Photo: Jrogers123 · CC BY-SA 3.0Montclair Township reports less crime per resident than 71% of U.S. towns
On crimes reported to the FBI by Montclair Township’s police in 2023–2025, it grades B+ for safety: #150 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 Montclair Township
3 of the 5 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 6 New Jersey towns on Montclair Township’s borders, 5 have a Safety Grade: Cedar Grove Township (A), Verona Township (A), Little Falls Township (A−), Glen Ridge (B), West Orange Township (B−). Clifton 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 Montclair Township’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 56% of the 342 New Jersey towns we grade, against 71% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
A college town
Montclair Township is home to Montclair State University, with 20,428 students taking classes on campus (federal college data), and 5% 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 ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind Montclair Township’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 lower than in most U.S. towns; property crime is the stronger of the two.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Montclair Township’s police reported 124 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 1.0 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 | Montclair Township | Rest of New Jersey | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1.1 | 1.9 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 1.1 | 2.2 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 1.2 | 2.2 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 0.8 | 2.0 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
For every 1,000 residents, about 8 property crimes reported
And about 1 violent crime, 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 | Montclair Township property | Rest of New Jersey property | Montclair Township violent | Rest of New Jersey violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 10.7 | 13.9 | 1.1 | 1.9 |
| 2023 | 4.7 | 14.8 | 1.1 | 2.2 |
| 2024 | 8.4 | 14.0 | 1.2 | 2.2 |
| 2025 | 7.9 | 12.6 | 0.8 | 2.0 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
358 crimes reported in 2025
32 violent and 326 property, as reported to the FBI by Montclair Township’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
Five people died in crashes on Montclair Township’s roads in 2019–2023
Montclair Township had 5 fatal crashes in five years, in which five people died; 3 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 Montclair Township’s size would see about 12 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Montclair Township’s own rate (2.5) 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.
Montclair Township and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Montclair Township | B+ | 1.0 | 7.0 |
| Cedar Grove Township | A | 0.2 | 5.6 |
| Verona Township | A | 0.4 | 5.0 |
| West Orange Township | B− | 1.5 | 12.9 |
| Glen Ridge | B | 0.4 | 13.0 |
| Clifton | — | — | — |
| Little Falls Township | A− | 0.9 | 5.8 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Montclair Township | B+ | 1.0 | 7.0 |
| Hillsborough Township | A− | 0.7 | 4.3 |
| Berkeley Township | B+ | 1.3 | 7.1 |
| Teaneck Township | B+ | 0.9 | 8.6 |
| North Brunswick Township | B− | 1.6 | 14.4 |
| Hackensack | C | 2.4 | 20.9 |
The five graded New Jersey towns closest to Montclair Township’s population (44,633), 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 Montclair 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 Montclair Township’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (41,340 in 2025); our figure for Montclair Township is 44,633 (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 Montclair Township
Is Montclair Township, NJ safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Montclair Township reports less crime per resident than 71% of U.S. towns, a B+ Safety Grade and #150 of 342 in New Jersey. Its police reported 1.0 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 Montclair Township?
1.0 violent and 7.0 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 crime going up or down in Montclair Township?
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 Montclair Township in 2025?
Montclair 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 Montclair Township safer than Cedar Grove Township?
Cedar Grove Township reports less crime per resident than Montclair Township: Cedar Grove Township grades A for safety and Montclair Township B+. Cedar Grove Township’s police reported 0.2 violent and 5.6 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Montclair Township?
Montclair Township’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Montclair”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Montclair Township.
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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.