Photo: Patrick Ashley · CC BY 2.0Crime per resident in Rochester runs higher than in 94% of U.S. towns
The grade is D, built on crimes Rochester’s police reported from 2023 to 2025: #226 of 236 graded towns in New York, and #258 of 325 U.S. cities over 100,000. What’s more, violent crime here is higher than in 92% of U.S. towns; property crime, higher than in 95%. The local count comes to 6.3 violent crimes and 37.0 incidents of property crime per 1,000 people each year, with 5.0 and 20.8 in the rest of New York. The rate the grade counts dropped 42% 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 Rochester
4 of the 4 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 5 New York towns on Rochester’s borders, 4 have a Safety Grade: Irondequoit (C+), Greece (C+), Brighton (C+), Gates (C−). Chili has no FBI figures of its own for 2023–2025. Neighbors ↓
Homicides: above U.S. cities overall
Rochester’s police reported 27 homicides to the FBI in 2025. Over 2023–2025 that is 16.3 per 100,000 residents a year, 4.9 times the rest of New York (3.3) and 2.9 times all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables (5.7). Violent crime ↓
Robberies: above the rest of New York
161 robberies per 100,000 residents a year over 2023–2025 (266 reported in 2025), above the rest of New York (132) and 2.0 times all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables (79.4). Violent crime ↓
Against other big cities
Among the 325 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, Rochester reports less crime per resident than 21% (#258). Places like it ↓
A job center
Rochester has 138,565 jobs based in town for 206,108 residents (Census LEHD), so some reports involve people who work or shop there rather than residents. 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 Rochester’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; violent crime is the closer of the two to typical.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Rochester property | Rest of New York property | Rochester violent | Rest of New York violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 35.8 | 19.7 | 7.3 | 5.6 |
| 2023 | 50.5 | 21.8 | 7.3 | 5.1 |
| 2024 | 32.9 | 21.1 | 5.8 | 5.0 |
| 2025 | 27.6 | 19.6 | 5.7 | 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.
Homicides and robberies
Show as a table
| Year | Rochester | Rest of New York | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 31.4 | 4.6 | 7.7 |
| 2023 | 22.5 | 3.6 | 6.8 |
| 2024 | 13.1 | 3.4 | 5.7 |
| 2025 | 13.1 | 2.9 | 4.6 |
Homicides per 100,000 residents
Show as a table
| Year | Rochester | Rest of New York | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 227 | 152 | 95.5 |
| 2023 | 200 | 143 | 90.6 |
| 2024 | 153 | 131 | 81.9 |
| 2025 | 129 | 123 | 66.0 |
Robberies per 100,000 residents
Rochester’s police reported 27 homicides, 266 robberies and 1,171 violent crimes in all to the FBI in 2025. By year, against the rest of New York and all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables.
Crime in Rochester 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 6 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
6,869 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.
1,171 violent and 5,698 property, as reported to the FBI by Rochester’s police.
98 people died in crashes on Rochester’s roads in 2019–2023
Rochester had 94 fatal crashes in five years, in which 98 people died; 39 were pedestrians and 7 were cyclists. 2 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is 9.4 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, above the median for New York towns of 100,000+ people (6.3, 16 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.
Rochester and its neighbors
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Chili has no FBI figures of its own for 2023–2025.
New York towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rochester | D | 6.3 | 37.0 |
| Ramapo | A− | 0.7 | 5.8 |
| Yonkers | C+ | 3.1 | 10.4 |
| Amherst | C | 1.3 | 20.6 |
| Buffalo | D− | 7.3 | 37.9 |
| Syracuse | D− | 7.3 | 37.6 |
The five graded New York towns closest to Rochester’s population (206,108), 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 Rochester. A citywide rate doesn’t show where incidents happen, and that can differ a lot from one part of the city to another.
- Visitors count too. Incidents involving people who work, shop or visit are counted against Rochester’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (206,391 in 2025); our figure for Rochester is 206,108 (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 Rochester
Is Rochester, NY safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Rochester reports more crime per resident than 94% of U.S. towns, a D Safety Grade and #226 of 236 in New York. Its police reported 6.3 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 Rochester?
6.3 violent and 37.0 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of New York reports 5.0 and 20.8; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
How many homicides were there in Rochester in 2025?
Rochester’s police reported 27 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 13.1 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Rochester safer than Irondequoit?
Irondequoit reports less crime per resident than Rochester: Irondequoit grades C+ for safety and Rochester D. Irondequoit’s police reported 1.4 violent and 17.2 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Rochester?
Rochester’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Rochester”. 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 Rochester.
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.