Photo: Andreas F. Borchert · CC BY-SA 4.0Brighton records less violence than most U.S. towns, but more property crime
Per 1,000 residents a year, 0.8 violent crime and 22.1 incidents of property crime were recorded, against 5.0 and 21.0 in the rest of New York. On top of that, the graded rate fell 24% from 2023 to 2025. In sum, crimes its police reported from 2023 to 2025 put Brighton at C+ (#174 of 236 graded towns in New York): more crime per resident than 65% of U.S. towns.
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. “Rest of NY” is every other New York 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 Brighton
1 of the 2 graded towns next door reports less crime
Of the 6 New York towns on Brighton’s borders, 2 have a Safety Grade: Irondequoit (C+), Rochester (D). Penfield, Chili, Henrietta and Pittsford have no FBI figures of their own for 2023–2025. Neighbors ↓
A college town
Brighton is home to Monroe Community College, with 6,485 students taking classes on campus (federal college data), and 9% 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 ↓
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 Brighton’s grade
Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Violent crime holds Brighton’s grade up; property crime pulls it down.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Brighton | Rest of New York | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 0.8 | 5.6 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 0.9 | 5.1 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 0.8 | 5.0 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 0.7 | 4.9 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Brighton’s police reported 89 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 0.8 per 1,000 residents a year, against 5.0 in the rest of New York and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Brighton property | Rest of New York property | Brighton violent | Rest of New York violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 19.9 | 19.9 | 0.8 | 5.6 |
| 2023 | 25.7 | 22.2 | 0.9 | 5.1 |
| 2024 | 21.3 | 21.3 | 0.8 | 5.0 |
| 2025 | 19.4 | 19.7 | 0.7 | 4.9 |
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 York.
Crime in Brighton 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.
735 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.
27 violent and 708 property, as reported to the FBI by Brighton’s police.
11 people died in crashes on Brighton’s roads in 2019–2023
Brighton had 10 fatal crashes in five years, in which 11 people died; 5 were pedestrians and 2 were cyclists. 2 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is 6.0 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, above the median for New York towns of 25,000–100,000 people (4.5, 116 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.
Brighton and its neighbors
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Penfield, Chili, Henrietta and Pittsford have no FBI figures of their own for 2023–2025.
New York towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brighton | C+ | 0.8 | 22.1 |
| Long Beach | A | 0.7 | 1.1 |
| Yorktown | A− | 0.4 | 6.0 |
| Bethlehem | B+ | 0.4 | 9.6 |
| Guilderland | B− | 1.0 | 16.5 |
| Riverhead | C | 1.1 | 21.8 |
The five graded New York towns closest to Brighton’s population (36,695), 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 Brighton. 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 Brighton’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (36,471 in 2025); our figure for Brighton is 36,695 (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 Brighton
Is Brighton, NY safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Brighton reports more crime per resident than 65% of U.S. towns, a C+ Safety Grade and #174 of 236 in New York. Its police reported 0.8 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 5.0 in the rest of New York and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Brighton?
0.8 violent and 22.1 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of New York reports 5.0 and 21.0; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
How many homicides were there in Brighton in 2025?
Brighton’s police reported 2 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 5.5 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Brighton safer than Rochester?
Rochester reports more crime per resident than Brighton: Rochester grades D for safety and Brighton C+. Rochester’s police reported 6.3 violent and 37.0 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Brighton?
Brighton’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Brighton Town”. 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 Brighton.
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.