. state

Violent crime per 100,000 residents, FBI UCR 2024. Lower is safer.

216 Safer than 84% among 51 U.S. states

NJ 0 1,100+ every state & DC, bucketed by value

Each bar is a band of values; taller bars hold more U.S. states. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program · 2024

Safest Cities

Top 50 by lowest violent crime rate

Most Dangerous Cities

Top 50 by highest violent crime rate

Crime Trends

Multi-year charts & analysis

Crime Trends

Year Population Violent Crime Rate Property Crime Rate
2024 9,500,851 20,492 215.7 132,607 1395.7
2023 9,290,841 20,195 217.4 137,237 1477.1
2022 9,261,699 19,074 205.9 125,111 1350.8
2021 9,267,130 12,919 139.4 70,458 760.3
2020 8,882,371 17,362 195.5 103,249 1162.4
2019 8,882,190 18,415 207.3 119,089 1340.8
2018 8,908,520 18,535 208.1 125,564 1409.5
2017 9,005,644 20,604 228.8 140,660 1561.9
2016 8,944,469 21,855 244.3 138,576 1549.3
2015 8,958,013 22,592 252.2 145,592 1625.3
2014 8,938,175 22,970 257 155,352 1738.1

Cities in New Jersey

Safest cities in New Jersey

Cities with 25,000+ residents, lowest violent crime per 100,000, FBI UCR 2024. Hover a bar for the exact rate.

/100K

What this shows Randolph Township is the safest sizeable city in New Jersey, at 3.7 violent crimes per 100,000.

Source FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program As of 2024

Highest violent-crime cities in New Jersey

Cities with 25,000+ residents, highest violent crime per 100,000, FBI UCR 2024. Hover a bar for the exact rate.

/100K

What this shows Atlantic City reports the highest big-city violent-crime rate in New Jersey, at 1,780.1 per 100,000.

Source FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program As of 2024
New Jersey's largest cities, violent vs. property crime. X axis violent crime per 100K, Y axis property crime per 100K, split by the national averages. 14 cities; the anchor is ringed. New Jersey's largest cities, violent vs. property crime 121 1,491 Violent crime per 100K → 526 3,674 Property crime per 100K → Newark Jersey City Paterson Lakewood Townsh… SAFEST HIGHEST CRIME Safety grade A / B C D / F
Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program · split lines are New Jersey's statewide averages · the four largest cities are labeled
City Population Violent / 100K Grade
Newark 309,708 581.2 D
Jersey City 297,922 561.6 D
Paterson 158,903 978.6 F
Lakewood Township 144,876 150.5 A
Elizabeth 138,500 408.7 D
Edison Township 109,086 175.1 B
Toms River Township 102,734 134.3 A
Hamilton Township, Mercer County 93,487 184 B
Trenton 91,236 1,025.9 F
Clifton 89,870 165.8 B
Cherry Hill Township 79,950 173.9 C
Brick Township 78,685 137.3 A
Camden County Police Department 72,435 1,380.5 F
East Orange 71,138 486.4 D
Old Bridge Township 70,143 68.4 A
Passaic 69,938 719.2 F
Franklin Township, Somerset County 69,921 78.7 A
Gloucester Township 67,786 67.9 A
Middletown Township 66,307 60.3 A
Piscataway Township 62,342 107.5 A
Jackson Township 62,326 40.1 A+
Union Township 62,290 89.9 A
Irvington 60,900 443.3 D
Vineland 60,848 437.2 D
North Bergen Township 59,532 216.7 B
Parsippany-Troy Hills Township 57,606 52.1 A
Hoboken 57,293 188.5 B
New Brunswick 57,259 698.6 F
Perth Amboy 56,409 391.8 C
Plainfield 55,975 410.9 C
Bloomfield 55,161 123.3 A
Howell Township 53,988 83.4 A
Wayne Township 53,295 93.8 B
West New York 51,260 296.5 C
East Brunswick Township 50,487 126.8 A
Monroe Township, Middlesex County 49,652 12.1 A+
Evesham Township 49,011 81.6 A
West Orange 48,638 139.8 B
Egg Harbor Township 47,892 146.2 B
Manchester Township 47,488 61.1 A+
South Brunswick Township 47,468 101.1 A
Mount Laurel Township 46,978 195.8 B
Bridgewater Township 46,946 23.4 A
Hackensack 46,667 246.4 C
Berkeley Township 46,319 131.7 A
Hillsborough Township 45,555 61.5 A+
North Brunswick Township 45,184 137.2 B
Teaneck Township 42,771 95.9 A
Marlboro Township 41,344 70.1 A
Winslow Township 40,970 117.2 A
Montclair 40,656 118.1 A
Fort Lee 40,445 131 A
Manalapan Township 40,430 34.6 A+
Monroe Township, Gloucester County 38,785 123.8 A
Atlantic City 38,480 1,780.1 F
Pennsauken Township 38,189 251.4 C
Belleville 38,062 249.6 C
Galloway Township 37,910 129.3 A
Fair Lawn 36,579 43.7 A
Freehold Township 35,576 157.4 B
Ewing Township 34,718 250.6 C
Orange City 34,349 454.2 C
Garfield 33,129 199.2 B
Long Branch 33,113 241.6 B
Willingboro Township 32,211 347.7 C
Lawrence Township, Mercer County 32,040 28.1 A
Voorhees Township 31,899 78.4 A
Livingston Township 31,715 78.8 A
Stafford Township 31,546 41.2 A
Westfield 31,111 16.1 A+
Princeton 30,838 48.6 A
Lacey Township 30,787 78 A
Rahway 30,512 180.3 A
Englewood 30,405 230.2 B
East Windsor Township 30,343 72.5 A
Mount Olive Township 30,034 56.6 A+
Nutley Township 30,014 46.6 A+
Bernards Township 28,921 10.4 A+
Bergenfield 28,879 48.5 A+
Hamilton Township, Atlantic County 28,528 115.7 B
Neptune Township 27,969 289.6 C
Ocean Township, Monmouth County 27,835 186.8 C
Millville 27,340 453.5 D
Rockaway Township 27,294 36.6 A
Randolph Township 27,159 3.7 A+
Pemberton Township 27,062 295.6 B
Ridgewood 26,864 44.7 A+
Paramus 26,745 29.9 B
Barnegat Township 26,713 63.6 A+
Bridgeton 26,634 919.9 F
Wall Township 26,547 86.6 A
Lodi 26,296 159.7 B
Cliffside Park 26,105 126.4 A
Mahwah Township 25,873 61.8 A+
Carteret 25,827 313.6 C
Maplewood Township 25,786 50.4 A
Medford Township 25,176 79.4 A
Raritan Township 25,018 20 A+
Scotch Plains Township 24,820 40.3 A+
Glassboro 24,793 153.3 A
Showing the 100 largest of 417 reporting cities. Browse all 417 cities → Or see the safest and most dangerous rankings.

Counties in New Jersey

Largest counties in New Jersey, violent crime per 100K

Top 8 counties by population, violent crime per 100,000 residents. Hover a bar for the exact rate.

/100K
Source FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program As of 2024
Atlantic
Bergen
Burlington
Camden
Cape May
Cumberland
Essex
Gloucester
Hudson
Hunterdon
Mercer
Middlesex
Monmouth
Ocean
Passaic
Salem
Somerset
Sussex
Union
Warren

Nearby States

Compare New Jersey with neighboring states, or use the compare tool for side-by-side jurisdiction benchmarking.

Nevada
NV
New Hampshire
NH
New Mexico
NM
New York
NY
North Carolina
NC

Explore New Jersey crime data

Safest cities → Most dangerous cities → Crime trends → National rankings → Crime grades → Methodology →

Primary source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program, Crime in the United States annual release. State-level trends cross-check against the FBI Crime Data Explorer (CDE) API.

Population figures for rate calculations reference U.S. Census Bureau estimates where FBI-reported populations are unavailable. Verify with Census.gov QuickFacts.

Read our methodology , how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Using PlainCrime rankings responsibly

Crime rankings are most useful when they sit alongside other community-quality signals, school performance, housing affordability, employment, and access to healthcare. A safer-than-average violent-crime rate in a small commuter suburb does not by itself make a city a better place to live; it is one data point among many. Likewise, a higher-than-average rate in a dense urban center may reflect that residents and visitors interact with police more often, not that the city is necessarily unsafe for its residents. We provide cross-links from each city profile to neighboring jurisdictions, state averages, and national benchmarks so you can read each number in context rather than in isolation.

For news outlets, researchers, and concerned residents who cite our rankings, the most defensible approach is to quote the per-100,000 rate, the reporting year, and the source agency in the same sentence. Avoid framing crime statistics as predictive, UCR data describes what was reported in a past year, not what will happen tomorrow. Where possible, pair our rankings with longitudinal trend data on the relevant city's profile page to show whether the rate is moving up, holding steady, or falling year over year.

Every figure on PlainCrime is rendered directly from FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on FBI Uniform Crime Reporting source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.