Photo: Adam Moss from Highland Park, NJ, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0Rotterdam has less violence than most U.S. towns, but more property crime
Per 1,000 residents a year, 0.8 violent crime and 18.9 incidents of property crime were recorded, against 5.0 and 21.0 in the rest of New York. Even so, its letter overall is C+ (#159 of 236 graded towns in New York): close to the middle of U.S. towns, from crimes its police reported through 2023 to 2025. Among its 4 neighbors with figures, 2 record less 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 Rotterdam
2 of the 4 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 6 New York towns on Rotterdam’s borders, 4 have a Safety Grade: Glenville (B), Guilderland (B−), Colonie (C−), Schenectady (D). Princetown and Florida have no FBI figures of their own for 2023–2025. Neighbors ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind Rotterdam’s grade
Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Violent crime holds Rotterdam’s grade up; property crime pulls it down.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Rotterdam | Rest of New York | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 0.6 | 5.6 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 0.6 | 5.1 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 0.4 | 5.0 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 1.3 | 4.9 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Rotterdam’s police reported 69 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 0.8 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 Rotterdam 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 1 violent crime, 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 | Rotterdam property | Rest of New York property | Rotterdam violent | Rest of New York violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 22.0 | 19.9 | 0.6 | 5.6 |
| 2023 | 20.6 | 22.2 | 0.6 | 5.1 |
| 2024 | 16.5 | 21.3 | 0.4 | 5.0 |
| 2025 | 19.5 | 19.7 | 1.3 | 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.
646 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.
39 violent and 607 property, as reported to the FBI by Rotterdam’s police.
Eight people died in crashes on Rotterdam’s roads in 2019–2023
Rotterdam had 6 fatal crashes in five years, in which eight people died. 3 died in crashes on an Interstate.
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 Rotterdam’s size would see about 7 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Rotterdam’s own rate (5.2) 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.
Rotterdam and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rotterdam | C+ | 0.8 | 18.9 |
| Glenville | B | 0.6 | 11.2 |
| Schenectady | D | 6.9 | 30.1 |
| Princetown | — | — | — |
| Guilderland | B− | 1.0 | 16.5 |
| Colonie | C− | 1.4 | 32.8 |
| Florida | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Princetown and Florida have no FBI figures of their own for 2023–2025.
New York towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rotterdam | C+ | 0.8 | 18.9 |
| Wallkill | B+ | 0.3 | 9.4 |
| Cicero | B+ | 0.4 | 10.2 |
| Vestal | C+ | 0.5 | 21.1 |
| Middletown | C | 3.5 | 12.7 |
| Rome | C | 2.2 | 18.2 |
The five graded New York towns closest to Rotterdam’s population (31,065), 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 Rotterdam. 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 Rotterdam’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (31,096 in 2025); our figure for Rotterdam is 31,065 (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 Rotterdam
Is Rotterdam, NY safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Rotterdam reports more crime per resident than 58% of U.S. towns, a C+ Safety Grade and #159 of 236 in New York. Its police reported 0.8 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 Rotterdam?
0.8 violent and 18.9 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 Rotterdam in 2025?
Rotterdam’s police reported 1 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 3.2 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Rotterdam safer than Glenville?
Glenville reports less crime per resident than Rotterdam: Glenville grades B for safety and Rotterdam C+. Glenville’s police reported 0.6 violent and 11.2 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Rotterdam?
Rotterdam’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Rotterdam Town”. 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 Rotterdam.
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.