Photo: Zeete · CC BY-SA 4.0Rockaway Township has less violent crime per resident than 85% of U.S. towns
The rate the grade counts dropped 23% from 2023 to 2025. Even so, among its 7 neighbors with figures, 5 record less crime per resident. In sum, crimes its police reported from 2023 to 2025 put Rockaway Township at B+ (#143 of 342 graded towns in New Jersey): less crime per resident than 72% of U.S. towns. Its police logs show 0.5 violent crime and 8.9 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents a year, while in the rest of New Jersey the numbers are 2.1 and 13.8.
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 Rockaway Township
5 of the 7 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 8 New Jersey towns on Rockaway Township’s borders, 7 have a Safety Grade: Denville Township (A+), Jefferson Township (A+), Boonton Township (A+), Rockaway (A+), West Milford Township (A), Wharton (B+), Dover (B+). Randolph Township reported to the FBI for 2023 and 2024 but not 2025. Neighbors ↓
Among New Jersey towns, closer to the middle
New Jersey’s cities and towns report less crime than most states’, so Rockaway Township’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 58% of the 342 New Jersey towns we grade, against 72% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
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 Rockaway Township’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; violent crime is the stronger of the two.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Rockaway Township | Rest of New Jersey | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 0.7 | 1.9 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 0.6 | 2.2 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 0.4 | 2.2 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 0.5 | 2.0 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Rockaway Township’s police reported 40 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 0.5 per 1,000 residents a year, against 2.1 in the rest of New Jersey and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Rockaway Township property | Rest of New Jersey property | Rockaway Township violent | Rest of New Jersey violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 8.5 | 13.9 | 0.7 | 1.9 |
| 2023 | 9.9 | 14.8 | 0.6 | 2.2 |
| 2024 | 9.4 | 14.0 | 0.4 | 2.2 |
| 2025 | 7.6 | 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.
Crime in Rockaway Township 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.
221 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.
14 violent and 207 property, as reported to the FBI by Rockaway Township’s police.
Six people died in crashes on Rockaway Township’s roads in 2019–2023
Rockaway Township had 6 fatal crashes in five years, in which six people died. 2 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is about what is typical for New Jersey towns of 25,000–100,000 people: at their median rate (5.8 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Rockaway Township’s size would see about 8 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Rockaway Township’s own rate (4.6) 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.
Rockaway Township and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rockaway Township | B+ | 0.5 | 8.9 |
| Denville Township | A+ | 0.1 | 3.3 |
| West Milford Township | A | 0.8 | 2.9 |
| Wharton | B+ | 0.5 | 9.7 |
| Rockaway | A+ | 0.1 | 3.3 |
| Dover | B+ | 1.6 | 6.2 |
| Randolph Township | — | — | — |
| Jefferson Township | A+ | 0.3 | 1.9 |
| Boonton Township | A+ | 0.2 | 2.7 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Randolph Township reported to the FBI for 2023 and 2024 but not 2025.
New Jersey towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rockaway Township | B+ | 0.5 | 8.9 |
| Pemberton Township | C+ | 3.3 | 10.3 |
| Ocean Township | C− | 1.4 | 28.6 |
| Neptune Township | D | 3.0 | 31.6 |
| Millville | D | 4.6 | 39.8 |
| Bridgeton | D− | 8.5 | 33.1 |
The five graded New Jersey towns closest to Rockaway Township’s population (27,728), 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 Rockaway Township. 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 Rockaway Township’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (27,254 in 2025); our figure for Rockaway Township is 27,728 (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 Rockaway Township
Is Rockaway Township, NJ safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Rockaway Township reports less crime per resident than 72% of U.S. towns, a B+ Safety Grade and #143 of 342 in New Jersey. Its police reported 0.5 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 Rockaway Township?
0.5 violent and 8.9 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of New Jersey reports 2.1 and 13.8; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
How many homicides were there in Rockaway Township in 2025?
Rockaway Township’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 Rockaway Township safer than Denville Township?
Denville Township reports less crime per resident than Rockaway Township: Denville Township grades A+ for safety and Rockaway Township B+. Denville Township’s police reported 0.1 violent and 3.3 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Rockaway Township?
Rockaway Township’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Rockaway Township”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
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Neighbors looking out for each other in Rockaway Township.
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.