Photo: RyeCityRoller · CC BY-SA 4.0Per resident, Fort Lee records less violent crime than 64% of U.S. towns
Among its 5 neighbors with figures, 4 record less crime per resident. Violence and property crime split as 1.2 violent crimes and 11.4 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents a year, beside 2.1 and 13.8 in the rest of New Jersey. Overall, Fort Lee grades B for safety (#209 of 342 graded towns in New Jersey): close to the middle of U.S. towns, on crimes its police reported in 2023–2025. Per resident, the graded crimes were down 30% 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 Fort Lee
4 of the 5 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 5 New Jersey towns on Fort Lee’s borders, 5 have a Safety Grade: Leonia (A−), Palisades Park (A−), Englewood Cliffs (B), Edgewater (B), Englewood (C+). Neighbors ↓
Among New Jersey towns, closer to the middle
New Jersey’s cities and towns report less crime than most states’, so Fort Lee’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 39% of the 342 New Jersey towns we grade, against 56% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
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 Fort Lee’s grade
Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Violent crime holds Fort Lee’s grade up; property crime pulls it down. Its property rate (11.4) 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 | Fort Lee property | Rest of New Jersey property | Fort Lee violent | Rest of New Jersey violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 13.6 | 13.9 | 1.5 | 1.9 |
| 2023 | 13.9 | 14.8 | 1.1 | 2.2 |
| 2024 | 11.0 | 14.0 | 1.3 | 2.2 |
| 2025 | 9.4 | 12.6 | 1.1 | 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 | Fort Lee | Rest of New Jersey | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1.5 | 1.9 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 1.1 | 2.2 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 1.3 | 2.2 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 1.1 | 2.0 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Fort Lee’s police reported 139 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 1.2 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 Fort Lee 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.
428 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.
44 violent and 384 property, as reported to the FBI by Fort Lee’s police.
12 people died in crashes on Fort Lee’s roads in 2019–2023
Fort Lee had 11 fatal crashes in five years, in which 12 people died; 6 were pedestrians and 1 was a cyclist. 3 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is 6.0 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, about the same as the median for New Jersey towns of 25,000–100,000 people (5.8, 102 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.
Fort Lee and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Lee | B | 1.2 | 11.4 |
| Edgewater | B | 0.5 | 12.7 |
| Leonia | A− | 0.4 | 6.0 |
| Englewood Cliffs | B | 0.2 | 13.1 |
| Palisades Park | A− | 0.4 | 6.5 |
| Englewood | C+ | 3.0 | 11.4 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
New Jersey towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Lee | B | 1.2 | 11.4 |
| Manalapan Township | A− | 0.3 | 6.1 |
| Marlboro Township | B+ | 0.5 | 8.7 |
| Belleville Township | C | 2.4 | 19.7 |
| Ewing Township | C− | 2.2 | 24.2 |
| Atlantic City | D− | 17.2 | 63.3 |
The five graded New Jersey towns closest to Fort Lee’s population (40,345), 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 Fort Lee. 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 Fort Lee’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (40,646 in 2025); our figure for Fort Lee is 40,345 (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 Fort Lee
Is Fort Lee, NJ safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Fort Lee reports less crime per resident than 56% of U.S. towns, a B Safety Grade and #209 of 342 in New Jersey. Its police reported 1.2 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 Fort Lee?
1.2 violent and 11.4 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 Fort Lee in 2025?
Fort Lee’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 Fort Lee safer than Edgewater?
Edgewater reports less crime per resident than Fort Lee: Edgewater grades B for safety and Fort Lee B. Edgewater’s police reported 0.5 violent and 12.7 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Fort Lee?
Fort Lee’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Fort Lee”. 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 Fort Lee.
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.