Photo: Dough4872 · Public domainMore violent crime is recorded per resident in Wildwood Crest than in 68% of U.S. towns
Its letter overall is C+ (#267 of 342 graded towns in New Jersey): more crime per resident than 62% of U.S. towns, from crimes its police reported through 2023 to 2025. Annual rates stand at 2.6 violent crimes and 13.3 incidents of property crime for every thousand residents, next to 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 Wildwood Crest
1 of the 1 graded towns next door reports less crime
Of the 2 New Jersey towns on Wildwood Crest’s borders, 1 have a Safety Grade: Lower Township (B+). Wildwood reported to the FBI for 2024 and 2025 but not 2023. Neighbors ↓
Among New Jersey towns, lower
New Jersey’s cities and towns report less crime than most states’, so Wildwood Crest’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 22% of the 342 New Jersey towns we grade, against 38% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind Wildwood Crest’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. Its violent rate (2.6) is below the FBI’s national estimate (3.6) but higher than in most individual towns: the national figure is weighted by people, and the grade counts towns. Its property rate (13.3) 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 | Wildwood Crest | Rest of New Jersey | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 3.6 | 1.9 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 1.6 | 2.2 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 2.9 | 2.2 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 3.3 | 2.0 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Wildwood Crest’s police reported 24 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 2.6 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 Wildwood Crest 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 3 violent crimes, 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 | Wildwood Crest property | Rest of New Jersey property | Wildwood Crest violent | Rest of New Jersey violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 22.7 | 13.8 | 3.6 | 1.9 |
| 2023 | 13.2 | 14.8 | 1.6 | 2.2 |
| 2024 | 17.0 | 14.0 | 2.9 | 2.2 |
| 2025 | 9.6 | 12.6 | 3.3 | 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.
39 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.
10 violent and 29 property, as reported to the FBI by Wildwood Crest’s police.
No one died in a crash on Wildwood Crest’s roads in 2019–2023
That is about what is typical for New Jersey towns of 2,500–5,000 people: at their median rate (4.9 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Wildwood Crest’s size would see about 1 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Wildwood Crest’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.
Wildwood Crest and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wildwood Crest | C+ | 2.6 | 13.3 |
| Lower Township | B+ | 1.4 | 6.9 |
| Wildwood | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Wildwood reported to the FBI for 2024 and 2025 but not 2023.
New Jersey towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wildwood Crest | C+ | 2.6 | 13.3 |
| Monmouth Beach | A+ | 0.1 | 2.6 |
| West Amwell Township | A | 0.1 | 5.8 |
| Pennington | A− | 0.7 | 4.3 |
| Moonachie | B+ | 1.2 | 7.5 |
| Long Beach Township | B− | 1.3 | 13.3 |
The five graded New Jersey towns closest to Wildwood Crest’s population (3,000), 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 Wildwood Crest. 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 Wildwood Crest’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (3,021 in 2025); our figure for Wildwood Crest is 3,000 (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 Wildwood Crest
Is Wildwood Crest, NJ safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Wildwood Crest reports more crime per resident than 62% of U.S. towns, a C+ Safety Grade and #267 of 342 in New Jersey. Its police reported 2.6 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 Wildwood Crest?
2.6 violent and 13.3 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 Wildwood Crest safer than Lower Township?
Lower Township reports less crime per resident than Wildwood Crest: Lower Township grades B+ for safety and Wildwood Crest C+. Lower Township’s police reported 1.4 violent and 6.9 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Wildwood Crest?
Wildwood Crest’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Wildwood Crest”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
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Neighbors looking out for each other in Wildwood Crest.
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.