Photo: Jon Platek · CC BY-SA 3.0What the figures say about crime in Rochester, NH
Inside a 10-mile circle sit 6 graded neighbors. Rochester’s police reported to the FBI for 2024 and 2025 but not 2023, so there is no Safety Grade: the grade needs all three years, 2023–2025. The nearest town with a Safety Grade is Somersworth, 5 miles away, graded C+.
For every 1,000 residents, about 12 property crimes reported
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.
The years Rochester’s police reported
Show as a table
| Year | Rochester | Rest of New Hampshire | Rochester | Rest of New Hampshire |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 17.3 | 10.2 | 1.9 | 1.3 |
| 2023 | not reported | 9.1 | not reported | 1.1 |
| 2024 | 11.4 | 9.2 | 0.8 | 1.1 |
| 2025 | 12.2 | 8.1 | 1.0 | 1.1 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents, against the rest of New Hampshire. A year the department didn’t report in full is a gap, not a zero.
445 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.
33 violent and 412 property, as reported to the FBI by Rochester’s police.
The nearest New Hampshire towns with a Safety Grade
| Town | Grade | Distance | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Somersworth | C+ | 5 mi | 1.3 | 19.9 |
| Barrington | A | 6 mi | 0.4 | 3.2 |
| Farmington | B | 7 mi | 1.6 | 7.3 |
| Rollinsford | A | 9 mi | 0.5 | 4.9 |
| Dover | A− | 9 mi | 0.5 | 7.6 |
| Strafford | A+ | 10 mi | 0.3 | 0.8 |
Straight-line distance from the center of Rochester. Nearby towns can differ a lot from Rochester.
Each town’s own police figures, per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
22 people died in crashes on Rochester’s roads in 2019–2023
Rochester had 21 fatal crashes in five years, in which 22 people died; 3 were pedestrians.
That is 13.3 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, above the median for New Hampshire towns of 25,000–100,000 people (4.7, 9 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.
Rochester and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barrington | A | 0.4 | 3.2 |
| Farmington | B | 1.6 | 7.3 |
| Strafford | A+ | 0.3 | 0.8 |
| Dover | A− | 0.5 | 7.6 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
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 Rochester. 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 Rochester’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (33,835 in 2025); our figure for Rochester is 33,716 (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 Rochester
Is Rochester, NH safe?
There is no Safety Grade for Rochester. The nearest New Hampshire towns with a grade are Somersworth (C+, 5 mi), Barrington (A, 6 mi), Farmington (B, 7 mi).
Who polices Rochester?
Rochester’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Rochester”. 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 Rochester.
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.