Photo: David Keddie · CC BY-SA 4.0On violent crime, Lawrence Township has a lower rate per resident than 90% of U.S. towns
Overall, it grades B− for safety (#222 of 342 graded towns in New Jersey). Behind the grade sit 0.3 violent crime and 16.4 incidents of property crime per 1,000 people a year, where the comparison is 2.1 and 13.8 in the rest of New Jersey. Per resident, the graded crimes were down 24% from 2023 to 2025. What’s more, 2 of the 5 towns next door with figures 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 Lawrence Township
2 of the 5 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 6 New Jersey towns on Lawrence Township’s borders, 5 have a Safety Grade: Princeton (A−), Hopewell Township (A−), Hamilton Township (C), Ewing Township (C−), Trenton (D). West Windsor Township 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 Lawrence 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 college town
Lawrence Township is home to Rider University, with 3,684 students taking classes on campus (federal college data), and 12% 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 ↓
A job center
Lawrence Township has 25,039 jobs based in town for 34,165 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 Lawrence 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 Lawrence Township’s grade up; property crime pulls it down. Its property rate (16.4) 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.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Lawrence 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 | 0.3 | 2.2 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 0.3 | 2.0 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Lawrence Township’s police reported 33 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.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Lawrence Township property | Rest of New Jersey property | Lawrence Township violent | Rest of New Jersey violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 15.9 | 13.8 | 0.4 | 1.9 |
| 2023 | 17.6 | 14.7 | 0.4 | 2.2 |
| 2024 | 18.3 | 14.0 | 0.3 | 2.2 |
| 2025 | 13.4 | 12.6 | 0.3 | 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.
Crime in Lawrence 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.
441 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.
11 violent and 430 property, as reported to the FBI by Lawrence Township’s police.
Eight people died in crashes on Lawrence Township’s roads in 2019–2023
Lawrence Township had 8 fatal crashes in five years, in which eight people died; 3 were pedestrians.
That is about what 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 Lawrence Township’s size would see about 9 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Lawrence Township’s own rate (5.0) 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.
Lawrence Township and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lawrence Township | B− | 0.3 | 16.4 |
| Hamilton Township | C | 1.9 | 21.8 |
| Ewing Township | C− | 2.2 | 24.2 |
| West Windsor Township | — | — | — |
| Princeton | A− | 0.5 | 6.8 |
| Hopewell Township | A− | 0.7 | 6.7 |
| Trenton | D | 9.6 | 21.9 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. West Windsor Township reported to the FBI for 2023 and 2025 but not 2024.
New Jersey towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lawrence Township | B− | 0.3 | 16.4 |
| Westfield | A | 0.1 | 6.5 |
| Garfield | C+ | 1.7 | 16.8 |
| Long Branch | C+ | 2.4 | 14.7 |
| Willingboro Township | C | 3.6 | 12.4 |
| City of Orange Township | C− | 4.2 | 16.7 |
The five graded New Jersey towns closest to Lawrence Township’s population (34,165), 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 Lawrence 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 Lawrence Township’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (32,186 in 2025); our figure for Lawrence Township is 34,165 (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 Lawrence Township
Is Lawrence Township, NJ safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Lawrence 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 0.3 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 Lawrence Township?
0.3 violent and 16.4 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 Lawrence Township in 2025?
Lawrence Township’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 Lawrence Township safer than Hamilton Township?
Hamilton Township reports more crime per resident than Lawrence Township: Hamilton Township grades C for safety and Lawrence Township B−. Hamilton Township’s police reported 1.9 violent and 21.8 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Lawrence Township?
Lawrence Township’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Lawrence Township, Mercer County”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
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Please don’t name or describe individuals. In an emergency, call 911.
Neighbors looking out for each other in Lawrence 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.