Van Ness House · Photo: Walter Van Ness · CC BY-SA 3.0Fairfield Township records less violent crime per head than 86% of U.S. towns
Weighing it all, Fairfield Township earns B− for safety (#222 of 342 graded towns in New Jersey), with close to the middle of U.S. towns, on crimes its police reported over 2023 to 2025. Per resident, the graded crimes were down 39% from 2023 to 2025. Annual rates stand at 0.5 violent crime and 15.7 incidents of property crime for every thousand residents, next to 2.1 and 13.8 in the rest of New Jersey.
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 Fairfield Township
2 of the 4 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 6 New Jersey towns on Fairfield Township’s borders, 4 have a Safety Grade: Lincoln Park (A), West Caldwell Township (A−), East Hanover Township (B−), Wayne Township (C+). Montville Township reported to the FBI for 2023 and 2024 but not 2025. North Caldwell reported to the FBI for 2024 and 2025 but not 2023. Neighbors ↓
Among New Jersey towns, closer to the middle
New Jersey’s cities and towns report less crime than most states’, so Fairfield Township’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 35% of the 342 New Jersey towns we grade, against 52% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
A job center
Fairfield Township has 22,457 jobs based in town for 8,346 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 Fairfield Township’s grade
Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Violent crime holds Fairfield Township’s grade up; property crime pulls it down. Its property rate (15.7) is below the FBI’s national estimate (17.6) but higher than in most individual towns: the national figure is weighted by people, and the grade counts towns.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Fairfield Township property | Rest of New Jersey property | Fairfield Township violent | Rest of New Jersey violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 10.7 | 13.9 | 0.3 | 1.9 |
| 2023 | 24.1 | 14.7 | 0.6 | 2.2 |
| 2024 | 8.7 | 14.0 | 0.2 | 2.2 |
| 2025 | 14.7 | 12.6 | 0.5 | 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 | Fairfield Township | Rest of New Jersey | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 0.3 | 1.9 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 0.6 | 2.2 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 0.2 | 2.2 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 0.5 | 2.0 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Fairfield Township’s police reported 11 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 0.5 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 Fairfield 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 about 1 violent crime, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
126 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.
4 violent and 122 property, as reported to the FBI by Fairfield Township’s police.
Two people died in crashes on Fairfield Township’s roads in 2019–2023
Fairfield Township had 2 fatal crashes in five years, in which two people died.
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 Fairfield Township’s size would see about 2 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Fairfield Township’s own rate (5.1) 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.
Fairfield Township and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fairfield Township | B− | 0.5 | 15.7 |
| Montville Township | — | — | — |
| Lincoln Park | A | 0.3 | 5.5 |
| Wayne Township | C+ | 0.9 | 19.1 |
| North Caldwell | — | — | — |
| West Caldwell Township | A− | 0.3 | 8.3 |
| East Hanover Township | B− | 0.2 | 17.6 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Montville Township reported to the FBI for 2023 and 2024 but not 2025. North Caldwell reported to the FBI for 2024 and 2025 but not 2023.
New Jersey towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fairfield Township | B− | 0.5 | 15.7 |
| Oradell | A+ | 0.2 | 2.0 |
| Bedminster Township | A | 0.3 | 3.5 |
| Glen Ridge | B | 0.4 | 13.0 |
| Runnemede | B− | 0.4 | 16.6 |
| Riverside Township | B− | 2.3 | 8.6 |
The five graded New Jersey towns closest to Fairfield Township’s population (8,346), 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 Fairfield 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 Fairfield Township’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (8,288 in 2025); our figure for Fairfield Township is 8,346 (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 Fairfield Township
Is Fairfield Township, NJ safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Fairfield Township reports less crime per resident than 52% of U.S. towns, a B− Safety Grade and #222 of 342 in New Jersey. Its police reported 0.5 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 Fairfield Township?
0.5 violent and 15.7 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 Fairfield Township safer than Lincoln Park?
Lincoln Park reports less crime per resident than Fairfield Township: Lincoln Park grades A for safety and Fairfield Township B−. Lincoln Park’s police reported 0.3 violent and 5.5 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Fairfield Township?
Fairfield Township’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Fairfield Township, Essex County”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
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Neighbors looking out for each other in Fairfield 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.