Garden City records less violent crime per head than 95% of U.S. towns
Taking everything together, Garden City scores A− (#87 of 236 graded towns in New York): less crime per resident than 78% of U.S. towns, measured on crimes its police reported between 2023 and 2025. Per resident, the graded crimes were down 29% from 2023 to 2025. Violence and property crime split as 0.2 violent crime and 8.0 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents a year, beside 5.0 and 21.1 in the rest of New York.
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 Garden City
Garden City reports less crime than every graded town next door
Of the 6 New York towns on Garden City’s borders, 1 have a Safety Grade: Hempstead (C). New Hyde Park, Hempstead (township), North Hempstead, Stewart Manor and Mineola have no FBI figures of their own for 2023–2025. Neighbors ↓
Among New York towns, closer to the middle
New York’s cities and towns report more crime than most states’, so Garden City’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 63% of the 236 New York towns we grade, against 78% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
A college town
Garden City is home to Adelphi University, with 6,890 students taking classes on campus (federal college data), and 12% 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
Garden City has 29,753 jobs based in town for 23,043 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 Garden City’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.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Garden City | Rest of New York | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 0.3 | 5.6 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 0.2 | 5.1 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 0.3 | 5.0 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 0.1 | 4.9 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Garden City’s police reported 13 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 0.2 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 | Garden City property | Rest of New York property | Garden City violent | Rest of New York violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 8.4 | 20.0 | 0.3 | 5.6 |
| 2023 | 9.5 | 22.3 | 0.2 | 5.1 |
| 2024 | 7.9 | 21.3 | 0.3 | 5.0 |
| 2025 | 6.8 | 19.7 | 0.1 | 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 Garden City 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 fewer than 1 violent crime, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
158 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.
2 violent and 156 property, as reported to the FBI by Garden City’s police.
Four people died in crashes on Garden City’s roads in 2019–2023
Garden City had 4 fatal crashes in five years, in which four people died.
That is about what is typical for New York towns of 5,000–25,000 people: at their median rate (5.9 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Garden City’s size would see about 7 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Garden City’s own rate (3.5) 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.
Garden City and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Garden City | A− | 0.2 | 8.0 |
| Hempstead (village) | C | 4.7 | 10.5 |
| New Hyde Park | — | — | — |
| Hempstead (township) | — | — | — |
| North Hempstead | — | — | — |
| Stewart Manor | — | — | — |
| Mineola | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. New Hyde Park, Hempstead (township), North Hempstead, Stewart Manor and Mineola have no FBI figures of their own for 2023–2025.
New York towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Garden City | A− | 0.2 | 8.0 |
| Montgomery | A | 0.5 | 4.6 |
| Niskayuna | C+ | 0.7 | 19.8 |
| Kingston | C | 3.0 | 14.6 |
| New Hartford | C− | 0.7 | 31.2 |
| Watertown | D | 5.5 | 39.9 |
The five graded New York towns closest to Garden City’s population (23,043), 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 Garden City. 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 Garden City’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (23,047 in 2025); our figure for Garden City is 23,043 (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 Garden City
Is Garden City, NY safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Garden City reports less crime per resident than 78% of U.S. towns, an A− Safety Grade and #87 of 236 in New York. Its police reported 0.2 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 Garden City?
0.2 violent and 8.0 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of New York reports 5.0 and 21.1; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is Garden City safer than Hempstead?
Hempstead reports more crime per resident than Garden City: Hempstead grades C for safety and Garden City A−. Hempstead’s police reported 4.7 violent and 10.5 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Garden City?
Garden City’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Garden City Village”. 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 Garden City.
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.