Photo: Joshua Karn · CC BY-SA 3.0North Tonawanda sits near the middle of U.S. towns for recorded crime
Neither of the two towns next door with figures records less crime per resident. Police counts work out at 1.5 violent crimes and 10.6 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents annually; in the rest of New York they are 5.0 and 21.1. Its letter overall is B (#132 of 236 graded towns in New York): close to the middle of U.S. towns, from crimes its police reported through 2023 to 2025. Per resident, the graded rate barely moved 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 North Tonawanda
North Tonawanda reports less crime than every graded town next door
Of the 5 New York towns on North Tonawanda’s borders, 2 have a Safety Grade: Tonawanda (B−), Amherst (C). Wheatfield has no FBI figures of its own for 2023–2025. Tonawanda (township) reported to the FBI for 2024 and 2025 but not 2023. Grand Island reported to the FBI for 2025 but not 2023 or 2024. Neighbors ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind North Tonawanda’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 | North Tonawanda | Rest of New York | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1.6 | 5.6 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 1.4 | 5.1 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 1.5 | 5.0 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 1.5 | 4.9 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
North Tonawanda’s police reported 135 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 1.5 per 1,000 residents a year, against 5.0 in the rest of New York and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Crime in North Tonawanda 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 2 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
Reported crime is steady
Show as a table
| Year | North Tonawanda property | Rest of New York property | North Tonawanda violent | Rest of New York violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 10.6 | 20.0 | 1.6 | 5.6 |
| 2023 | 10.4 | 22.3 | 1.4 | 5.1 |
| 2024 | 10.9 | 21.3 | 1.5 | 5.0 |
| 2025 | 10.6 | 19.7 | 1.5 | 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.
363 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.
46 violent and 317 property, as reported to the FBI by North Tonawanda’s police.
Four people died in crashes on North Tonawanda’s roads in 2019–2023
North Tonawanda had 4 fatal crashes in five years, in which four people died; 1 was a cyclist.
That is about what is typical for New York towns of 25,000–100,000 people: at their median rate (4.5 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of North Tonawanda’s size would see about 7 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so North Tonawanda’s own rate (2.6) 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.
North Tonawanda and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Tonawanda | B | 1.5 | 10.6 |
| Wheatfield | — | — | — |
| Amherst | C | 1.3 | 20.6 |
| Tonawanda (city) | B− | 1.7 | 12.0 |
| Tonawanda (township) | — | — | — |
| Grand Island | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Wheatfield has no FBI figures of its own for 2023–2025. Tonawanda (township) reported to the FBI for 2024 and 2025 but not 2023. Grand Island reported to the FBI for 2025 but not 2023 or 2024.
New York towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Tonawanda | B | 1.5 | 10.6 |
| East Fishkill | A | 0.5 | 3.8 |
| Glenville | B | 0.6 | 11.2 |
| Orchard Park | B | 0.6 | 12.2 |
| Middletown | C | 3.5 | 12.7 |
| Gates | C− | 1.6 | 27.9 |
The five graded New York towns closest to North Tonawanda’s population (29,806), 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 North Tonawanda. 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 North Tonawanda’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (29,869 in 2025); our figure for North Tonawanda is 29,806 (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 North Tonawanda
Is North Tonawanda, NY safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, North Tonawanda reports less crime per resident than 55% of U.S. towns, a B Safety Grade and #132 of 236 in New York. Its police reported 1.5 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 North Tonawanda?
1.5 violent and 10.6 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.
How many homicides were there in North Tonawanda in 2025?
North Tonawanda’s police reported 0 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 0.0 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is North Tonawanda safer than Amherst?
Amherst reports more crime per resident than North Tonawanda: Amherst grades C for safety and North Tonawanda B. Amherst’s police reported 1.3 violent and 20.6 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices North Tonawanda?
North Tonawanda’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “North Tonawanda”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
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Neighbors looking out for each other in North Tonawanda.
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.