Photo: Shuvaev · CC BY-SA 3.0Cheltenham Township reports more crime per resident than 97% of U.S. towns
Per resident, the graded crimes were up 89% from 2023 to 2025. On top of that, the Safety Grade comes out at D−, drawn from crimes Cheltenham Township’s police reported through 2023 to 2025: #573 of 578 graded towns in Pennsylvania. Year on year, 2.6 violent crimes and 61.6 incidents of property crime occur per 1,000 residents, compared with 2.9 and 17.3 in the rest of Pennsylvania. 3 of the 4 towns next door with figures record less crime per resident.
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 Cheltenham Township
3 of the 4 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 4 Pennsylvania towns on Cheltenham Township’s borders, 4 have a Safety Grade: Springfield Township (A−), Jenkintown (B+), Abington Township (C+), Philadelphia (D−). Neighbors ↓
Reported crime is rising
Crime reported per resident rose 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 Cheltenham Township’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 (2.6) 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.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Cheltenham Township property | Rest of Pennsylvania property | Cheltenham Township violent | Rest of Pennsylvania violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 46.4 | 18.9 | 2.5 | 3.2 |
| 2024 | 49.2 | 17.2 | 2.0 | 2.9 |
| 2025 | 88.9 | 15.7 | 3.5 | 2.6 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
Reported crime per resident rose from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings. Per 1,000 residents, 2023–2025, against the rest of Pennsylvania.
Crime in Cheltenham Township 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 4 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 | Cheltenham Township | Rest of Pennsylvania | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 2.5 | 3.2 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 2.0 | 2.9 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 3.5 | 2.6 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Cheltenham Township’s police reported 310 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 2.6 per 1,000 residents a year, against 2.9 in the rest of Pennsylvania and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
3,622 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.
136 violent and 3,486 property, as reported to the FBI by Cheltenham Township’s police.
11 people died in crashes on Cheltenham Township’s roads in 2019–2023
Cheltenham Township had 11 fatal crashes in five years, in which 11 people died; 5 were pedestrians.
That is 5.7 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.
Cheltenham Township and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheltenham Township | D− | 2.6 | 61.6 |
| Philadelphia | D− | 9.0 | 46.4 |
| Abington Township | C+ | 0.9 | 20.4 |
| Springfield Township | A− | 0.3 | 7.0 |
| Jenkintown | B+ | 0.6 | 10.6 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Pennsylvania towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheltenham Township | D− | 2.6 | 61.6 |
| Northampton Township | A+ | 0.2 | 2.7 |
| Hampden Township | A+ | 0.2 | 3.0 |
| State College | B | 1.6 | 7.9 |
| Norristown | C− | 4.5 | 18.9 |
| Upper Merion Township | C− | 0.9 | 35.0 |
The five graded Pennsylvania towns closest to Cheltenham Township’s population (38,498), 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 Cheltenham Township. 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 Cheltenham Township’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (39,204 in 2025); our figure for Cheltenham Township is 38,498 (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 Cheltenham Township
Is Cheltenham Township, PA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Cheltenham Township reports more crime per resident than 97% of U.S. towns, a D− Safety Grade and #573 of 578 in Pennsylvania. Its police reported 2.6 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 Cheltenham Township?
2.6 violent and 61.6 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Pennsylvania reports 2.9 and 17.3; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
How many homicides were there in Cheltenham Township in 2025?
Cheltenham Township’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 Cheltenham Township safer than Philadelphia?
Philadelphia reports more crime per resident than Cheltenham Township: Philadelphia grades D− for safety and Cheltenham Township D−. Philadelphia’s police reported 9.0 violent and 46.4 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Cheltenham Township?
Cheltenham Township’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Cheltenham Township”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
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Neighbors looking out for each other in Cheltenham Township.
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.