Chester Waterside Station of the Philadelphia Electric Company · Photo: Jack Boucher · Public domainRecorded crime per resident is higher in Chester than in 92% of U.S. towns
The graded rate fell 35% from 2023 to 2025. Even so, of the 7 towns on its borders with figures, 6 record less crime per resident. That puts it at D for safety, judged on crimes Chester’s police reported from 2023 to 2025: #562 of 578 graded towns in Pennsylvania. Year on year, 8.4 violent crimes and 20.3 incidents of property crime occur per 1,000 residents, compared with 2.9 and 17.5 in the rest of Pennsylvania.
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 Chester
6 of the 7 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 8 Pennsylvania towns on Chester’s borders, 7 have a Safety Grade: Nether Providence Township (A), Ridley Township (B), Upper Chichester Township (C+), Trainer (C), Chester Township (C−), Upland (D), Eddystone (D). Parkside reported to the FBI for 2024 and 2025 but not 2023. Neighbors ↓
A college town
Chester is home to Widener University, with 4,531 students taking classes on campus (federal college data), and 9% of residents are enrolled in college (Census). Students who live in town count as residents, so they are part of the per-resident rate. How to read it ↓
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 Chester’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; property crime is the closer of the two to typical.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Chester property | Rest of Pennsylvania property | Chester violent | Rest of Pennsylvania violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 23.0 | 19.0 | 12.4 | 3.2 |
| 2024 | 19.9 | 17.3 | 8.3 | 2.9 |
| 2025 | 18.1 | 16.0 | 4.7 | 2.6 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
Reported crime per resident fell from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings. Per 1,000 residents, 2023–2025, against the rest of Pennsylvania.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Chester | Rest of Pennsylvania | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 12.4 | 3.2 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 8.3 | 2.9 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 4.7 | 2.6 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Chester’s police reported 863 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 8.4 per 1,000 residents a year, against 2.9 in the rest of Pennsylvania and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Crime in Chester 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 5 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
786 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.
162 violent and 624 property, as reported to the FBI by Chester’s police.
30 people died in crashes on Chester’s roads in 2019–2023
Chester had 26 fatal crashes in five years, in which 30 people died; 6 were pedestrians and 1 was a cyclist. 3 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is 17.8 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, above 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.
Chester and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chester | D | 8.4 | 20.3 |
| Chester Township | C− | 4.0 | 17.8 |
| Upland | D | 9.3 | 9.4 |
| Nether Providence Township | A | 0.3 | 4.6 |
| Ridley Township | B | 0.6 | 11.5 |
| Trainer | C | 2.9 | 16.8 |
| Eddystone | D | 5.9 | 30.7 |
| Parkside | — | — | — |
| Upper Chichester Township | C+ | 1.6 | 14.9 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Parkside reported to the FBI for 2024 and 2025 but not 2023.
Pennsylvania towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chester | D | 8.4 | 20.3 |
| Lower Makefield Township | A | 0.3 | 4.9 |
| Cranberry Township | A− | 0.2 | 7.2 |
| Radnor Township | A− | 0.8 | 6.3 |
| Warminster Township | B+ | 0.7 | 7.5 |
| Falls Township | B− | 1.3 | 15.8 |
The five graded Pennsylvania towns closest to Chester’s population (33,996), 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 Chester. 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 Chester’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (34,402 in 2025); our figure for Chester is 33,996 (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 Chester
Is Chester, PA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Chester reports more crime per resident than 92% of U.S. towns, a D Safety Grade and #562 of 578 in Pennsylvania. Its police reported 8.4 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 Chester?
8.4 violent and 20.3 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.
How many homicides were there in Chester in 2025?
Chester’s police reported 11 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 32.0 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Chester safer than Chester Township?
Chester Township reports less crime per resident than Chester: Chester Township grades C− for safety and Chester D. Chester Township’s police reported 4.0 violent and 17.8 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Chester?
Chester’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Chester”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
Please don’t name or describe individuals. In an emergency, call 911.
Neighbors looking out for each other in Chester.
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.