Photo: Famartin · CC BY-SA 4.0Newark reports more crime per resident than 85% of U.S. towns
On crimes reported to the FBI by Newark’s police in 2023–2025, it grades C− for safety: #319 of 342 graded towns in New Jersey, and #173 of 325 U.S. cities over 100,000.
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 Newark
5 of the 7 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 8 New Jersey towns on Newark’s borders, 7 have a Safety Grade: Maplewood Township (B), South Orange Village Township (B), Harrison (C), Belleville Township (C), East Orange (C−), Irvington Township (D), Elizabeth (D). Kearny reported to the FBI for 2023 and 2025 but not 2024. Neighbors ↓
Homicides: above U.S. cities overall
Newark’s police reported 33 homicides to the FBI in 2025. Over 2023–2025 that is 13.4 per 100,000 residents a year, 6.5 times the rest of New Jersey (2.1) and 2.4 times all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables (5.7). Violent crime ↓
Robberies: 2.8 times the rest of New Jersey
121 robberies per 100,000 residents a year over 2023–2025 (282 reported in 2025), 2.8 times the rest of New Jersey (43.6) and 1.5 times all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables (79.4). Violent crime ↓
Against other big cities
Among the 325 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, Newark reports less crime per resident than 47% (#173). Places like 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 Newark’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.
Homicides and robberies
Newark’s police reported 33 homicides, 282 robberies and 1,646 violent crimes in all to the FBI in 2025. By year, against the rest of New Jersey and all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables.
Show as a table
| Year | Newark | Rest of New Jersey | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 17.4 | 2.4 | 7.7 |
| 2023 | 17.4 | 2.4 | 6.8 |
| 2024 | 12.6 | 2.1 | 5.7 |
| 2025 | 10.4 | 1.7 | 4.6 |
Homicides per 100,000 residents
Show as a table
| Year | Newark | Rest of New Jersey | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 154 | 42.3 | 95.5 |
| 2023 | 134 | 47.2 | 90.6 |
| 2024 | 143 | 47.6 | 81.9 |
| 2025 | 88.5 | 36.2 | 66.0 |
Robberies per 100,000 residents
Reported crime is falling
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.
Show as a table
| Year | Newark property | Rest of New Jersey property | Newark violent | Rest of New Jersey violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 18.2 | 13.7 | 5.2 | 1.8 |
| 2023 | 22.2 | 14.5 | 4.9 | 2.1 |
| 2024 | 19.6 | 13.8 | 5.8 | 2.0 |
| 2025 | 17.8 | 12.4 | 5.2 | 1.8 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
For every 1,000 residents, about 18 property crimes reported
And about 5 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.
7,326 crimes reported in 2025
1,646 violent and 5,680 property, as reported to the FBI by Newark’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
148 people died in crashes on Newark’s roads in 2019–2023
Newark had 133 fatal crashes in five years, in which 148 people died; 54 were pedestrians and 5 were cyclists. 26 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is 9.5 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, above the median for New Jersey towns of 100,000+ people (5.8, 7 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.
Newark and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Newark | C− | 5.3 | 19.8 |
| Irvington Township | D | 4.3 | 25.6 |
| Belleville Township | C | 2.4 | 19.7 |
| South Orange Village Township | B | 0.6 | 13.9 |
| Elizabeth | D | 4.3 | 26.8 |
| Kearny | — | — | — |
| Maplewood Township | B | 0.6 | 11.7 |
| East Orange | C− | 4.6 | 19.6 |
| Harrison | C | 2.5 | 17.8 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Kearny reported to the FBI for 2023 and 2025 but not 2024.
New Jersey towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Newark | C− | 5.3 | 19.8 |
| Jersey City | C− | 4.5 | 17.7 |
The five graded New Jersey towns closest to Newark’s population (323,808), 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 Newark. 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 Newark’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (318,638 in 2025); our figure for Newark is 323,808 (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 Newark
Is Newark, NJ safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Newark reports more crime per resident than 85% of U.S. towns, a C− Safety Grade and #319 of 342 in New Jersey. Its police reported 5.3 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 2.0 in the rest of New Jersey and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Newark?
5.3 violent and 19.8 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of New Jersey reports 2.0 and 13.5; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is crime going up or down in Newark?
Reported crime per resident fell from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings.
How many homicides were there in Newark in 2025?
Newark’s police reported 33 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 10.4 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Newark safer than Irvington Township?
Irvington Township reports more crime per resident than Newark: Irvington Township grades D for safety and Newark C−. Irvington Township’s police reported 4.3 violent and 25.6 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Newark?
Newark’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Newark”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Newark.
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.