Photo: Andre Carrotflower · CC BY-SA 4.0For property crime, West Seneca trails 68% of U.S. towns per resident
One of the 4 towns next door with figures records less crime per resident. Out of every 1,000 residents, 1.2 violent crimes and 16.4 incidents of property crime are reported annually, against 5.0 and 21.1 in the rest of New York. Overall, it grades C+ for safety (#153 of 236 graded towns in New York).
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 West Seneca
1 of the 4 graded towns next door reports less crime
Of the 5 New York towns on West Seneca’s borders, 4 have a Safety Grade: Orchard Park (B), Lackawanna (C), Cheektowaga (D), Buffalo (D−). Elma 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 West Seneca’s grade
Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Violent crime holds West Seneca’s grade up; property crime pulls it down. Its property rate (16.4) 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
Show as a table
| Year | West Seneca | Rest of New York | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1.4 | 5.6 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 1.4 | 5.1 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 1.2 | 5.0 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 1.1 | 4.9 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
West Seneca’s police reported 168 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 1.2 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 West Seneca 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 | West Seneca property | Rest of New York property | West Seneca violent | Rest of New York violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 17.6 | 20.0 | 1.4 | 5.6 |
| 2023 | 14.3 | 22.3 | 1.4 | 5.1 |
| 2024 | 17.1 | 21.3 | 1.2 | 5.0 |
| 2025 | 17.7 | 19.7 | 1.1 | 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.
852 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.
49 violent and 803 property, as reported to the FBI by West Seneca’s police.
Eight people died in crashes on West Seneca’s roads in 2019–2023
West Seneca had 8 fatal crashes in five years, in which eight people died; 1 was a pedestrian.
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 West Seneca’s size would see about 10 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so West Seneca’s own rate (3.5) 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.
West Seneca and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Seneca | C+ | 1.2 | 16.4 |
| Cheektowaga | D | 2.3 | 33.7 |
| Buffalo | D− | 7.3 | 37.9 |
| Lackawanna | C | 3.4 | 17.4 |
| Orchard Park | B | 0.6 | 12.2 |
| Elma | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Elma has no FBI figures of its own for 2023–2025.
New York towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Seneca | C+ | 1.2 | 16.4 |
| Lancaster | B+ | 0.5 | 9.8 |
| Webster | B+ | 0.8 | 8.8 |
| Freeport | B | 1.5 | 9.1 |
| Poughkeepsie | C | 1.6 | 23.3 |
| Binghamton | D | 5.8 | 33.7 |
The five graded New York towns closest to West Seneca’s population (45,469), 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 West Seneca. 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 West Seneca’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (45,359 in 2025); our figure for West Seneca is 45,469 (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 West Seneca
Is West Seneca, NY safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, West Seneca reports more crime per resident than 57% of U.S. towns, a C+ Safety Grade and #153 of 236 in New York. Its police reported 1.2 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 West Seneca?
1.2 violent and 16.4 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.
How many homicides were there in West Seneca in 2025?
West Seneca’s police reported 0 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 0.0 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is West Seneca safer than Cheektowaga?
Cheektowaga reports more crime per resident than West Seneca: Cheektowaga grades D for safety and West Seneca C+. Cheektowaga’s police reported 2.3 violent and 33.7 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices West Seneca?
West Seneca’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “West Seneca Town”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
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Please don’t name or describe individuals. In an emergency, call 911.
Neighbors looking out for each other in West Seneca.
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.