Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Elizabeth sees more property crime per resident than 88% of U.S. towns
Graded on crimes Elizabeth’s police reported from 2023 to 2025, it scores D for safety: #325 of 342 graded towns in New Jersey, and #189 of 325 U.S. cities over 100,000. Police counts work out at 4.3 violent crimes and 26.8 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents annually; in the rest of New Jersey they are 2.1 and 13.5. What’s more, its 6 neighbors with figures all record less crime per resident. The graded rate fell 22% from 2023 to 2025.
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 Elizabeth
6 of the 6 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 7 New Jersey towns on Elizabeth’s borders, 6 have a Safety Grade: Roselle Park (A−), Roselle (B−), Union Township (B−), Bayonne (C+), Hillside Township (C−), Newark (C−). Linden reported to the FBI for 2023 and 2025 but not 2024. Neighbors ↓
Homicides: below U.S. cities overall
Elizabeth’s police reported 1 homicides to the FBI in 2025. Over 2023–2025 that is 3.9 per 100,000 residents a year, 1.6 times the rest of New Jersey (2.5) and below all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables (5.7). Violent crime ↓
Robberies: 2.8 times the rest of New Jersey
125 robberies per 100,000 residents a year over 2023–2025 (109 reported in 2025), 2.8 times the rest of New Jersey (45.1) and 1.6 times 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, Elizabeth reports less crime per resident than 42% (#189). 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 Elizabeth’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.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Elizabeth property | Rest of New Jersey property | Elizabeth violent | Rest of New Jersey violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 25.5 | 13.6 | 4.8 | 1.9 |
| 2023 | 29.8 | 14.5 | 5.6 | 2.1 |
| 2024 | 26.6 | 13.8 | 4.1 | 2.2 |
| 2025 | 24.1 | 12.4 | 3.4 | 1.9 |
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.
Crime in Elizabeth 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.
Homicides and robberies
Show as a table
| Year | Elizabeth | Rest of New Jersey | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1.5 | 3.1 | 7.7 |
| 2023 | 7.5 | 2.8 | 6.8 |
| 2024 | 3.6 | 2.5 | 5.7 |
| 2025 | 0.7 | 2.1 | 4.6 |
Homicides per 100,000 residents
Show as a table
| Year | Elizabeth | Rest of New Jersey | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 170 | 44.6 | 95.5 |
| 2023 | 189 | 48.1 | 90.6 |
| 2024 | 113 | 50.0 | 81.9 |
| 2025 | 77.2 | 37.4 | 66.0 |
Robberies per 100,000 residents
Elizabeth’s police reported 1 homicides, 109 robberies and 485 violent crimes in all to the FBI in 2025. By year, against the rest of New Jersey and all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables.
3,884 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.
485 violent and 3,399 property, as reported to the FBI by Elizabeth’s police.
40 people died in crashes on Elizabeth’s roads in 2019–2023
Elizabeth had 38 fatal crashes in five years, in which 40 people died; 19 were pedestrians and 1 was a cyclist. 7 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is 5.8 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, about the same as the median for New Jersey towns of 100,000+ people (5.8, 7 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.
Elizabeth and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elizabeth | D | 4.3 | 26.8 |
| Union Township | B− | 0.7 | 17.5 |
| Newark | C− | 5.3 | 19.8 |
| Bayonne | C+ | 2.8 | 13.2 |
| Linden | — | — | — |
| Hillside Township | C− | 2.2 | 28.6 |
| Roselle Park | A− | 0.3 | 8.3 |
| Roselle | B− | 1.9 | 11.1 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elizabeth | D | 4.3 | 26.8 |
| Lakewood Township | B+ | 1.5 | 5.7 |
| Toms River Township | B | 1.2 | 11.1 |
| Edison Township | C+ | 1.8 | 17.9 |
| Hamilton Township | C | 1.9 | 21.8 |
| Paterson | D | 9.0 | 23.7 |
The five graded New Jersey towns closest to Elizabeth’s population (141,675), 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 Elizabeth. 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 Elizabeth’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (141,194 in 2025); our figure for Elizabeth is 141,675 (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 Elizabeth
Is Elizabeth, NJ safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Elizabeth reports more crime per resident than 87% of U.S. towns, a D Safety Grade and #325 of 342 in New Jersey. Its police reported 4.3 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 Elizabeth?
4.3 violent and 26.8 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of New Jersey reports 2.1 and 13.5; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
How many homicides were there in Elizabeth in 2025?
Elizabeth’s police reported 1 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 0.7 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Elizabeth safer than Union Township?
Union Township reports less crime per resident than Elizabeth: Union Township grades B− for safety and Elizabeth D. Union Township’s police reported 0.7 violent and 17.5 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Elizabeth?
Elizabeth’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Elizabeth”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
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Neighbors looking out for each other in Elizabeth.
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.