Photo: Kenneth C. Zirkel · CC BY-SA 4.0Bethlehem sits close to the middle of U.S. towns for reported crime
Overall, Bethlehem grades C+ for safety (#447 of 578 graded towns in Pennsylvania): 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 PA” is every other Pennsylvania 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 Bethlehem
3 of the 4 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 8 Pennsylvania towns on Bethlehem’s borders, 4 have a Safety Grade: Lower Saucon Township (A−), Bethlehem Township (B+), Hellertown (B), Allentown (C). Hanover Township (township), Hanover Township (township) and Salisbury Township have no FBI figures of their own for 2023–2025. Freemansburg reported to the FBI for 2024 and 2025 but not 2023. Neighbors ↓
Among Pennsylvania towns, lower
Pennsylvania’s cities and towns report less crime than most states’, so Bethlehem’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 23% of the 578 Pennsylvania towns we grade, against 44% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind Bethlehem’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 (1.9) 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. Its property rate (13.8) 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
Bethlehem’s police reported 447 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 1.9 per 1,000 residents a year, against 2.9 in the rest of Pennsylvania and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Show as a table
| Year | Bethlehem | Rest of Pennsylvania | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 1.6 | 3.3 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 2.1 | 2.9 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 1.9 | 2.7 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
For every 1,000 residents, about 12 property crimes reported
And about 2 violent crimes, 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.
Reported crime is steady
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 Pennsylvania.
Show as a table
| Year | Bethlehem property | Rest of Pennsylvania property | Bethlehem violent | Rest of Pennsylvania violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 15.5 | 19.1 | 1.6 | 3.3 |
| 2024 | 13.7 | 17.4 | 2.1 | 2.9 |
| 2025 | 12.3 | 16.1 | 1.9 | 2.7 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
1,142 crimes reported in 2025
156 violent and 986 property, as reported to the FBI by Bethlehem’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
24 people died in crashes on Bethlehem’s roads in 2019–2023
Bethlehem had 22 fatal crashes in five years, in which 24 people died; 4 were pedestrians.
That is 6.2 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, about the same as the median for Pennsylvania towns of 25,000–100,000 people (5.7, 67 towns).
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.
Bethlehem and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bethlehem | C+ | 1.9 | 13.8 |
| Hanover Township (township) | — | — | — |
| Lower Saucon Township | A− | 1.2 | 5.2 |
| Hellertown | B | 2.2 | 6.8 |
| Hanover Township (township) | — | — | — |
| Bethlehem Township | B+ | 0.5 | 10.9 |
| Freemansburg | — | — | — |
| Salisbury Township | — | — | — |
| Allentown | C | 2.7 | 15.9 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Hanover Township (township), Hanover Township (township) and Salisbury Township have no FBI figures of their own for 2023–2025. Freemansburg reported to the FBI for 2024 and 2025 but not 2023.
Pennsylvania towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bethlehem | C+ | 1.9 | 13.8 |
| Lower Merion Township | B− | 0.6 | 16.0 |
| Scranton | C | 3.1 | 13.5 |
| Reading | C | 3.5 | 14.7 |
| Erie | C− | 4.0 | 19.4 |
| Upper Darby Township | C− | 2.5 | 30.7 |
The five graded Pennsylvania towns closest to Bethlehem’s population (79,644), by grade.
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 Bethlehem. 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 Bethlehem’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (80,424 in 2025); our figure for Bethlehem is 79,644 (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 Bethlehem
Is Bethlehem, PA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Bethlehem reports more crime per resident than 56% of U.S. towns, a C+ Safety Grade and #447 of 578 in Pennsylvania. Its police reported 1.9 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 2.9 in the rest of Pennsylvania and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Bethlehem?
1.9 violent and 13.8 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Pennsylvania reports 2.9 and 17.5; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is crime going up or down in Bethlehem?
Reported crime per resident was steady from 2023 to 2025: the change is within ordinary year-to-year swings.
How many homicides were there in Bethlehem in 2025?
Bethlehem’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 Bethlehem safer than Lower Saucon Township?
Lower Saucon Township reports less crime per resident than Bethlehem: Lower Saucon Township grades A− for safety and Bethlehem C+. Lower Saucon Township’s police reported 1.2 violent and 5.2 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Bethlehem?
Bethlehem’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Bethlehem”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Bethlehem.
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.