Fort Crailo · Photo: UpstateNYer · CC BY-SA 3.0The crimes the grade counts fell 36% per resident in Rensselaer from 2023 to 2025
None of the 3 towns next door with figures records less crime per resident. Rensselaer’s Safety Grade, B− (#133 of 236 graded towns in New York), rests on crimes its police reported from 2023 to 2025: close to the middle of U.S. towns. Behind the grade sit 1.3 violent crimes and 11.6 incidents of property crime per 1,000 people a year, where the comparison is 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 Rensselaer
Rensselaer reports less crime than every graded town next door
Of the 3 New York towns on Rensselaer’s borders, 3 have a Safety Grade: North Greenbush (B−), East Greenbush (B−), Albany (D). 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 Rensselaer’s grade
Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Violent crime holds Rensselaer’s grade up; property crime pulls it down. Its property rate (11.6) 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.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Rensselaer property | Rest of New York property | Rensselaer violent | Rest of New York violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 10.2 | 20.0 | 1.1 | 5.6 |
| 2023 | 14.2 | 22.2 | 1.7 | 5.1 |
| 2024 | 12.2 | 21.3 | 0.5 | 5.0 |
| 2025 | 8.5 | 19.7 | 1.7 | 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 | Rensselaer | Rest of New York | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1.1 | 5.6 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 1.7 | 5.1 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 0.5 | 5.0 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 1.7 | 4.9 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Rensselaer’s police reported 37 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 1.3 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 Rensselaer 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.
97 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.
16 violent and 81 property, as reported to the FBI by Rensselaer’s police.
Two people died in crashes on Rensselaer’s roads in 2019–2023
Rensselaer had 2 fatal crashes in five years, in which two 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 Rensselaer’s size would see about 3 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Rensselaer’s own rate (4.3) 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.
Rensselaer and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rensselaer | B− | 1.3 | 11.6 |
| North Greenbush | B− | 0.9 | 14.0 |
| East Greenbush | B− | 1.0 | 15.6 |
| Albany | D | 8.8 | 29.6 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
New York towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rensselaer | B− | 1.3 | 11.6 |
| Marlborough | A+ | 0.2 | 2.5 |
| Crawford | A | 0.8 | 3.8 |
| Amityville | B+ | 0.3 | 10.4 |
| Monroe | B | 1.1 | 10.0 |
| Ogdensburg | D | 4.3 | 46.6 |
The five graded New York towns closest to Rensselaer’s population (9,421), 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 Rensselaer. 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 Rensselaer’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (9,516 in 2025); our figure for Rensselaer is 9,421 (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 Rensselaer
Is Rensselaer, NY safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Rensselaer reports less crime per resident than 54% of U.S. towns, a B− Safety Grade and #133 of 236 in New York. Its police reported 1.3 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 Rensselaer?
1.3 violent and 11.6 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.
Is Rensselaer safer than North Greenbush?
North Greenbush reports more crime per resident than Rensselaer: North Greenbush grades B− for safety and Rensselaer B−. North Greenbush’s police reported 0.9 violent and 14.0 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Rensselaer?
Rensselaer’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Rensselaer City”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
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Please don’t name or describe individuals. In an emergency, call 911.
Neighbors looking out for each other in Rensselaer.
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.