Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Recorded crime in New London is close to typical for U.S. towns
Across all the graded crimes, New London lands on C+ (#69 of 90 graded towns in Connecticut): close to the middle of U.S. towns, on crimes its police reported from 2023 to 2025. On top of that, all 3 towns next door with figures record less crime per resident. Each year brought 2.0 violent crimes and 13.5 incidents of property crime for every 1,000 residents (1.5 and 15.1 in the rest of Connecticut). Per resident, the graded rate barely moved from 2023 to 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 New London
3 of the 3 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 3 Connecticut towns on New London’s borders, 3 have a Safety Grade: Groton (B+), Groton (B+), Waterford (B). Neighbors ↓
Among Connecticut towns, lower
Connecticut’s cities and towns report less crime than most states’, so New London’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 23% of the 90 Connecticut towns we grade, against 43% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind New London’s grade
Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Both violent and property crime are higher than in most U.S. towns; violent crime is the closer of the two to typical. Its violent rate (2.0) is below the FBI’s national estimate (3.6) but higher than in most individual towns: the national figure is weighted by people, and the grade counts towns. Its property rate (13.5) is below the FBI’s national estimate (17.6) but higher than in most individual towns: the national figure is weighted by people, and the grade counts towns.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | New London | Rest of Connecticut | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 2.4 | 1.7 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 1.9 | 1.7 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 2.0 | 1.5 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 2.2 | 1.2 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
New London’s police reported 173 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 2.0 per 1,000 residents a year, against 1.5 in the rest of Connecticut and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Crime in New London per 1,000 residents
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.
And about 2 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
Reported crime is steady
Show as a table
| Year | New London property | Rest of Connecticut property | New London violent | Rest of Connecticut violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 16.9 | 16.8 | 2.4 | 1.7 |
| 2023 | 13.8 | 17.2 | 1.9 | 1.7 |
| 2024 | 13.9 | 15.5 | 2.0 | 1.5 |
| 2025 | 12.8 | 12.6 | 2.2 | 1.2 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
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.
428 crimes reported in 2025
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
63 violent and 365 property, as reported to the FBI by New London’s police.
Three people died in crashes on New London’s roads in 2019–2023
New London had 3 fatal crashes in five years, in which three people died; 1 was a pedestrian.
That is fewer than is typical for Connecticut towns of 25,000–100,000 people: at their median rate (6.8 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of New London’s size would see about 9 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so New London’s own rate (2.2) is context, not a ranking.
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.
New London and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| New London | C+ | 2.0 | 13.5 |
| Waterford | B | 0.2 | 13.8 |
| Groton (township) | B+ | 0.7 | 9.5 |
| Groton (city) | B+ | 1.6 | 6.0 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Connecticut towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| New London | C+ | 2.0 | 13.5 |
| Westport | B+ | 0.2 | 12.0 |
| Wethersfield | B | 0.7 | 13.9 |
| Farmington | B− | 0.3 | 16.0 |
| Branford | B− | 0.6 | 14.9 |
| East Haven | C+ | 1.0 | 21.0 |
The five graded Connecticut towns closest to New London’s population (28,003), by grade.
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
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 New London. A town-wide rate doesn’t show where incidents happen, and that can differ a lot from one part of town to another.
- Visitors count too. Incidents involving people who work, shop or visit are counted against New London’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (28,415 in 2025); our figure for New London is 28,003 (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 New London
Is New London, CT safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, New London reports more crime per resident than 57% of U.S. towns, a C+ Safety Grade and #69 of 90 in Connecticut. Its police reported 2.0 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 New London?
2.0 violent and 13.5 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Connecticut reports 1.5 and 15.1; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
How many homicides were there in New London in 2025?
New London’s police reported 1 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 3.5 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is New London safer than Waterford?
Waterford reports less crime per resident than New London: Waterford grades B for safety and New London C+. Waterford’s police reported 0.2 violent and 13.8 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices New London?
New London’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “New London”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
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Neighbors looking out for each other in New London.
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.