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Crime Rate in Plainfield, NJ (2025)

The FBI-based Crime Index for Plainfield, built from FBI Crime Data Explorer reports for 2025. Scores run 0–100 (higher = safer).

83/100
BSafe

Crime Index

Population: 56,992
Data year: 2025 · FBI Crime Data Explorer
#1 safest of 15 cities in New Jersey
100% of population covered by reporting agencies · updated July 8, 2026

Is Plainfield safe?

For 2025, Plainfield scores 83/100 on our FBI-based Crime Index — a grade B (safe), which means it is one of the safer places we track. Its violent-crime rate of 246 per 100k is -22% vs the US average, and robbery stands out most: 46 reported in 2025, 1.7× the national rate. It ranks #1 safest of 15 cities in New Jersey.

Violent crime
246/100k
-22% vs US avg
+28% vs NJ avg
Property crime
609/100k
0.4× US avg
0.5× NJ avg
Homicide
0/100k
0.0× US avg
0.0× NJ avg
Total reported
855/100k
0.5× US avg
0.6× NJ avg
76%

Safer than 76% of the 759 US cities we track

1 in 407

Annual odds of a reported violent crime per resident

1 in 164

Annual odds of a reported property crime per resident

Odds are the reported 2025 rate expressed per resident, city-wide — your actual risk varies by neighborhood, time, and situation.

Treat this year's figure as incomplete. Plainfield's reported 2025 crime rate (855 per 100,000) is less than half its own recent average, which almost always means the agency submitted part of the year rather than that crime actually collapsed. We exclude Plainfield from our safest and most-dangerous rankings for 2025. The multi-year trend below is the more reliable read — see the methodology.

Crime trend in Plainfield

2,5871,531475202120222023202420252,086855
Reported crime per 100,000 residents · hover a year for detail

Reported crime by offense

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

Homicideanchor
0.0× US
0
0 total
Rape
-30% US
24.6
14 total
Robbery
1.7× US
80.7
46 total
Aggravated assault
0.6× US
140
80 total

Property crime

Burglary
0.3× US
52.6
30 total
Larceny-theft
0.5× US
505
288 total
Motor vehicle theft
0.3× US
50.9
29 total
Arson
0.0× US
0
0 total

Rates shown are per 100,000 residents.

Homicide rate

0per 100k

Homicide anchors the Crime Index — see methodology.

-100% lower than the national homicide rate of 4.12 per 100k.

How Plainfield compares

Plainfield against the New Jersey and US averages for 2025.

MetricPlainfieldNew JerseyUnited States
Crime Index (higher = safer)83B81B73C
Violent crime /100k246192315
Property crime /100k6091,2331,487
Homicide /100k01.94.1
Total reported /100k8551,4251,802

Grade shown per index band (88–100 = A … 0–29 = F). Rates are reported offenses per 100,000 residents.

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No 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 →

Compare Plainfield to other New Jersey cities

Ranked by Crime Index — closest to Plainfield.

Perth Amboy81 BHoboken80 BWest New York79 B

Head-to-head comparisons

Plainfield vs Perth AmboyPlainfield vs Hoboken

Frequently asked questions

Is Plainfield safe?
Plainfield has a Crime Index of 83 out of 100 (grade B — safe) for 2025, based on FBI-reported violent and property crime rates relative to other US cities. That ranks it #1 of 15 cities in New Jersey by reported crime. 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.
What does a "B" grade mean?
A "Safe" grade means Plainfield's severity-weighted crime rate falls in the 75–87 range on the Crime Index, out of a national distribution of every city we track for 2025. Grades are calibrated against the national distribution of every area we track for the same data year — they describe an area's relative standing, not an absolute promise. A "Very safe" grade means an area sits among the lowest-crime places in the country with usable data, not that nothing ever happens there.
What is the most common crime in Plainfield?
The most frequently reported offense in Plainfield for 2025 was larceny-theft, with 288 reported incidents. See the full breakdown by offense above for how violent and property crime compare to the US average.
Is crime in Plainfield getting better or worse?
There isn't enough multi-year data to state a reliable trend for Plainfield.
What are the odds of being a victim of crime in Plainfield?
Based on 2025 reported rates, Plainfield residents face roughly a 1 in 407 annual chance of a violent crime and about 1 in 164 for a property crime, calculated city-wide. Your individual risk varies widely by neighborhood, time of day, and circumstances.
How does Plainfield compare to other US cities?
Plainfield is safer than 76% of the 759 US cities we track for 2025, ranked by Crime Index. Its violent-crime rate is +28% vs the New Jersey average and its property-crime rate is 0.5× the New Jersey average.
Does reported crime equal real crime?
No. National research on the dark figure of crime estimates that roughly 40% of violent crime and about a third of property crime are never reported to police, so any index built on official statistics — including this one — measures a floor on real crime, not a ceiling. That's part of why the index leans most heavily on homicide, the category with the smallest reporting gap.
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