Photo: JERRYE & ROY KLOTZ M.D. · CC BY-SA 4.0Fewer crimes per resident are recorded in Oakland than in 92% of U.S. towns
Behind the grade sit 0.4 violent crime and 3.3 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. Its letter for safety is A, worked out from crimes Oakland’s police reported over 2023 to 2025: #45 of 342 graded towns in New Jersey. Violent crime here is lower than in 87% of U.S. towns; property crime, lower than in 89%.
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 Oakland
1 of the 2 graded towns next door reports less crime
Of the 3 New Jersey towns on Oakland’s borders, 2 have a Safety Grade: Franklin Lakes (A), Wayne Township (C+). Mahwah Township reported to the FBI for 2023 and 2024 but not 2025. Neighbors ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind Oakland’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
Show as a table
| Year | Oakland | Rest of New Jersey | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 0.3 | 1.9 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 0.5 | 2.2 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 0.3 | 2.2 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 0.5 | 2.0 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Oakland’s police reported 17 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 0.4 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 Oakland 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 1 violent crime, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
Reported crime is steady
Show as a table
| Year | Oakland property | Rest of New Jersey property | Oakland violent | Rest of New Jersey violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 4.4 | 13.9 | 0.3 | 1.9 |
| 2023 | 3.0 | 14.8 | 0.5 | 2.2 |
| 2024 | 3.4 | 14.0 | 0.3 | 2.2 |
| 2025 | 3.5 | 12.6 | 0.5 | 2.0 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
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.
52 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.
7 violent and 45 property, as reported to the FBI by Oakland’s police.
Six people died in crashes on Oakland’s roads in 2019–2023
Oakland had 6 fatal crashes in five years, in which six people died; 1 was a pedestrian. Most of these deaths (3 of 6) were on an Interstate passing through, so they say more about through-traffic than about the town’s own streets.
That is more than is typical for New Jersey towns of 5,000–25,000 people: at their median rate (4.5 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Oakland’s size would see about 3 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Oakland’s own rate (9.4) 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.
Oakland and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oakland | A | 0.4 | 3.3 |
| Franklin Lakes | A | 0.2 | 3.5 |
| Mahwah Township | — | — | — |
| Wayne Township | C+ | 0.9 | 19.1 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Mahwah Township reported to the FBI for 2023 and 2024 but not 2025.
New Jersey towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oakland | A | 0.4 | 3.3 |
| East Greenwich Township | A− | 0.6 | 7.5 |
| Bordentown Township | B+ | 0.8 | 9.3 |
| Haddonfield | B | 0.3 | 15.2 |
| Red Bank | B− | 2.0 | 11.7 |
| Pennsville Township | C | 1.2 | 27.1 |
The five graded New Jersey towns closest to Oakland’s population (12,837), 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 Oakland. 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 Oakland’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (12,963 in 2025); our figure for Oakland is 12,837 (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 Oakland
Is Oakland, NJ safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Oakland reports less crime per resident than 92% of U.S. towns, an A Safety Grade and #45 of 342 in New Jersey. Its police reported 0.4 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 Oakland?
0.4 violent and 3.3 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 Oakland safer than Franklin Lakes?
Franklin Lakes reports less crime per resident than Oakland: Franklin Lakes grades A for safety and Oakland A. Franklin Lakes’s police reported 0.2 violent and 3.5 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Oakland?
Oakland’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Oakland”. 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 Oakland.
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.