Photo: Famartin · CC BY-SA 4.0Paramus reports more crime per resident than 85% of U.S. towns
On crimes reported to the FBI by Paramus’ police in 2023–2025, it grades C− for safety: #319 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 Paramus
6 of the 6 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 8 New Jersey towns on Paramus’ borders, 6 have a Safety Grade: Oradell (A+), Ridgewood (A−), River Edge (A−), Maywood (B), Rochelle Park Township (B−), Hackensack (C). Fair Lawn reported to the FBI for 2023 and 2024 but not 2025. Washington Township reported to the FBI for 2023 and 2025 but not 2024. Neighbors ↓
A college town
Paramus is home to Bergen Community College, with 9,883 students taking classes on campus (federal college data), and 6% 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
Paramus has 40,424 jobs based in town for 26,723 residents (Census LEHD), so some reports involve people who work or shop there rather than residents. How to read it ↓
Reported crime is rising
Crime reported per resident rose 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 Paramus’ grade
Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Violent crime holds Paramus’ grade up; property crime pulls it down.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Paramus’ police reported 24 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.
Show as a table
| Year | Paramus | Rest of New Jersey | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 0.4 | 1.9 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 0.3 | 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
Reported crime is rising
Reported crime per resident rose 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 | Paramus property | Rest of New Jersey property | Paramus violent | Rest of New Jersey violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 41.7 | 13.8 | 0.4 | 1.9 |
| 2023 | 30.8 | 14.7 | 0.3 | 2.2 |
| 2024 | 49.0 | 13.9 | 0.3 | 2.2 |
| 2025 | 39.0 | 12.5 | 0.3 | 2.0 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
For every 1,000 residents, about 39 property crimes reported
And fewer than 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.
1,055 crimes reported in 2025
9 violent and 1,046 property, as reported to the FBI by Paramus’ police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
10 people died in crashes on Paramus’s roads in 2019–2023
Paramus had 10 fatal crashes in five years, in which 10 people died; 5 were pedestrians.
That is 7.5 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.
Paramus and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paramus | C− | 0.3 | 39.7 |
| Fair Lawn | — | — | — |
| River Edge | A− | 0.2 | 7.1 |
| Ridgewood | A− | 0.4 | 5.6 |
| Hackensack | C | 2.4 | 20.9 |
| Washington Township | — | — | — |
| Oradell | A+ | 0.2 | 2.0 |
| Maywood | B | 1.1 | 11.3 |
| Rochelle Park Township | B− | 1.2 | 12.7 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Fair Lawn reported to the FBI for 2023 and 2024 but not 2025. Washington Township reported to the FBI for 2023 and 2025 but not 2024.
New Jersey towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paramus | C− | 0.3 | 39.7 |
| Barnegat Township | A | 0.9 | 2.2 |
| Cliffside Park | B+ | 0.9 | 6.7 |
| Maplewood Township | B | 0.6 | 11.7 |
| Wall Township | B | 0.8 | 12.0 |
| Lodi | B− | 1.6 | 13.1 |
The five graded New Jersey towns closest to Paramus’ population (26,723), 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 Paramus. 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 Paramus’ residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (26,799 in 2025); our figure for Paramus is 26,723 (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 Paramus
Is Paramus, NJ safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Paramus 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 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 Paramus?
0.3 violent and 39.7 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.
Is crime going up or down in Paramus?
Reported crime per resident rose from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings.
How many homicides were there in Paramus in 2025?
Paramus’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 Paramus safer than River Edge?
River Edge reports less crime per resident than Paramus: River Edge grades A− for safety and Paramus C−. River Edge’s police reported 0.2 violent and 7.1 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Paramus?
Paramus’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Paramus”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Paramus.
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.