Crime Rate in New Jersey (2025)
The FBI-based Crime Index for 15 cities in New Jersey, plus the statewide average. Scores run 0–100 (higher = safer) and are built from FBI Crime Data Explorer reports for 2025.
Crime Index
Crime trend in New Jersey
Reported crime by offense
Statewide rates per 100,000 residents vs the US average.
Each bar is scaled to the US average for that offense — the dashed line marks 1×. Bars past it run above the national norm; hover a row for detail.
Violent crime
- New Jersey
- 1.9 /100k · 181 total
- US average
- 4.1 /100k
- New Jersey
- 16.2 /100k · 1,551 total
- US average
- 35.2 /100k
- New Jersey
- 37 /100k · 3,536 total
- US average
- 47.9 /100k
- New Jersey
- 137 /100k · 13,072 total
- US average
- 228 /100k
Property crime
- New Jersey
- 116 /100k · 11,121 total
- US average
- 187 /100k
- New Jersey
- 969 /100k · 92,519 total
- US average
- 1,099 /100k
- New Jersey
- 145 /100k · 13,801 total
- US average
- 192 /100k
- New Jersey
- 3.1 /100k · 295 total
- US average
- 9.4 /100k
How New Jersey compares
New Jersey against the US average for 2025.
| Metric | New Jersey | United States |
|---|---|---|
| Crime Index (higher = safer) | 81B | 73C |
| Violent crime /100k | 192 | 315 |
| Property crime /100k | 1,233 | 1,487 |
| Homicide /100k | 1.9 | 4.1 |
| Total reported /100k | 1,425 | 1,802 |
Grade shown per index band (88–100 = A … 0–29 = F). Rates are reported offenses per 100,000 residents.
Reported crime rate since 2021
Reported crime rate since 2021
All 15 cities in New Jersey
Ranked safest to most dangerous by Crime Index.
- 1PlainfieldB855per 100k0.0homicide
- 2Perth AmboyB1,062per 100k7.0homicide
- 3HobokenB1,593per 100k1.7homicide
- 4West New YorkB1,490per 100k0.0homicide
- 5BayonneB1,484per 100k1.3homicide
- 6CliftonB2,118per 100k0.0homicide
- 7New BrunswickC2,106per 100k5.2homicide
- 8ElizabethC2,754per 100k1.4homicide
- 9East OrangeC2,362per 100k9.7homicide
- 10VinelandC2,664per 100k3.2homicide
- 11Jersey CityC2,317per 100k3.9homicide
- 12NewarkC2,305per 100k10.4homicide
- 13PassaicD2,424per 100k2.8homicide
- 14PatersonE3,166per 100k8.7homicide
- 15TrentonE3,222per 100k17.5homicide
Protecting yourself in New Jersey
Worried about the numbers above? Compare local providers, estimate costs, and explore the right kind of coverage.
Security guides for New Jersey
New Jersey Security Guard & Company License: Requirements & How to Verify (2026)
Hiring security in New Jersey? Here's who regulates it, what a company and its guards must be licensed to hold, how armed guards are permitted, and how to verify a license yourself in minutes.
Read guide
How Much Does a Security Guard Cost? (2026 US Pricing Guide)
Unarmed guards typically run $20–$35 an hour and armed guards $35–$75 — but the number on your quote is built from local wages, insurance, and coverage hours, and it varies by 50% across states. Here's how security pricing actually works in 2026, state by state, and how to avoid overpaying.
Read guide
How to Hire a Security Guard Company: A Step-by-Step Guide (2026)
Hiring security is easy to get wrong — the cheapest bid is often the riskiest. This step-by-step guide walks you through vetting a licensed company the right way, from license checks and state-by-state training standards to the questions that separate pros from pretenders.
Read guide
How to Verify a Security Company's License (State-by-State, 2026)
There is no federal security license in the US — every state runs its own registry, and a legitimate company must be in it. Here's exactly how to check, with a state-by-state table of licensing agencies, credentials, insurance minimums, and official lookups.
Read guideNo area has zero risk
A high Crime Index score means lower reported crime relative to other US cities — it is not a guarantee of safety. Reported crime is not the same as actual crime. Research on the gap between crime that occurs and crime that gets reported to police — often called the "dark figure" of crime — estimates that roughly 40% of violent crime and about a third of property crime go unreported each year. Every index built on official statistics, including this one, necessarily undercounts real crime. That gap is exactly why homicide — the offense with the smallest dark figure — anchors the calculation instead of a more commonly reported but less reliable category like theft.
Scores on this page reflect FBI-reported data for 2025. See the full methodology →