Photo: Hayden Soloviev · CC BY 4.0More property crime is recorded per resident in Waterbury than in 89% of U.S. towns
Per resident, the graded crimes were down 24% from 2023 to 2025. Recorded violent crimes ran at 3.4 per 1,000 residents a year and property crime at 27.7, against 1.4 and 14.6 in the rest of Connecticut. That puts it at C− for safety, judged on crimes Waterbury’s police reported from 2023 to 2025: #87 of 90 graded towns in Connecticut, and #175 of 325 U.S. cities over 100,000. Each of the 6 towns on its borders 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 Waterbury
6 of the 6 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 7 Connecticut towns on Waterbury’s borders, 6 have a Safety Grade: Wolcott (A+), Cheshire (A), Middlebury (A), Plymouth (A), Naugatuck (B), Watertown (B). Prospect 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 Waterbury’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 3% of the 90 Connecticut towns we grade, against 15% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
Homicides: above U.S. cities overall
Waterbury’s police reported 9 homicides to the FBI in 2025. Over 2023–2025 that is 10.1 per 100,000 residents a year, 3.9 times the rest of Connecticut (2.6) and 1.8 times all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables (5.7). Violent crime ↓
Robberies: 2.9 times the rest of Connecticut
116 robberies per 100,000 residents a year over 2023–2025 (109 reported in 2025), 2.9 times the rest of Connecticut (39.3) and above all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables (79.4). Violent crime ↓
Against other big cities
Among the 325 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, Waterbury reports less crime per resident than 46% (#175). Places like it ↓
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 Waterbury’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 (3.4) 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.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Waterbury property | Rest of Connecticut property | Waterbury violent | Rest of Connecticut violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 28.7 | 16.3 | 3.9 | 1.6 |
| 2023 | 30.6 | 16.6 | 4.0 | 1.6 |
| 2024 | 29.2 | 15.0 | 3.2 | 1.5 |
| 2025 | 23.4 | 12.2 | 2.9 | 1.1 |
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.
Homicides and robberies
Show as a table
| Year | Waterbury | Rest of Connecticut | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 14.1 | 3.6 | 7.7 |
| 2023 | 15.6 | 3.5 | 6.8 |
| 2024 | 6.9 | 2.4 | 5.7 |
| 2025 | 7.7 | 1.9 | 4.6 |
Homicides per 100,000 residents
Show as a table
| Year | Waterbury | Rest of Connecticut | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 141 | 48.1 | 95.5 |
| 2023 | 149 | 45.4 | 90.6 |
| 2024 | 105 | 41.0 | 81.9 |
| 2025 | 93.6 | 31.6 | 66.0 |
Robberies per 100,000 residents
Waterbury’s police reported 9 homicides, 109 robberies and 340 violent crimes in all to the FBI in 2025. By year, against the rest of Connecticut and all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables.
Crime in Waterbury 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 3 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
3,063 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.
340 violent and 2,723 property, as reported to the FBI by Waterbury’s police.
67 people died in crashes on Waterbury’s roads in 2019–2023
Waterbury had 65 fatal crashes in five years, in which 67 people died; 18 were pedestrians and 1 was a cyclist. 5 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is 11.7 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, about the same as the median for Connecticut towns of 100,000+ people (11.7, 5 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.
Waterbury and its neighbors
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Prospect has no FBI figures of its own for 2023–2025.
Connecticut towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Waterbury | C− | 3.4 | 27.7 |
| Norwalk | B | 0.8 | 13.4 |
| Stamford | B− | 1.6 | 11.3 |
| Danbury | B− | 2.1 | 11.4 |
| Hartford | D | 5.1 | 25.8 |
| New Haven | D | 4.9 | 34.6 |
The five graded Connecticut towns closest to Waterbury’s population (115,771), 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 Waterbury. 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 Waterbury’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (116,419 in 2025); our figure for Waterbury is 115,771 (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 Waterbury
Is Waterbury, CT safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Waterbury reports more crime per resident than 85% of U.S. towns, a C− Safety Grade and #87 of 90 in Connecticut. Its police reported 3.4 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 1.4 in the rest of Connecticut and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Waterbury?
3.4 violent and 27.7 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Connecticut reports 1.4 and 14.6; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
How many homicides were there in Waterbury in 2025?
Waterbury’s police reported 9 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 7.7 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Waterbury safer than Watertown?
Watertown reports less crime per resident than Waterbury: Watertown grades B for safety and Waterbury C−. Watertown’s police reported 0.5 violent and 11.7 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Waterbury?
Waterbury’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Waterbury”. 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 Waterbury.
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.