Photo: Alansohn · CC BY-SA 4.0Recorded crime per resident is higher in New Brunswick than in 91% of U.S. towns
Its 5 neighbors with figures all record less crime per resident. By contrast, the graded rate fell 48% from 2023 to 2025. That puts it at D for safety, judged on crimes New Brunswick’s police reported from 2023 to 2025: #330 of 342 graded towns in New Jersey. Each year brought 6.7 violent crimes and 23.9 incidents of property crime for every 1,000 residents (2.1 and 13.7 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 New Brunswick
5 of the 5 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 6 New Jersey towns on New Brunswick’s borders, 5 have a Safety Grade: Franklin Township (B+), Highland Park (B), East Brunswick Township (B−), North Brunswick Township (B−), Edison Township (C+). Piscataway Township reported to the FBI for 2023 and 2024 but not 2025. Neighbors ↓
A college town
New Brunswick is home to Rutgers University-New Brunswick, with 47,422 students taking classes on campus (federal college data), and 24% 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
New Brunswick has 46,778 jobs based in town for 57,133 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 New Brunswick’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; property crime is the closer of the two to typical.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | New Brunswick property | Rest of New Jersey property | New Brunswick violent | Rest of New Jersey violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 21.6 | 13.8 | 8.6 | 1.9 |
| 2023 | 29.5 | 14.7 | 9.3 | 2.1 |
| 2024 | 26.3 | 13.9 | 7.0 | 2.1 |
| 2025 | 16.2 | 12.6 | 3.9 | 1.9 |
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 | New Brunswick | Rest of New Jersey | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 8.6 | 1.9 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 9.3 | 2.1 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 7.0 | 2.1 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 3.9 | 1.9 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
New Brunswick’s police reported 1,156 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 6.7 per 1,000 residents a year, against 2.1 in the rest of New Jersey and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Crime in New Brunswick 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 4 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
1,167 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.
228 violent and 939 property, as reported to the FBI by New Brunswick’s police.
19 people died in crashes on New Brunswick’s roads in 2019–2023
New Brunswick had 18 fatal crashes in five years, in which 19 people died; 10 were pedestrians. 3 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is 6.7 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, above 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.
New Brunswick and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Brunswick | D | 6.7 | 23.9 |
| Highland Park | B | 1.1 | 11.0 |
| Edison Township | C+ | 1.8 | 17.9 |
| Franklin Township | B+ | 0.7 | 9.2 |
| East Brunswick Township | B− | 1.1 | 12.4 |
| Piscataway Township | — | — | — |
| North Brunswick Township | B− | 1.6 | 14.4 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Piscataway Township reported to the FBI for 2023 and 2024 but not 2025.
New Jersey towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Brunswick | D | 6.7 | 23.9 |
| Parsippany-Troy Hills Township | B+ | 0.5 | 8.4 |
| Bloomfield Township | B− | 1.0 | 14.4 |
| Hoboken | C+ | 1.8 | 15.4 |
| Wayne Township | C+ | 0.9 | 19.1 |
| Perth Amboy | C | 3.4 | 12.7 |
The five graded New Jersey towns closest to New Brunswick’s population (57,133), 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 New Brunswick. A citywide rate doesn’t show where incidents happen, and that can differ a lot from one part of the city to another.
- Visitors count too. Incidents involving people who work, shop or visit are counted against New Brunswick’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (57,980 in 2025); our figure for New Brunswick is 57,133 (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 New Brunswick
Is New Brunswick, NJ safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, New Brunswick reports more crime per resident than 91% of U.S. towns, a D Safety Grade and #330 of 342 in New Jersey. Its police reported 6.7 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 New Brunswick?
6.7 violent and 23.9 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.
How many homicides were there in New Brunswick in 2025?
New Brunswick’s police reported 2 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 3.4 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is New Brunswick safer than Highland Park?
Highland Park reports less crime per resident than New Brunswick: Highland Park grades B for safety and New Brunswick D. Highland Park’s police reported 1.1 violent and 11.0 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices New Brunswick?
New Brunswick’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “New Brunswick”. 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 New Brunswick.
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.