Photo: Brandon Peterman (Zyrshnikashnu at en.wikipedia) · CC BY-SA 3.0Tonawanda sits close to the middle of U.S. towns for reported crime
Overall, Tonawanda grades B− for safety (#141 of 236 graded towns in New York): close to the middle of U.S. towns, on crimes its police reported to the FBI in 2023–2025.
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 Tonawanda
1 of the 1 graded towns next door reports less crime
Of the 3 New York towns on Tonawanda’s borders, 1 have a Safety Grade: North Tonawanda (B). 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 ↓
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 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 higher than in most U.S. towns; violent crime is the closer of the two to typical. Its violent rate (1.7) is below the FBI’s national estimate (3.6) but higher than in most individual towns: the national figure is weighted by people, and the grade counts towns. Its property rate (12.0) 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.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Tonawanda’s police reported 78 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 1.7 per 1,000 residents a year, against 5.0 in the rest of New York and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Show as a table
| Year | Tonawanda | Rest of New York | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1.7 | 5.6 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 2.6 | 5.1 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 1.7 | 5.0 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 0.9 | 4.9 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Reported crime is falling
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.
Show as a table
| Year | Tonawanda property | Rest of New York property | Tonawanda violent | Rest of New York violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 13.3 | 20.0 | 1.7 | 5.6 |
| 2023 | 12.5 | 22.2 | 2.6 | 5.1 |
| 2024 | 11.3 | 21.3 | 1.7 | 5.0 |
| 2025 | 12.1 | 19.7 | 0.9 | 4.9 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
For every 1,000 residents, about 12 property crimes reported
And about 1 violent crime, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
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.
195 crimes reported in 2025
14 violent and 181 property, as reported to the FBI by Tonawanda’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
One person died in crashes on Tonawanda’s roads in 2019–2023
Tonawanda had 1 fatal crash in five years, in which one person died. Most of these deaths (1 of 1) were on an Interstate passing through, so they say more about through-traffic than about the town’s own streets.
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 Tonawanda’s size would see about 4 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Tonawanda’s own rate (1.3) 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.
Tonawanda and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tonawanda | B− | 1.7 | 12.0 |
| Tonawanda (township) | — | — | — |
| North Tonawanda | B | 1.5 | 10.6 |
| Grand Island | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 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.
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 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 Tonawanda’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (14,949 in 2025); our figure for Tonawanda is 14,848 (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?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Tonawanda reports more crime per resident than 51% of U.S. towns, a B− Safety Grade and #141 of 236 in New York. Its police reported 1.7 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 Tonawanda?
1.7 violent and 12.0 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of New York reports 5.0 and 21.1; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is crime going up or down in Tonawanda?
Reported crime per resident fell from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings.
Is Tonawanda safer than North Tonawanda?
North Tonawanda reports less crime per resident than Tonawanda: North Tonawanda grades B for safety and Tonawanda B−. North Tonawanda’s police reported 1.5 violent and 10.6 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Tonawanda?
Tonawanda’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Tonawanda”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Tonawanda.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
Please don’t name or describe individuals. In an emergency, call 911.
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.