Photo: Brandon Peterman (Zyrshnikashnu at en.wikipedia) · CC BY-SA 3.0What is recorded in Tonawanda, and why there is no grade
Tonawanda’s police reported to the FBI for 2024 and 2025 but not 2023, so there is no Safety Grade: the grade needs all three years, 2023–2025. There are 7 graded towns within 10 miles. The closest graded town is Kenmore, 1 mile away, at B−.
For every 1,000 residents, about 18 property crimes reported
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.
The years Tonawanda’s police reported
Show as a table
| Year | Tonawanda | Rest of New York | Tonawanda | Rest of New York |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 15.8 | 20.0 | 2.0 | 5.6 |
| 2023 | not reported | 22.2 | not reported | 5.1 |
| 2024 | 16.1 | 21.3 | 0.8 | 5.0 |
| 2025 | 18.2 | 19.7 | 1.3 | 4.9 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents, against the rest of New York. A year the department didn’t report in full is a gap, not a zero.
1,098 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.
75 violent and 1,023 property, as reported to the FBI by Tonawanda’s police.
The nearest New York towns with a Safety Grade
| Town | Grade | Distance | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kenmore | B− | 1 mi | 1.3 | 14.7 |
| Tonawanda (city) | B− | 2 mi | 1.7 | 12.0 |
| North Tonawanda | B | 5 mi | 1.5 | 10.6 |
| Amherst | C | 6 mi | 1.3 | 20.6 |
| Buffalo | D− | 6 mi | 7.3 | 37.9 |
| Cheektowaga | D | 8 mi | 2.3 | 33.7 |
Straight-line distance from the center of Tonawanda. Nearby towns can differ a lot from Tonawanda.
Each town’s own police figures, per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Nine people died in crashes on Tonawanda’s roads in 2019–2023
Tonawanda had 8 fatal crashes in five years, in which nine people died; 2 were pedestrians and 1 was a cyclist. 4 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is fewer than 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 Tonawanda’s size would see about 16 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Tonawanda’s own rate (2.5) 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.
Tonawanda and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Island | — | — | — |
| Tonawanda (city) | B− | 1.7 | 12.0 |
| Amherst | C | 1.3 | 20.6 |
| North Tonawanda | B | 1.5 | 10.6 |
| Buffalo | D− | 7.3 | 37.9 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Grand Island reported to the FBI for 2025 but not 2023 or 2024.
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 Tonawanda. 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 Tonawanda’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (56,278 in 2025); our figure for Tonawanda is 70,853 (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 Tonawanda
Is Tonawanda, NY safe?
There is no Safety Grade for Tonawanda. The nearest New York towns with a grade are Kenmore (B−, 1 mi), Tonawanda (B−, 2 mi), North Tonawanda (B, 5 mi).
Who polices Tonawanda?
Tonawanda’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Tonawanda 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 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.