Photo: Smallbones · Public domainSalem sees more crime per resident than 98% of U.S. towns
It has more violent crime than 99% of U.S. towns, and more property crime than 83%. Counting crimes Salem’s police reported from 2023 to 2025, it grades D− for safety: #340 of 342 graded towns in New Jersey. Add to that, recorded violent crimes ran at 14.0 per 1,000 residents a year and property crime at 23.4, against 2.1 and 13.8 in the rest of New Jersey. The graded rate fell 46% from 2023 to 2025.
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 Salem
1 of the 1 graded towns next door reports less crime
Of the 4 New Jersey towns on Salem’s borders, 1 have a Safety Grade: Pennsville Township (C). Mannington Township, Elsinboro Township and Quinton Township have no FBI figures of their own for 2023–2025. Neighbors ↓
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 Salem’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.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Salem property | Rest of New Jersey property | Salem violent | Rest of New Jersey violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 17.1 | 13.8 | 14.9 | 1.9 |
| 2023 | 26.0 | 14.7 | 21.0 | 2.2 |
| 2024 | 24.9 | 14.0 | 14.6 | 2.2 |
| 2025 | 19.3 | 12.6 | 6.3 | 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 | Salem | Rest of New Jersey | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 14.9 | 1.9 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 21.0 | 2.2 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 14.6 | 2.2 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 6.3 | 2.0 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Salem’s police reported 224 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 14.0 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 Salem 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 6 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
138 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.
34 violent and 104 property, as reported to the FBI by Salem’s police.
Two people died in crashes on Salem’s roads in 2019–2023
Salem had 2 fatal crashes in five years, in which two people died; 1 was a pedestrian.
That is about what 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 Salem’s size would see about 1 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Salem’s own rate (7.5) 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.
Salem and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Salem | D− | 14.0 | 23.4 |
| Mannington Township | — | — | — |
| Elsinboro Township | — | — | — |
| Pennsville Township | C | 1.2 | 27.1 |
| Quinton Township | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Mannington Township, Elsinboro Township and Quinton Township have no FBI figures of their own for 2023–2025.
New Jersey towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Salem | D− | 14.0 | 23.4 |
| Independence Township | A+ | 0.4 | 1.4 |
| Andover Township | A+ | 0.2 | 2.5 |
| Garwood | A | 0.2 | 5.7 |
| Franklin | A | 0.3 | 5.5 |
| Englewood Cliffs | B | 0.2 | 13.1 |
The five graded New Jersey towns closest to Salem’s population (5,389), 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 Salem. 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 Salem’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (5,386 in 2025); our figure for Salem is 5,389 (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 Salem
Is Salem, NJ safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Salem reports more crime per resident than 98% of U.S. towns, a D− Safety Grade and #340 of 342 in New Jersey. Its police reported 14.0 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 Salem?
14.0 violent and 23.4 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 Salem safer than Pennsville Township?
Pennsville Township reports less crime per resident than Salem: Pennsville Township grades C for safety and Salem D−. Pennsville Township’s police reported 1.2 violent and 27.1 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Salem?
Salem’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Salem”. 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 Salem.
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.