Frontier House · Photo: Kdm85 · CC BY-SA 3.0Per resident, Lewiston records less violent crime than 88% of U.S. towns
The graded rate fell 42% from 2023 to 2025. Overall, it grades A− for safety (#82 of 236 graded towns in New York). Add to that, in a usual year, 0.4 violent crime and 6.4 incidents of property crime are logged per 1,000 inhabitants; in the rest of New York, 5.0 and 21.1. Its two neighbors with figures both record more crime per resident.
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 Lewiston
Lewiston reports less crime than every graded town next door
Of the 6 New York towns on Lewiston’s borders, 2 have a Safety Grade: Niagara (C−), Niagara Falls (D). Porter, Cambria, Wheatfield and Lewiston (village) 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 Lewiston’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 65% of the 236 New York towns we grade, against 81% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
A college town
Lewiston is home to Niagara University, with 3,179 students taking classes on campus (federal college data), and 14% 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 Lewiston’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.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Lewiston property | Rest of New York property | Lewiston violent | Rest of New York violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 7.4 | 20.0 | 0.3 | 5.6 |
| 2023 | 8.0 | 22.3 | 0.4 | 5.1 |
| 2024 | 6.6 | 21.3 | 0.4 | 5.0 |
| 2025 | 4.5 | 19.7 | 0.4 | 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.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Lewiston | Rest of New York | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 0.3 | 5.6 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 0.4 | 5.1 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 0.4 | 5.0 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 0.4 | 4.9 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Lewiston’s police reported 19 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 0.4 per 1,000 residents a year, against 5.0 in the rest of New York and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Crime in Lewiston 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.
76 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.
6 violent and 70 property, as reported to the FBI by Lewiston’s police.
Seven people died in crashes on Lewiston’s roads in 2019–2023
Lewiston had 7 fatal crashes in five years, in which seven people died; 1 was a cyclist.
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 Lewiston’s size would see about 5 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Lewiston’s own rate (8.9) 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.
Lewiston and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lewiston | A− | 0.4 | 6.4 |
| Niagara | C− | 1.5 | 33.8 |
| Porter | — | — | — |
| Cambria | — | — | — |
| Niagara Falls | D | 5.5 | 26.9 |
| Wheatfield | — | — | — |
| Lewiston (village) | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Porter, Cambria, Wheatfield and Lewiston (village) have no FBI figures of their own for 2023–2025.
New York towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lewiston | A− | 0.4 | 6.4 |
| Stony Point | A | 0.4 | 3.6 |
| New Paltz | A− | 0.7 | 6.8 |
| Floral Park | A− | 0.9 | 5.7 |
| Oneonta | B+ | 0.9 | 7.3 |
| Batavia | C− | 3.7 | 20.5 |
The five graded New York towns closest to Lewiston’s population (15,676), 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 Lewiston. 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 Lewiston’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (15,589 in 2025); our figure for Lewiston is 15,676 (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 Lewiston
Is Lewiston, NY safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Lewiston reports less crime per resident than 81% of U.S. towns, an A− Safety Grade and #82 of 236 in New York. Its police reported 0.4 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 Lewiston?
0.4 violent and 6.4 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of New York reports 5.0 and 21.1; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is Lewiston safer than Niagara?
Niagara reports more crime per resident than Lewiston: Niagara grades C− for safety and Lewiston A−. Niagara’s police reported 1.5 violent and 33.8 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Lewiston?
Lewiston’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Lewiston Town and 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 Lewiston.
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.