New Jersey Crime Rates & City Safety Scores
Population-adjusted FBI reporting rates; see the city profiles below.
Key facts
- 01
New Jersey displays a 45.83-point adjusted-score range in its 2025 source-year cohort: Toms River Township, New Jersey at 74.16 points out of 100 versus Paterson, New Jersey at 28.33.
- 02
New Jersey displays 6 jurisdiction profiles from a scoring run containing 344 reportable jurisdictions in its 2025 source-year directory; 6 displayed profiles have scores.
- 03
New Jersey has 3 displayed jurisdictions with decreasing reported trajectories versus 1 increasing and 2 stable, comparing weighted 2024 reporting with 2025.
- 04
Newark, New Jersey has a reporting population of 307,188 residents versus 89,966 in Trenton, New Jersey, in the 2025 source-year displayed cohort.
Quick answer
In the Safety Atlas 2026 public safety index, the highest-scoring city in New Jersey is Toms River Township with an adjusted safety score of 74.16 out of 100, ranked across 6 tracked jurisdictions using 2025 FBI reporting.
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New Jersey city safety rankings
Ranked by adjusted Safety Atlas score. The table lists the 6 most populous jurisdictions in this directory; each rank is calculated within this displayed 6-jurisdiction cohort.
| City / Jurisdiction | Cohort Rank | Population | Safety Score | Overall Trend | Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toms River Township | #1 of 6 | 93,915 | 74.16 | ↑ Increasing | View Report → |
| Trenton | #2 of 6 | 89,966 | 56.94 | ↓ Decreasing | View Report → |
| Elizabeth | #3 of 6 | 135,887 | 56.0 | ↓ Decreasing | View Report → |
| Jersey City | #4 of 6 | 289,691 | 44.64 | → Stable | View Report → |
| Newark | #5 of 6 | 307,188 | 37.01 | ↓ Decreasing | View Report → |
| Paterson | #6 of 6 | 157,660 | 28.33 | → Stable | View Report → |
* Trajectory trends compare weighted year-over-year reporting from 2024 to 2025. Scores describe relative reported rates, not personal risk. Cohort rank covers only the 6 jurisdictions listed above.
New Jersey in 7 numbers
- Every major offense fell in 2025. Robbery -24% (8,109 to 6,199), homicide -20%, burglary -18%, larceny-theft -10%, motor vehicle theft -10%, aggravated assault -7%.
- Almost half of all reports are property crime. 239,161 of 428,724 reports (55.8%); larceny-theft alone is 159,645 (37.2%).
- Clearances skew toward violent crime. 66% of homicides cleared vs 6% of motor vehicle thefts and 17% of burglaries (2025, reports cleared divided by reports received, reporting agencies only).
- Homicides fell by nearly a fifth. 363 reports in 2025 vs 451 in 2024 (-20%) across reporting agencies.
- The biggest volume is not violent. Simple assault (62,484) alone outweighs the entire personal-safety total (32,263, 7.5% of reports).
- Watch the monthly shape. Larceny-theft peaked in Jul (14,874) and troughed in Feb (11,585), a 1.3× swing inside a single year.
- These are reporting-agency sums. 334 of 511 agencies reported robbery in December 2025 (vs 343 in January); totals reflect who reported, not a census of crime.
Takeaways are computed from summed FBI CDE reported counts (source year 2025, 511 agencies in file). They describe reported data, not forecasts; check the methodology and coverage notes before reuse.
Every number on this page ships in the New Jersey workbook.
New Jersey monthly trend: reporting-agency sums through December 2025
Annual totals hide timing. The bars below show 2025 reported counts per month summed across reporting agencies for three indicator offenses. Counts only; there is no honest monthly denominator at this grain, so no rates are shown.
Larceny-theft, month by month
↓ Decreasing, 159645 reports vs 177814 in 2024 (down 10% in reported data).
| Month | Count | Agencies | Coverage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 2025 | 12,651 | 345 | Full |
| Feb 2025 | 11,585 | 344 | Full |
| Mar 2025 | 12,744 | 337 | Full |
| Apr 2025 | 12,886 | 340 | Full |
| May 2025 | 13,840 | 338 | Full |
| Jun 2025 | 13,951 | 339 | Full |
| Jul 2025 | 14,874 | 340 | Full |
| Aug 2025 | 14,456 | 339 | Full |
| Sep 2025 | 13,847 | 343 | Full |
| Oct 2025 | 13,811 | 338 | Full |
| Nov 2025 | 12,145 | 338 | Full |
| Dec 2025 | 12,855 | 337 | Full |
Simple assault, month by month
→ Stable, 62484 reports vs 62102 in 2024 (about level in reported data).
| Month | Count | Agencies | Coverage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 2025 | 4,688 | 333 | Full |
| Feb 2025 | 4,150 | 333 | Full |
| Mar 2025 | 5,343 | 325 | Full |
| Apr 2025 | 4,914 | 326 | Full |
| May 2025 | 5,560 | 324 | Full |
| Jun 2025 | 5,490 | 326 | Full |
| Jul 2025 | 5,652 | 326 | Full |
| Aug 2025 | 5,630 | 324 | Full |
| Sep 2025 | 5,336 | 328 | Full |
| Oct 2025 | 5,489 | 328 | Full |
| Nov 2025 | 5,194 | 326 | Full |
| Dec 2025 | 5,038 | 326 | Full |
Vandalism, month by month
→ Stable, 40183 reports vs 41474 in 2024 (about level in reported data).
| Month | Count | Agencies | Coverage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 2025 | 2,967 | 339 | Full |
| Feb 2025 | 2,805 | 338 | Full |
| Mar 2025 | 3,526 | 332 | Full |
| Apr 2025 | 3,410 | 332 | Full |
| May 2025 | 3,648 | 331 | Full |
| Jun 2025 | 3,746 | 332 | Full |
| Jul 2025 | 3,756 | 333 | Full |
| Aug 2025 | 3,620 | 331 | Full |
| Sep 2025 | 3,356 | 335 | Full |
| Oct 2025 | 3,352 | 333 | Full |
| Nov 2025 | 3,158 | 332 | Full |
| Dec 2025 | 2,839 | 332 | Full |
Clearances: what got cleared in 2025
66% of homicides cleared vs 6% of motor vehicle thefts, clearance follows violent crime, not volume.
| Offense | Reported | Cleared | Clearance rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 363 | 241 | 66.4% |
| Aggravated Assault | 22,355 | 13,588 | 60.8% |
| Robbery | 6,199 | 1,762 | 28.4% |
| Burglary | 19,120 | 3,245 | 17.0% |
| Larceny-theft | 159,645 | 29,088 | 18.2% |
| Motor Vehicle Theft | 24,632 | 1,449 | 5.9% |
Clearances ÷ reports received; clearances may concern earlier reports, so this is not a solve rate.
Monthly counts summed over reporting agencies, FBI CDE source year 2025. A hyphen (-) means not reported, not zero. Totals reflect who reported, not a census of crime.
Downloads: New Jersey monthly series (JSON) · same data (CSV) · build manifest
New Jersey city reports
- Toms River Township safety report: #1 of 6, population 93,915, score 74.16, and the displayed trajectory is ↑ Increasing.
- Trenton safety report: #2 of 6, population 89,966, score 56.94, and the displayed trajectory is ↓ Decreasing.
- Elizabeth safety report: #3 of 6, population 135,887, score 56.0, and the displayed trajectory is ↓ Decreasing.
- Jersey City safety report: #4 of 6, population 289,691, score 44.64, and the displayed trajectory is → Stable.
- Newark safety report: #5 of 6, population 307,188, score 37.01, and the displayed trajectory is ↓ Decreasing.
- Paterson safety report: #6 of 6, population 157,660, score 28.33, and the displayed trajectory is → Stable.
Reading the comparison
Scores compare reported rates; they do not predict personal risk. Methodology · Coverage
Monthly count comparisons
New Jersey reporting agencies recorded 14,874 larceny-theft offenses in Jul 2025 versus 11,585 in Feb 2025, a difference of 3,289 reports; 340 agencies reported in the peak-count month compared with 344 in the minimum-count month, within 12 displayed months totaling 159,645 reports (FBI CDE reporting-agency sums, not statewide population rates).
New Jersey reporting agencies recorded 5,652 simple assault offenses in Jul 2025 versus 4,150 in Feb 2025, a difference of 1,502 reports; 326 agencies reported in the peak-count month compared with 333 in the minimum-count month, within 12 displayed months totaling 62,484 reports (FBI CDE reporting-agency sums, not statewide population rates).
New Jersey reporting agencies recorded 3,756 vandalism offenses in Jul 2025 versus 2,805 in Feb 2025, a difference of 951 reports; 333 agencies reported in the peak-count month compared with 338 in the minimum-count month, within 12 displayed months totaling 40,183 reports (FBI CDE reporting-agency sums, not statewide population rates).
New Jersey reporting agencies recorded 241 cleared homicide offenses against 363 reports received in 2025 (66.4%), compared with 1,449 cleared motor vehicle theft offenses against 24,632 reports (5.9%), a 60.5-percentage-point difference between the displayed clearance ratios; clearances can concern earlier reports.
Toms River Township, New Jersey records 74.16 adjusted score points out of 100 in the 2025 source-year directory, 24.65 points above the displayed scored-cohort mean of 49.51; its reporting population of 93,915 residents accounts for 8.7% of the 1,074,307 residents summed across the 6 displayed jurisdiction populations.
Paterson, New Jersey records 28.33 adjusted score points out of 100 in the 2025 source-year directory, 21.18 points below the displayed scored-cohort mean of 49.51; its reporting population of 157,660 residents accounts for 14.7% of the 1,074,307 residents summed across the 6 displayed jurisdiction populations.
Newark, New Jersey records 37.01 adjusted score points out of 100 in the 2025 source-year directory, 12.50 points below the displayed scored-cohort mean of 49.51; its reporting population of 307,188 residents accounts for 28.6% of the 1,074,307 residents summed across the 6 displayed jurisdiction populations.
New Jersey reporting-agency sums contain 159,645 larceny-theft reports in 2025 versus 177,814 in 2024, 18,169 reports (10.2%) fewer across the two complete twelve-month source series; monthly reporting participation ranges from 337 to 354 agencies across those years, so the count change includes differences in participation and is not a population-adjusted rate change.
New Jersey reporting-agency sums contain 62,484 simple assault reports in 2025 versus 62,102 in 2024, 382 reports (0.6%) more across the two complete twelve-month source series; monthly reporting participation ranges from 324 to 341 agencies across those years, so the count change includes differences in participation and is not a population-adjusted rate change.
New Jersey reporting-agency sums contain 40,183 vandalism reports in 2025 versus 41,474 in 2024, 1,291 reports (3.1%) fewer across the two complete twelve-month source series; monthly reporting participation ranges from 331 to 347 agencies across those years, so the count change includes differences in participation and is not a population-adjusted rate change.
How to read the New Jersey directory
The scoring run contains 344 reportable jurisdictions in New Jersey. This public directory displays the 6 most populous jurisdictions in the current scored comparison set, and each displayed city's rank is calculated within this displayed 6-jurisdiction cohort.
Within the displayed cohort, Toms River Township has the highest adjusted score at 74.16, and Paterson has the lowest at 28.33. The public-cohort range is 45.83 points; use the offense-rate tables on each city profile to understand that spread.
Current trajectories in the displayed cohort: 3 decreasing, 2 stable, and 1 increasing. Trends compare weighted 2024 and 2025 reporting and do not forecast future incidents.
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