Photo: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers · Public domainLower Burrell reports less crime per resident than 86% of U.S. towns
On crimes reported to the FBI by Lower Burrell’s police in 2023–2025, it grades A for safety: #171 of 578 graded towns in 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 Lower Burrell
2 of the 5 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 6 Pennsylvania towns on Lower Burrell’s borders, 5 have a Safety Grade: Allegheny Township (A), Upper Burrell Township (A), Harrison Township (A−), Tarentum (B), New Kensington (C−). Plum reported to the FBI for 2024 and 2025 but not 2023. Neighbors ↓
Among Pennsylvania towns, closer to the middle
Pennsylvania’s cities and towns report less crime than most states’, so Lower Burrell’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 70% of the 578 Pennsylvania towns we grade, against 86% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
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 Lower Burrell’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 lower than in most U.S. towns; property crime is the stronger of the two.
Reported crime is falling
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.
Show as a table
| Year | Lower Burrell property | Rest of Pennsylvania property | Lower Burrell violent | Rest of Pennsylvania violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 6.0 | 19.1 | 1.5 | 3.2 |
| 2024 | 2.3 | 17.4 | 0.9 | 2.9 |
| 2025 | 1.2 | 16.1 | 0.2 | 2.7 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
Violent crime, by year and by type
Lower Burrell’s police reported 29 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 0.8 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 | Lower Burrell | Rest of Pennsylvania | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 1.5 | 3.2 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 0.9 | 2.9 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 0.2 | 2.7 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
For every 1,000 residents, about 1 property crime reported
And fewer than 1 violent crime, 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.
16 crimes reported in 2025
2 violent and 14 property, as reported to the FBI by Lower Burrell’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
One person died in crashes on Lower Burrell’s roads in 2019–2023
Lower Burrell had 1 fatal crash in five years, in which one person died.
That is about what is typical for Pennsylvania towns of 5,000–25,000 people: at their median rate (5.8 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Lower Burrell’s size would see about 3 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Lower Burrell’s own rate (1.7) 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.
Lower Burrell and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lower Burrell | A | 0.8 | 3.2 |
| New Kensington | C− | 3.9 | 23.5 |
| Plum | — | — | — |
| Upper Burrell Township | A | 0.3 | 3.9 |
| Allegheny Township | A | 0.4 | 3.2 |
| Harrison Township | A− | 0.8 | 6.8 |
| Tarentum | B | 1.9 | 8.5 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Plum reported to the FBI for 2024 and 2025 but not 2023.
Pennsylvania towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lower Burrell | A | 0.8 | 3.2 |
| North Union Township | A+ | 0.0 | 0.2 |
| Willistown Township | A | 0.7 | 2.5 |
| Lehman Township | A− | 1.5 | 3.0 |
| Sandy Township | B | 1.3 | 8.1 |
| Rostraver Township | C | 0.6 | 25.6 |
The five graded Pennsylvania towns closest to Lower Burrell’s population (11,470), 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 Lower Burrell. 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 Lower Burrell’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (11,492 in 2025); our figure for Lower Burrell is 11,470 (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 Lower Burrell
Is Lower Burrell, PA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Lower Burrell reports less crime per resident than 86% of U.S. towns, an A Safety Grade and #171 of 578 in Pennsylvania. Its police reported 0.8 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 Lower Burrell?
0.8 violent and 3.2 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 Lower Burrell?
Reported crime per resident fell from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings.
Is Lower Burrell safer than New Kensington?
New Kensington reports more crime per resident than Lower Burrell: New Kensington grades C− for safety and Lower Burrell A. New Kensington’s police reported 3.9 violent and 23.5 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Lower Burrell?
Lower Burrell’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Lower Burrell”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Lower Burrell.
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.