Photo: M.M.Dwyer · CC BY-SA 4.0Stratford sees less violence than most U.S. towns, but more property crime
Police counts work out at 0.8 violent crime and 17.4 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents annually; in the rest of Connecticut they are 1.5 and 15.0. On top of that, the graded rate fell 33% from 2023 to 2025. All told, Stratford grades B− for safety (#67 of 90 graded towns in Connecticut): close to the middle of U.S. towns, on crimes its police reported from 2023 to 2025. One of the 4 towns next door with figures records less crime per resident.
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 Stratford
1 of the 4 graded towns next door reports less crime
Of the 4 Connecticut towns on Stratford’s borders, 4 have a Safety Grade: Shelton (A−), Trumbull (C+), Milford (C+), Bridgeport (C). Neighbors ↓
Among Connecticut towns, lower
Connecticut’s cities and towns report less crime than most states’, so Stratford’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 26% of the 90 Connecticut towns we grade, against 45% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
Reported crime is falling
Crime reported per resident fell from 2023 to 2025 by more than ordinary year-to-year swings, on the grade’s own score. Trend ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind Stratford’s grade
Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Violent crime holds Stratford’s grade up; property crime pulls it down. Its property rate (17.4) 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.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Stratford property | Rest of Connecticut property | Stratford violent | Rest of Connecticut violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 18.6 | 16.7 | 1.1 | 1.7 |
| 2023 | 19.3 | 17.1 | 1.2 | 1.7 |
| 2024 | 19.9 | 15.4 | 0.7 | 1.5 |
| 2025 | 13.3 | 12.6 | 0.5 | 1.2 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
Reported crime per resident fell from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings. Per 1,000 residents, 2022–2025, against the rest of Connecticut.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Stratford | Rest of Connecticut | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1.1 | 1.7 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 1.2 | 1.7 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 0.7 | 1.5 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 0.5 | 1.2 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Stratford’s police reported 122 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 0.8 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 Stratford 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 1 violent crime, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
741 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.
26 violent and 715 property, as reported to the FBI by Stratford’s police.
18 people died in crashes on Stratford’s roads in 2019–2023
Stratford had 18 fatal crashes in five years, in which 18 people died; 6 were pedestrians. 6 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is 6.8 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.
Stratford and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stratford | B− | 0.8 | 17.4 |
| Bridgeport | C | 3.4 | 13.8 |
| Shelton | A− | 0.4 | 6.5 |
| Milford | C+ | 1.0 | 20.8 |
| Trumbull | C+ | 0.8 | 21.0 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Connecticut towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stratford | B− | 0.8 | 17.4 |
| Middletown | B | 0.7 | 11.9 |
| West Haven | B | 0.9 | 12.7 |
| East Hartford | C+ | 1.1 | 17.6 |
| Manchester | C+ | 1.2 | 18.9 |
| Meriden | C+ | 1.6 | 19.3 |
The five graded Connecticut towns closest to Stratford’s population (53,908), 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 Stratford. 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 Stratford’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (53,961 in 2025); our figure for Stratford is 53,908 (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 Stratford
Is Stratford, CT safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Stratford reports more crime per resident than 55% of U.S. towns, a B− Safety Grade and #67 of 90 in Connecticut. Its police reported 0.8 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 Stratford?
0.8 violent and 17.4 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.
How many homicides were there in Stratford in 2025?
Stratford’s police reported 1 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 1.9 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Stratford safer than Bridgeport?
Bridgeport reports more crime per resident than Stratford: Bridgeport grades C for safety and Stratford B−. Bridgeport’s police reported 3.4 violent and 13.8 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Stratford?
Stratford’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Stratford”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
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Please don’t name or describe individuals. In an emergency, call 911.
Neighbors looking out for each other in Stratford.
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.