Photo: Princewill121 · CC BY-SA 4.0Garfield reports more crime per resident than 61% of U.S. towns
On crimes reported to the FBI by Garfield’s police in 2023–2025, it grades C+ for safety: #263 of 342 graded towns in 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 Garfield
3 of the 6 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 7 New Jersey towns on Garfield’s borders, 6 have a Safety Grade: Saddle Brook Township (B), Wallington (B−), Lodi (B−), Elmwood Park (C), South Hackensack Township (D), Passaic (D). Clifton reported to the FBI for 2024 and 2025 but not 2023. Neighbors ↓
Among New Jersey towns, lower
New Jersey’s cities and towns report less crime than most states’, so Garfield’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 23% of the 342 New Jersey towns we grade, against 39% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind Garfield’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. Its violent rate (1.7) is below the FBI’s national estimate (3.6) but higher than in most individual towns: the national figure is weighted by people, and the grade counts towns. Its property rate (16.8) 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.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Garfield’s police reported 166 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 1.7 per 1,000 residents a year, against 2.1 in the rest of New Jersey and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Show as a table
| Year | Garfield | Rest of New Jersey | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1.1 | 1.9 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 1.2 | 2.2 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 2.0 | 2.2 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 1.8 | 2.0 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
For every 1,000 residents, about 17 property crimes reported
And about 2 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
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.
Reported crime is steady
Reported crime per resident was steady from 2023 to 2025: the change is within ordinary year-to-year swings. Per 1,000 residents, 2022–2025, against the rest of New Jersey.
Show as a table
| Year | Garfield property | Rest of New Jersey property | Garfield violent | Rest of New Jersey violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 15.4 | 13.8 | 1.1 | 1.9 |
| 2023 | 16.3 | 14.7 | 1.2 | 2.2 |
| 2024 | 17.5 | 14.0 | 2.0 | 2.2 |
| 2025 | 16.6 | 12.6 | 1.8 | 2.0 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
620 crimes reported in 2025
61 violent and 559 property, as reported to the FBI by Garfield’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
Two people died in crashes on Garfield’s roads in 2019–2023
Garfield had 2 fatal crashes in five years, in which two people died; 2 were pedestrians.
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 Garfield’s size would see about 10 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Garfield’s own rate (1.2) 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.
Garfield and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Garfield | C+ | 1.7 | 16.8 |
| Wallington | B− | 0.8 | 14.4 |
| Lodi | B− | 1.6 | 13.1 |
| South Hackensack Township | D | 4.6 | 27.5 |
| Clifton | — | — | — |
| Passaic | D | 6.4 | 19.6 |
| Saddle Brook Township | B | 0.3 | 12.2 |
| Elmwood Park | C | 2.3 | 19.5 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Clifton reported to the FBI for 2024 and 2025 but not 2023.
New Jersey towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Garfield | C+ | 1.7 | 16.8 |
| Westfield | A | 0.1 | 6.5 |
| Livingston Township | B+ | 0.6 | 9.3 |
| Lawrence Township | B− | 0.3 | 16.4 |
| Long Branch | C+ | 2.4 | 14.7 |
| Willingboro Township | C | 3.6 | 12.4 |
The five graded New Jersey towns closest to Garfield’s population (33,353), by grade.
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 Garfield. 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 Garfield’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (33,737 in 2025); our figure for Garfield is 33,353 (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 Garfield
Is Garfield, NJ safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Garfield reports more crime per resident than 61% of U.S. towns, a C+ Safety Grade and #263 of 342 in New Jersey. Its police reported 1.7 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 Garfield?
1.7 violent and 16.8 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of New Jersey reports 2.1 and 13.7; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is crime going up or down in Garfield?
Reported crime per resident was steady from 2023 to 2025: the change is within ordinary year-to-year swings.
How many homicides were there in Garfield in 2025?
Garfield’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 Garfield safer than Wallington?
Wallington reports less crime per resident than Garfield: Wallington grades B− for safety and Garfield C+. Wallington’s police reported 0.8 violent and 14.4 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Garfield?
Garfield’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Garfield”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Garfield.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
Please don’t name or describe individuals. In an emergency, call 911.
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.