Photo: Shinerunner at English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0Lackawanna records more violent crime per head than 77% of U.S. towns
3 of the 4 towns next door with figures record less crime per resident. For every 1,000 residents, 3.4 violent crimes and 17.4 incidents of property crime were logged a year; in the rest of New York, the figures are 5.0 and 21.0. Overall, it grades C for safety (#192 of 236 graded towns in 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 Lackawanna
3 of the 4 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 4 New York towns on Lackawanna’s borders, 4 have a Safety Grade: Hamburg (B−), West Seneca (C+), Blasdell (C+), Buffalo (D−). Neighbors ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind Lackawanna’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 (3.4) 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 (17.4) 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.
Crime in Lackawanna 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.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Lackawanna | Rest of New York | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 4.0 | 5.6 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 3.7 | 5.1 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 4.0 | 5.0 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 2.7 | 4.9 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Lackawanna’s police reported 201 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 3.4 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 is steady
Show as a table
| Year | Lackawanna property | Rest of New York property | Lackawanna violent | Rest of New York violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 17.5 | 20.0 | 4.0 | 5.6 |
| 2023 | 17.9 | 22.2 | 3.7 | 5.1 |
| 2024 | 15.6 | 21.3 | 4.0 | 5.0 |
| 2025 | 18.8 | 19.7 | 2.7 | 4.9 |
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 York.
420 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.
52 violent and 368 property, as reported to the FBI by Lackawanna’s police.
Three people died in crashes on Lackawanna’s roads in 2019–2023
Lackawanna had 3 fatal crashes in five years, in which three people died; 1 was a pedestrian.
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 Lackawanna’s size would see about 6 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Lackawanna’s own rate (3.0) 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.
Lackawanna and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lackawanna | C | 3.4 | 17.4 |
| Buffalo | D− | 7.3 | 37.9 |
| West Seneca | C+ | 1.2 | 16.4 |
| Hamburg | B− | 0.6 | 16.4 |
| Blasdell | C+ | 1.6 | 16.6 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
New York towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lackawanna | C | 3.4 | 17.4 |
| Ogden | A | 0.4 | 5.2 |
| Saugerties | A− | 0.5 | 5.3 |
| Mamaroneck | B+ | 0.9 | 9.4 |
| Cohoes | C+ | 2.4 | 11.8 |
| Plattsburgh | C+ | 1.5 | 17.7 |
The five graded New York towns closest to Lackawanna’s population (19,452), 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 Lackawanna. 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 Lackawanna’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (19,554 in 2025); our figure for Lackawanna is 19,452 (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 Lackawanna
Is Lackawanna, NY safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Lackawanna reports more crime per resident than 74% of U.S. towns, a C Safety Grade and #192 of 236 in New York. Its police reported 3.4 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 Lackawanna?
3.4 violent and 17.4 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.
Is Lackawanna safer than Buffalo?
Buffalo reports more crime per resident than Lackawanna: Buffalo grades D− for safety and Lackawanna C. Buffalo’s police reported 7.3 violent and 37.9 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Lackawanna?
Lackawanna’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Lackawanna”. 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 Lackawanna.
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.