Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Trenton reports more crime per resident than 94% of U.S. towns
The crimes the grade counts rose 11% per resident from 2023 to 2025. Violence and property crime split as 9.6 violent crimes and 21.9 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents a year, beside 2.0 and 13.7 in the rest of New Jersey. On crimes Trenton’s police reported from 2023 to 2025, it grades D for safety: #334 of 342 graded towns in New Jersey. Each of the 3 towns on its borders with figures records less crime per resident.
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 Trenton
3 of the 3 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 3 New Jersey towns on Trenton’s borders, 3 have a Safety Grade: Lawrence Township (B−), Hamilton Township (C), Ewing Township (C−). Neighbors ↓
A job center
Trenton has 68,950 jobs based in town for 91,506 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 Trenton’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.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Trenton | Rest of New Jersey | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 10.6 | 1.8 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 10.4 | 2.1 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 10.3 | 2.1 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 8.1 | 1.9 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Trenton’s police reported 2,604 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 9.6 per 1,000 residents a year, against 2.0 in the rest of New Jersey and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Crime in Trenton 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 8 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Trenton property | Rest of New Jersey property | Trenton violent | Rest of New Jersey violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 18.7 | 13.8 | 10.6 | 1.8 |
| 2023 | 18.7 | 14.7 | 10.4 | 2.1 |
| 2024 | 22.9 | 13.9 | 10.3 | 2.1 |
| 2025 | 24.1 | 12.5 | 8.1 | 1.9 |
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.
2,932 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.
737 violent and 2,195 property, as reported to the FBI by Trenton’s police.
41 people died in crashes on Trenton’s roads in 2019–2023
Trenton had 40 fatal crashes in five years, in which 41 people died; 24 were pedestrians and 2 were cyclists.
That is 9.1 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.
Trenton and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trenton | D | 9.6 | 21.9 |
| Hamilton Township | C | 1.9 | 21.8 |
| Ewing Township | C− | 2.2 | 24.2 |
| Lawrence Township | B− | 0.3 | 16.4 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
New Jersey towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trenton | D | 9.6 | 21.9 |
| Toms River Township | B | 1.2 | 11.1 |
| Brick Township | B− | 1.4 | 11.3 |
| Bayonne | C+ | 2.8 | 13.2 |
| Edison Township | C+ | 1.8 | 17.9 |
| East Orange | C− | 4.6 | 19.6 |
The five graded New Jersey towns closest to Trenton’s population (91,506), 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 Trenton. A citywide rate doesn’t show where incidents happen, and that can differ a lot from one part of the city to another.
- Visitors count too. Incidents involving people who work, shop or visit are counted against Trenton’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (91,236 in 2025); our figure for Trenton is 91,506 (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 Trenton
Is Trenton, NJ safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Trenton reports more crime per resident than 94% of U.S. towns, a D Safety Grade and #334 of 342 in New Jersey. Its police reported 9.6 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 2.0 in the rest of New Jersey and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Trenton?
9.6 violent and 21.9 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of New Jersey reports 2.0 and 13.7; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
How many homicides were there in Trenton in 2025?
Trenton’s police reported 16 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 17.5 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Trenton safer than Hamilton Township?
Hamilton Township reports less crime per resident than Trenton: Hamilton Township grades C for safety and Trenton D. Hamilton Township’s police reported 1.9 violent and 21.8 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Trenton?
Trenton’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Trenton”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
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Please don’t name or describe individuals. In an emergency, call 911.
Neighbors looking out for each other in Trenton.
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.