Photo: JERRYE & ROY KLOTZ MD · CC BY-SA 4.0Cranford Township has less violent crime per resident than nine in ten U.S. towns
Per resident, the graded crimes were down 46% from 2023 to 2025. Police counts work out at 0.3 violent crime and 7.6 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents annually; in the rest of New Jersey they are 2.1 and 13.8. Weighing it all, Cranford Township earns A− for safety (#117 of 342 graded towns in New Jersey), with less crime per resident than 79% of U.S. towns, on crimes its police reported over 2023 to 2025. What’s more, of the 7 towns on its borders with figures, 3 record less 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 Cranford Township
3 of the 7 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 8 New Jersey towns on Cranford Township’s borders, 7 have a Safety Grade: Garwood (A), Westfield (A), Kenilworth (A−), Springfield Township (B+), Winfield Township (B), Roselle (B−), Clark Township (C+). Linden reported to the FBI for 2023 and 2025 but not 2024. Neighbors ↓
Among New Jersey towns, closer to the middle
New Jersey’s cities and towns report less crime than most states’, so Cranford Township’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 66% of the 342 New Jersey towns we grade, against 79% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
A college town
Cranford Township is home to UCNJ Union College of Union County, New Jersey, with 6,539 students taking classes on campus (federal college data), and 5% of residents are enrolled in college (Census). Students who live in town count as residents, so they are part of the per-resident rate. 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 Cranford 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 | Cranford Township property | Rest of New Jersey property | Cranford Township violent | Rest of New Jersey violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 10.1 | 13.9 | 0.4 | 1.9 |
| 2023 | 9.7 | 14.8 | 0.4 | 2.2 |
| 2024 | 8.1 | 14.0 | 0.1 | 2.2 |
| 2025 | 5.1 | 12.6 | 0.4 | 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 | Cranford Township | Rest of New Jersey | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 0.4 | 1.9 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 0.4 | 2.2 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 0.1 | 2.2 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 0.4 | 2.0 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Cranford Township’s police reported 21 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 0.3 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 Cranford 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 fewer than 1 violent crime, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
134 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.
9 violent and 125 property, as reported to the FBI by Cranford Township’s police.
Five people died in crashes on Cranford Township’s roads in 2019–2023
Cranford Township had 5 fatal crashes in five years, in which five people died; 1 was a pedestrian.
That is about what is typical for New Jersey towns of 5,000–25,000 people: at their median rate (4.5 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Cranford Township’s size would see about 5 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Cranford Township’s own rate (4.2) 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.
Cranford Township and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cranford Township | A− | 0.3 | 7.6 |
| Kenilworth | A− | 0.2 | 7.7 |
| Garwood | A | 0.2 | 5.7 |
| Westfield | A | 0.1 | 6.5 |
| Linden | — | — | — |
| Clark Township | C+ | 0.5 | 20.3 |
| Roselle | B− | 1.9 | 11.1 |
| Winfield Township | B | 0.9 | 11.1 |
| Springfield Township | B+ | 0.8 | 9.9 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Linden reported to the FBI for 2023 and 2025 but not 2024.
New Jersey towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cranford Township | A− | 0.3 | 7.6 |
| Raritan Township | A+ | 0.2 | 1.5 |
| West Milford Township | A | 0.8 | 2.9 |
| Burlington Township | B− | 1.7 | 10.3 |
| Glassboro | B− | 1.8 | 12.2 |
| South Plainfield | C+ | 1.4 | 18.9 |
The five graded New Jersey towns closest to Cranford Township’s population (24,725), 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 Cranford 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 Cranford Township’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (24,660 in 2025); our figure for Cranford Township is 24,725 (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 Cranford Township
Is Cranford Township, NJ safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Cranford Township reports less crime per resident than 79% of U.S. towns, an A− Safety Grade and #117 of 342 in New Jersey. Its police reported 0.3 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 Cranford Township?
0.3 violent and 7.6 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.
Is Cranford Township safer than Kenilworth?
Kenilworth reports less crime per resident than Cranford Township: Kenilworth grades A− for safety and Cranford Township A−. Kenilworth’s police reported 0.2 violent and 7.7 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Cranford Township?
Cranford Township’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Cranford Township”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
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Neighbors looking out for each other in Cranford 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.