Photo: Kenneth C. Zirkel · CC BY-SA 4.0Manchester reports less violent crime than most U.S. towns, but more property crime
Overall, Manchester grades C+ for safety (#73 of 90 graded towns in Connecticut): more crime per resident than 62% of U.S. towns, on crimes its police reported to the FBI in 2023–2025.
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. “Rest of CT” is every other Connecticut city and town in the FBI’s tables; the U.S. figure is the FBI’s national estimate as published, averaged over the three years. The FBI publishes no national homicide or robbery rate in our data, so those compare with all U.S. cities and towns in its tables.
What stands out about safety in Manchester
4 of the 4 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 5 Connecticut towns on Manchester’s borders, 4 have a Safety Grade: Glastonbury (B+), Vernon (B+), South Windsor (B), East Hartford (C+). Bolton has no FBI figures of its own for 2023–2025. Neighbors ↓
Among Connecticut towns, lower
Connecticut’s cities and towns report less crime than most states’, so Manchester’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 19% of the 90 Connecticut towns we grade, against 38% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind Manchester’s grade
Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Violent crime holds Manchester’s grade up; property crime pulls it down.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Manchester’s police reported 213 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 1.2 per 1,000 residents a year, against 1.5 in the rest of Connecticut and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Show as a table
| Year | Manchester | Rest of Connecticut | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1.6 | 1.7 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 1.1 | 1.7 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 1.3 | 1.5 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
For every 1,000 residents, about 18 property crimes reported
And about 1 violent crime, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
Violent crime per 1,000 residents, 2025
Property crime per 1,000 residents, 2025
Crimes reported to police in 2025 per resident; one person can be the victim of more than one, and some reports involve visitors.
Reported crime is steady
Reported crime per resident was steady from 2023 to 2025: the change is within ordinary year-to-year swings. Per 1,000 residents, 2022–2025, against the rest of Connecticut.
Show as a table
| Year | Manchester property | Rest of Connecticut property | Manchester violent | Rest of Connecticut violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 25.9 | 16.6 | 1.6 | 1.7 |
| 2023 | 17.7 | 17.1 | 1.1 | 1.7 |
| 2024 | 21.2 | 15.4 | 1.3 | 1.5 |
| 2025 | 17.7 | 12.5 | 1.1 | 1.2 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
1,133 crimes reported in 2025
68 violent and 1,065 property, as reported to the FBI by Manchester’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
19 people died in crashes on Manchester’s roads in 2019–2023
Manchester had 18 fatal crashes in five years, in which 19 people died; 8 were pedestrians. 7 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is 6.4 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, about the same as the median for Connecticut towns of 25,000–100,000 people (6.8, 47 towns).
Deaths are counted where the crash happened, not where the people lived: a highway through town adds through-traffic deaths, and residents’ own risk on roads elsewhere isn’t here. Town rates sit below state and U.S. rates because a third of fatal crashes happen outside any town. Road safety is described here and is not part of the Safety Grade. Source: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 2019–2023.
Manchester and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manchester | C+ | 1.2 | 18.9 |
| Glastonbury | B+ | 0.3 | 10.2 |
| Bolton | — | — | — |
| East Hartford | C+ | 1.1 | 17.6 |
| South Windsor | B | 0.5 | 14.7 |
| Vernon | B+ | 0.3 | 11.2 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Bolton has no FBI figures of its own for 2023–2025.
Connecticut towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manchester | C+ | 1.2 | 18.9 |
| Bristol | B+ | 0.5 | 9.3 |
| West Haven | B | 0.9 | 12.7 |
| Meriden | C+ | 1.6 | 19.3 |
| West Hartford | C | 0.5 | 25.8 |
| Hamden | D | 3.8 | 27.6 |
The five graded Connecticut towns closest to Manchester’s population (59,773), by grade.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- It’s reported crime. Only incidents reported to and recorded by police appear here. Many crimes are never reported to police.
- One number for all of Manchester. A citywide rate doesn’t show where incidents happen, and that can differ a lot from one part of the city to another.
- Visitors count too. Incidents involving people who work, shop or visit are counted against Manchester’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (60,061 in 2025); our figure for Manchester is 59,773 (2025 Census estimate).
- Gaps are real gaps. A missing year means the department didn’t report a full year, not that nothing happened.
How the grade is calculated, for every town: How TownRatings grades safety →
Questions about safety in Manchester
Is Manchester, CT safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Manchester reports more crime per resident than 62% of U.S. towns, a C+ Safety Grade and #73 of 90 in Connecticut. Its police reported 1.2 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 1.5 in the rest of Connecticut and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Manchester?
1.2 violent and 18.9 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Connecticut reports 1.5 and 15.0; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is crime going up or down in Manchester?
Reported crime per resident was steady from 2023 to 2025: the change is within ordinary year-to-year swings.
How many homicides were there in Manchester in 2025?
Manchester’s police reported 1 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 1.7 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Manchester safer than Glastonbury?
Glastonbury reports less crime per resident than Manchester: Glastonbury grades B+ for safety and Manchester C+. Glastonbury’s police reported 0.3 violent and 10.2 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Manchester?
Manchester’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Manchester”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Manchester.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
Please don’t name or describe individuals. In an emergency, call 911.
Crime: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program, Crime Data Explorer: offenses known to law enforcement by city, 2025, and state and national rates. Counts are crimes reported to police, not convictions. The Safety Grade is our own summary of that data, not an official rating. Road deaths: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 2019–2023. This isn’t an official statement of public safety. In an emergency, call 911.