Watervliet Arsenal · Public domainWatervliet sees more property crime per resident than 76% of U.S. towns
Neither of the two towns next door with figures records less crime per resident. By contrast, on the record of crimes Watervliet’s police reported from 2023 to 2025, it takes C for safety: #190 of 236 graded towns in New York. Police counts work out at 2.9 violent crimes and 19.1 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents annually; in the rest of New York they are 5.0 and 21.0. The rate the grade counts held about level 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 Watervliet
Watervliet reports less crime than every graded town next door
Of the 3 New York towns on Watervliet’s borders, 2 have a Safety Grade: Colonie (C−), Troy (D). Green Island has no FBI figures of its own for 2023–2025. Neighbors ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind Watervliet’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 (2.9) 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.
Crime in Watervliet 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.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Watervliet | Rest of New York | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 2.9 | 5.1 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 3.6 | 5.0 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 2.2 | 4.9 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Watervliet’s police reported 88 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 2.9 per 1,000 residents a year, against 5.0 in the rest of New York and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Reported crime is steady
Show as a table
| Year | Watervliet property | Rest of New York property | Watervliet violent | Rest of New York violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 18.2 | 22.2 | 2.9 | 5.1 |
| 2024 | 21.3 | 21.3 | 3.6 | 5.0 |
| 2025 | 18.0 | 19.7 | 2.2 | 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, 2023–2025, against the rest of New York.
207 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.
23 violent and 184 property, as reported to the FBI by Watervliet’s police.
One person died in crashes on Watervliet’s roads in 2019–2023
Watervliet had 1 fatal crash in five years, in which one person 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 Watervliet’s size would see about 3 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Watervliet’s own rate (1.9) 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.
Watervliet and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Watervliet | C | 2.9 | 19.1 |
| Colonie | C− | 1.4 | 32.8 |
| Troy | D | 4.6 | 26.6 |
| Green Island | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Green Island has no FBI figures of its own for 2023–2025.
New York towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Watervliet | C | 2.9 | 19.1 |
| Stillwater | A | 0.1 | 3.8 |
| Plattekill | A | 0.5 | 3.1 |
| Canandaigua | C | 3.7 | 15.5 |
| Corning | C− | 2.5 | 25.3 |
| Oneida | D | 4.1 | 43.0 |
The five graded New York towns closest to Watervliet’s population (10,242), 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 Watervliet. 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 Watervliet’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (10,246 in 2025); our figure for Watervliet is 10,242 (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 Watervliet
Is Watervliet, NY safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Watervliet reports more crime per resident than 73% of U.S. towns, a C Safety Grade and #190 of 236 in New York. Its police reported 2.9 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 Watervliet?
2.9 violent and 19.1 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.
Is Watervliet safer than Colonie?
Colonie reports more crime per resident than Watervliet: Colonie grades C− for safety and Watervliet C. Colonie’s police reported 1.4 violent and 32.8 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Watervliet?
Watervliet’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Watervliet”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
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Neighbors looking out for each other in Watervliet.
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.