Photo: Zeete · CC BY-SA 4.0Recorded crime per resident is lower in Bernards Township than in 98% of U.S. towns
The crimes the grade counts fell 67% per resident from 2023 to 2025. Property crime averaged 1.6 incidents per 1,000 residents a year, compared with 13.8 in the rest of New Jersey. Graded on crimes Bernards Township’s police reported from 2023 to 2025, it scores A+ for safety: #3 of 342 graded towns in New Jersey. Each of the 4 towns on its borders with figures records more crime per resident.
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. “Rest of NJ” is every other New Jersey 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 Bernards Township
Bernards Township reports less crime than every graded town next door
Of the 6 New Jersey towns on Bernards Township’s borders, 4 have a Safety Grade: Harding Township (A), Warren Township (A), Bernardsville (A), Bedminster Township (A). Long Hill Township and Bridgewater Township reported to the FBI for 2024 and 2025 but not 2023. Neighbors ↓
A job center
Bernards Township has 22,814 jobs based in town for 28,594 residents (Census LEHD), so some reports involve people who work or shop there rather than residents. How to read 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 Bernards Township’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 | Bernards Township property | Rest of New Jersey property | Bernards Township violent | Rest of New Jersey violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 2.4 | 13.9 | 0.0 | 1.9 |
| 2023 | 2.3 | 14.8 | 0.0 | 2.2 |
| 2024 | 1.8 | 14.0 | 0.1 | 2.2 |
| 2025 | 0.7 | 12.6 | 0.0 | 2.0 |
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 New Jersey.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Bernards Township | Rest of New Jersey | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 0.0 | 1.9 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 0.0 | 2.2 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 0.1 | 2.2 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Bernards Township’s police reported 4 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 0.0 per 1,000 residents a year, against 2.1 in the rest of New Jersey and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Crime in Bernards Township 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 no violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
22 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.
1 violent and 21 property, as reported to the FBI by Bernards Township’s police.
Two people died in crashes on Bernards Township’s roads in 2019–2023
Bernards Township had 2 fatal crashes in five years, in which two people died; 1 was a pedestrian. Most of these deaths (1 of 2) were on an Interstate passing through, so they say more about through-traffic than about the town’s own streets.
That is fewer than is typical for New Jersey towns of 25,000–100,000 people: at their median rate (5.8 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Bernards Township’s size would see about 8 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Bernards Township’s own rate (1.4) 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.
Bernards Township and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bernards Township | A+ | 0.0 | 1.6 |
| Harding Township | A | 0.0 | 4.1 |
| Warren Township | A | 0.1 | 4.0 |
| Long Hill Township | — | — | — |
| Bernardsville | A | 0.2 | 4.4 |
| Bridgewater Township | — | — | — |
| Bedminster Township | A | 0.3 | 3.5 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Long Hill Township and Bridgewater Township reported to the FBI for 2024 and 2025 but not 2023.
New Jersey towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bernards Township | A+ | 0.0 | 1.6 |
| Bergenfield | A+ | 0.3 | 2.6 |
| Hamilton Township | C | 1.0 | 24.3 |
| Neptune Township | D | 3.0 | 31.6 |
| Millville | D | 4.6 | 39.8 |
| Bridgeton | D− | 8.5 | 33.1 |
The five graded New Jersey towns closest to Bernards Township’s population (28,594), 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 Bernards Township. 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 Bernards Township’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (29,020 in 2025); our figure for Bernards Township is 28,594 (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 Bernards Township
Is Bernards Township, NJ safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Bernards Township reports less crime per resident than 98% of U.S. towns, an A+ Safety Grade and #3 of 342 in New Jersey. Its police reported 0.0 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 2.1 in the rest of New Jersey and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Bernards Township?
0.0 violent and 1.6 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of New Jersey reports 2.1 and 13.8; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
How many homicides were there in Bernards Township in 2025?
Bernards Township’s police reported 0 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 0.0 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Bernards Township safer than Harding Township?
Harding Township reports more crime per resident than Bernards Township: Harding Township grades A for safety and Bernards Township A+. Harding Township’s police reported 0.0 violent and 4.1 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Bernards Township?
Bernards Township’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Bernards Township”. 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 Bernards Township.
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.