Shadow Lawn · Photo: Zeete · CC BY-SA 4.0Per resident, West Long Branch records less violent crime than 84% of U.S. towns
One of the 4 towns next door with figures records less crime per resident. West Long Branch’s overall Safety Grade is B (#194 of 342 graded towns in New Jersey): less crime per resident than 60% of U.S. towns, on crimes its police reported from 2023 to 2025. Violence and property crime split as 0.5 violent crime and 12.6 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents a year, beside 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 West Long Branch
1 of the 4 graded towns next door reports less crime
Of the 4 New Jersey towns on West Long Branch’s borders, 4 have a Safety Grade: Oceanport (A), Long Branch (C+), Eatontown (C+), Ocean Township (C−). Neighbors ↓
Among New Jersey towns, closer to the middle
New Jersey’s cities and towns report less crime than most states’, so West Long Branch’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 43% of the 342 New Jersey towns we grade, against 60% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
A college town
West Long Branch is home to Monmouth University, with 4,773 students taking classes on campus (federal college data), and 21% of residents are enrolled in college (Census). Students who live in town count as residents, so they are part of the per-resident rate. How to read it ↓
A job center
West Long Branch has 5,207 jobs based in town for 8,625 residents (Census LEHD), so some reports involve people who work or shop there rather than residents. How to read it ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind West Long Branch’s grade
Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Violent crime holds West Long Branch’s grade up; property crime pulls it down. Its property rate (12.6) is below the FBI’s national estimate (17.6) but higher than in most individual towns: the national figure is weighted by people, and the grade counts towns.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | West Long Branch | Rest of New Jersey | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 0.7 | 1.9 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 0.5 | 2.2 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 0.5 | 2.2 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 0.6 | 2.0 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
West Long Branch’s police reported 13 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 West Long Branch 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.
Reported crime is steady
Show as a table
| Year | West Long Branch property | Rest of New Jersey property | West Long Branch violent | Rest of New Jersey violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 11.3 | 13.9 | 0.7 | 1.9 |
| 2023 | 11.4 | 14.8 | 0.5 | 2.2 |
| 2024 | 11.5 | 14.0 | 0.5 | 2.2 |
| 2025 | 14.8 | 12.6 | 0.6 | 2.0 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
Reported crime per resident was steady from 2023 to 2025: the change is within ordinary year-to-year swings. Per 1,000 residents, 2022–2025, against the rest of New Jersey.
132 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.
5 violent and 127 property, as reported to the FBI by West Long Branch’s police.
No one died in a crash on West Long Branch’s roads in 2019–2023
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 West Long Branch’s size would see about 2 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so West Long Branch’s own rate (0.0) 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.
West Long Branch and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Long Branch | B | 0.5 | 12.6 |
| Oceanport | A | 0.5 | 4.6 |
| Ocean Township | C− | 1.4 | 28.6 |
| Long Branch | C+ | 2.4 | 14.7 |
| Eatontown | C+ | 2.1 | 16.8 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
New Jersey towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Long Branch | B | 0.5 | 12.6 |
| Hardyston Township | A | 0.4 | 2.4 |
| Kenilworth | A− | 0.2 | 7.7 |
| Closter | B+ | 0.2 | 10.7 |
| Northfield | B+ | 0.3 | 10.3 |
| Carneys Point Township | B | 1.4 | 8.1 |
The five graded New Jersey towns closest to West Long Branch’s population (8,625), 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 West Long Branch. 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 West Long Branch’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (8,610 in 2025); our figure for West Long Branch is 8,625 (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 West Long Branch
Is West Long Branch, NJ safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, West Long Branch reports less crime per resident than 60% of U.S. towns, a B Safety Grade and #194 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 West Long Branch?
0.5 violent and 12.6 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 West Long Branch safer than Oceanport?
Oceanport reports less crime per resident than West Long Branch: Oceanport grades A for safety and West Long Branch B. Oceanport’s police reported 0.5 violent and 4.6 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices West Long Branch?
West Long Branch’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “West Long Branch”. 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 West Long Branch.
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.