Photo: Nandaro · CC BY-SA 3.0Niagara Falls reports more crime per resident than 90% of U.S. towns
Police counts work out at 5.5 violent crimes and 26.9 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents annually; in the rest of New York they are 5.0 and 21.0. Add to that, its Safety Grade is D, on crimes Niagara Falls’ police reported from 2023 to 2025: #217 of 236 graded towns in New York. Both towns next door with figures record less crime per resident. Per resident, the graded crimes were down 14% from 2023 to 2025.
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 Niagara Falls
2 of the 2 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 4 New York towns on Niagara Falls’ borders, 2 have a Safety Grade: Lewiston (A−), Niagara (C−). Wheatfield has no FBI figures of its own for 2023–2025. Grand Island reported to the FBI for 2025 but not 2023 or 2024. Neighbors ↓
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 Niagara Falls’ 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.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Niagara Falls property | Rest of New York property | Niagara Falls violent | Rest of New York violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 28.5 | 19.9 | 8.1 | 5.6 |
| 2023 | 27.6 | 22.2 | 6.8 | 5.1 |
| 2024 | 28.1 | 21.2 | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| 2025 | 24.9 | 19.7 | 4.8 | 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 Niagara Falls 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 5 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 | Niagara Falls | Rest of New York | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 8.1 | 5.6 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 6.8 | 5.1 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 4.8 | 4.9 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Niagara Falls’ police reported 787 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 5.5 per 1,000 residents a year, against 5.0 in the rest of New York and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
1,402 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.
226 violent and 1,176 property, as reported to the FBI by Niagara Falls’ police.
23 people died in crashes on Niagara Falls’s roads in 2019–2023
Niagara Falls had 22 fatal crashes in five years, in which 23 people died; 4 were pedestrians and 1 was a cyclist. 1 died in crash on an Interstate.
That is 9.6 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.
Niagara Falls and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Niagara Falls | D | 5.5 | 26.9 |
| Niagara | C− | 1.5 | 33.8 |
| Wheatfield | — | — | — |
| Grand Island | — | — | — |
| Lewiston | A− | 0.4 | 6.4 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Wheatfield has no FBI figures of its own for 2023–2025. Grand Island reported to the FBI for 2025 but not 2023 or 2024.
New York towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Niagara Falls | D | 5.5 | 26.9 |
| Lancaster | B+ | 0.5 | 9.8 |
| Webster | B+ | 0.8 | 8.8 |
| West Seneca | C+ | 1.2 | 16.4 |
| Poughkeepsie | C | 1.6 | 23.3 |
| Binghamton | D | 5.8 | 33.7 |
The five graded New York towns closest to Niagara Falls’ population (47,255), 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 Niagara Falls. 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 Niagara Falls’ residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (47,263 in 2025); our figure for Niagara Falls is 47,255 (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 Niagara Falls
Is Niagara Falls, NY safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Niagara Falls reports more crime per resident than 90% of U.S. towns, a D Safety Grade and #217 of 236 in New York. Its police reported 5.5 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 Niagara Falls?
5.5 violent and 26.9 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 Niagara Falls in 2025?
Niagara Falls’s police reported 1 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 2.1 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Niagara Falls safer than Niagara?
Niagara reports less crime per resident than Niagara Falls: Niagara grades C− for safety and Niagara Falls D. Niagara’s police reported 1.5 violent and 33.8 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Niagara Falls?
Niagara Falls’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Niagara Falls”. 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 Niagara Falls.
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.