Cavarly Cottage · Photo: James Welsh · CC BY-SA 3.0For violent crime, Stafford Township beats 86% of U.S. towns per resident
The crimes the grade counts fell 36% per resident from 2023 to 2025. Taking everything together, Stafford Township scores B+ (#136 of 342 graded towns in New Jersey): less crime per resident than 74% of U.S. towns, measured on crimes its police reported between 2023 and 2025. Per 1,000 residents a year, 0.5 violent crime and 8.4 incidents of property crime were recorded, 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 Stafford Township
1 of the 2 graded towns next door reports less crime
Of the 5 New Jersey towns on Stafford Township’s borders, 2 have a Safety Grade: Barnegat Township (A), Long Beach Township (B−). Ship Bottom reported to the FBI for 2023 and 2025 but not 2024. Surf City reported to the FBI for 2023 and 2024 but not 2025. Eagleswood Township has no FBI figures of its own for 2023–2025. Neighbors ↓
Among New Jersey towns, closer to the middle
New Jersey’s cities and towns report less crime than most states’, so Stafford Township’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 60% of the 342 New Jersey towns we grade, against 74% 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 Stafford 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.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Stafford Township property | Rest of New Jersey property | Stafford Township violent | Rest of New Jersey violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 8.2 | 13.9 | 0.4 | 1.9 |
| 2023 | 11.1 | 14.8 | 0.2 | 2.2 |
| 2024 | 7.7 | 14.0 | 0.4 | 2.2 |
| 2025 | 6.4 | 12.6 | 0.8 | 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 | Stafford Township | Rest of New Jersey | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 0.4 | 1.9 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 0.2 | 2.2 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 0.4 | 2.2 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 0.8 | 2.0 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Stafford Township’s police reported 44 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.
Crime in Stafford 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.
225 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.
25 violent and 200 property, as reported to the FBI by Stafford Township’s police.
11 people died in crashes on Stafford Township’s roads in 2019–2023
Stafford Township had 11 fatal crashes in five years, in which 11 people died; 1 was a cyclist.
That is 7.4 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.
Stafford Township and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stafford Township | B+ | 0.5 | 8.4 |
| Barnegat Township | A | 0.9 | 2.2 |
| Long Beach Township | B− | 1.3 | 13.3 |
| Ship Bottom | — | — | — |
| Surf City | — | — | — |
| Eagleswood Township | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Ship Bottom reported to the FBI for 2023 and 2025 but not 2024. Surf City reported to the FBI for 2023 and 2024 but not 2025. Eagleswood Township has no FBI figures of its own for 2023–2025.
New Jersey towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stafford Township | B+ | 0.5 | 8.4 |
| Princeton | A− | 0.5 | 6.8 |
| Nutley Township | A− | 0.7 | 6.9 |
| East Windsor Township | B+ | 0.6 | 8.3 |
| Rahway | B | 1.8 | 8.6 |
| Voorhees Township | B− | 0.7 | 16.4 |
The five graded New Jersey towns closest to Stafford Township’s population (30,958), 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 Stafford 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 Stafford Township’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (31,111 in 2025); our figure for Stafford Township is 30,958 (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 Stafford Township
Is Stafford Township, NJ safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Stafford Township reports less crime per resident than 74% of U.S. towns, a B+ Safety Grade and #136 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 Stafford Township?
0.5 violent and 8.4 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.
How many homicides were there in Stafford Township in 2025?
Stafford 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 Stafford Township safer than Barnegat Township?
Barnegat Township reports less crime per resident than Stafford Township: Barnegat Township grades A for safety and Stafford Township B+. Barnegat Township’s police reported 0.9 violent and 2.2 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Stafford Township?
Stafford Township’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Stafford Township”. 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 Stafford 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.