Photo: John Phelan · CC BY-SA 3.0Bedford has less violent crime per resident than nine in ten U.S. towns
Among its 5 neighbors with figures, 4 record less crime per resident. Across all the graded crimes, Bedford lands on A− (#65 of 124 graded towns in New Hampshire): less crime per resident than 80% of U.S. towns, on crimes its police reported from 2023 to 2025. Add to that, the yearly rates were 0.3 violent crime and 7.4 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents, set against 1.1 and 8.9 in the rest of New Hampshire. The rate the grade counts climbed 43% from 2023 to 2025.
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. “Rest of NH” is every other New Hampshire 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 Bedford
4 of the 5 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 5 New Hampshire towns on Bedford’s borders, 5 have a Safety Grade: New Boston (A+), Merrimack (A), Goffstown (A), Amherst (A−), Manchester (C). Neighbors ↓
Among New Hampshire towns, closer to the middle
New Hampshire’s cities and towns report less crime than most states’, so Bedford’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 48% of the 124 New Hampshire towns we grade, against 80% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
A job center
Bedford has 19,242 jobs based in town for 23,973 residents (Census LEHD), so some reports involve people who work or shop there rather than residents. How to read it ↓
Reported crime is rising
Crime reported per resident rose 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 Bedford’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 lower than in most U.S. towns; violent crime is the stronger of the two.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Bedford property | Rest of New Hampshire property | Bedford violent | Rest of New Hampshire violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 5.2 | 10.5 | 0.3 | 1.3 |
| 2023 | 5.7 | 9.2 | 0.2 | 1.1 |
| 2024 | 8.6 | 9.2 | 0.1 | 1.1 |
| 2025 | 7.8 | 8.2 | 0.5 | 1.1 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
Reported crime per resident rose from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings. Per 1,000 residents, 2022–2025, against the rest of New Hampshire.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Bedford | Rest of New Hampshire | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 0.2 | 1.1 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 0.1 | 1.1 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 0.5 | 1.1 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Bedford’s police reported 19 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 0.3 per 1,000 residents a year, against 1.1 in the rest of New Hampshire and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Crime in Bedford 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.
200 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.
13 violent and 187 property, as reported to the FBI by Bedford’s police.
10 people died in crashes on Bedford’s roads in 2019–2023
Bedford had 9 fatal crashes in five years, in which 10 people died. 3 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is 8.4 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, above the median for New Hampshire towns of 5,000–25,000 people (6.6, 75 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.
Bedford and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bedford | A− | 0.3 | 7.4 |
| Manchester | C | 3.5 | 16.1 |
| Goffstown | A | 0.5 | 4.6 |
| Amherst | A− | 0.2 | 6.7 |
| Merrimack | A | 0.1 | 3.6 |
| New Boston | A+ | 0.2 | 1.6 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
New Hampshire towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bedford | A− | 0.3 | 7.4 |
| Londonderry | A− | 0.6 | 4.8 |
| Hudson | B | 0.8 | 11.2 |
| Portsmouth | B− | 1.8 | 11.5 |
| Salem | C+ | 1.3 | 17.1 |
| Keene | C | 1.6 | 22.3 |
The five graded New Hampshire towns closest to Bedford’s population (23,973), 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 Bedford. 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 Bedford’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (23,960 in 2025); our figure for Bedford is 23,973 (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 Bedford
Is Bedford, NH safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Bedford reports less crime per resident than 80% of U.S. towns, an A− Safety Grade and #65 of 124 in New Hampshire. Its police reported 0.3 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 1.1 in the rest of New Hampshire and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Bedford?
0.3 violent and 7.4 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of New Hampshire reports 1.1 and 8.9; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is Bedford safer than Manchester?
Manchester reports more crime per resident than Bedford: Manchester grades C for safety and Bedford A−. Manchester’s police reported 3.5 violent and 16.1 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Bedford?
Bedford’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Bedford”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
Please don’t name or describe individuals. In an emergency, call 911.
Neighbors looking out for each other in Bedford.
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.