Photo: Jerrye & Roy Klotz, MD · CC BY-SA 3.0Riverdale has less violence than most U.S. towns, but more property crime
Each of the 5 towns on its borders with figures records less crime per resident. Across all the graded crimes, Riverdale lands on C (#288 of 342 graded towns in New Jersey): more crime per resident than 71% of U.S. towns, on crimes its police reported from 2023 to 2025. By contrast, the rate the grade counts dropped 33% from 2023 to 2025. Recorded violent crime ran at 0.6 per 1,000 residents a year and property crime at 26.7, against 2.1 and 13.8 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 Riverdale
5 of the 5 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 5 New Jersey towns on Riverdale’s borders, 5 have a Safety Grade: Kinnelon (A+), Bloomingdale (A), Pequannock Township (A), Pompton Lakes (A), Butler (A−). Neighbors ↓
Among New Jersey towns, lower
New Jersey’s cities and towns report less crime than most states’, so Riverdale’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 16% of the 342 New Jersey towns we grade, against 29% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
A job center
Riverdale has 3,596 jobs based in town for 4,144 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 Riverdale’s grade
Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Violent crime holds Riverdale’s grade up; property crime pulls it down.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Riverdale property | Rest of New Jersey property | Riverdale violent | Rest of New Jersey violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 18.8 | 13.8 | 0.2 | 1.9 |
| 2023 | 30.1 | 14.7 | 0.5 | 2.2 |
| 2024 | 30.0 | 14.0 | 0.7 | 2.2 |
| 2025 | 20.0 | 12.6 | 0.5 | 2.0 |
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 | Riverdale | Rest of New Jersey | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 0.2 | 1.9 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 0.5 | 2.2 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 0.7 | 2.2 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 0.5 | 2.0 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Riverdale’s police reported 7 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 0.6 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 Riverdale 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.
85 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.
2 violent and 83 property, as reported to the FBI by Riverdale’s police.
Two people died in crashes on Riverdale’s roads in 2019–2023
Riverdale had 2 fatal crashes in five years, in which two people died.
That is about what is typical for New Jersey towns of 2,500–5,000 people: at their median rate (4.9 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Riverdale’s size would see about 1 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Riverdale’s own rate (9.7) 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.
Riverdale and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Riverdale | C | 0.6 | 26.7 |
| Bloomingdale | A | 1.0 | 2.6 |
| Pompton Lakes | A | 0.5 | 4.7 |
| Pequannock Township | A | 0.3 | 5.5 |
| Kinnelon | A+ | 0.1 | 3.0 |
| Butler | A− | 0.5 | 5.6 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
New Jersey towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Riverdale | C | 0.6 | 26.7 |
| Lambertville | A− | 0.4 | 5.5 |
| Bordentown | A− | 0.5 | 6.3 |
| Cranbury Township | A− | 0.4 | 8.1 |
| Bradley Beach | B | 0.3 | 13.9 |
| Shrewsbury | C+ | 0.5 | 19.5 |
The five graded New Jersey towns closest to Riverdale’s population (4,144), 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 Riverdale. 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 Riverdale’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (4,147 in 2025); our figure for Riverdale is 4,144 (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 Riverdale
Is Riverdale, NJ safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Riverdale reports more crime per resident than 71% of U.S. towns, a C Safety Grade and #288 of 342 in New Jersey. Its police reported 0.6 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 Riverdale?
0.6 violent and 26.7 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of New Jersey reports 2.1 and 13.8; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is Riverdale safer than Bloomingdale?
Bloomingdale reports less crime per resident than Riverdale: Bloomingdale grades A for safety and Riverdale C. Bloomingdale’s police reported 1.0 violent and 2.6 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Riverdale?
Riverdale’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Riverdale”. 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 Riverdale.
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.