Photo: BigCheddah · CC BY-SA 4.0Reported crime per resident in Reading fell 28% from 2023 to 2025
Overall, Reading grades C for safety (#498 of 578 graded towns in Pennsylvania): more crime per resident than 70% 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 Reading
3 of the 4 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 8 Pennsylvania towns on Reading’s borders, 4 have a Safety Grade: Bern Township (B+), Muhlenberg Township (B−), Wyomissing (C+), West Reading (C−). Cumru Township reported to the FBI for 2023 and 2025 but not 2024. Kenhorst, Lower Alsace Township and Mount Penn have no FBI figures of their own for 2023–2025. Neighbors ↓
Among Pennsylvania towns, lower
Pennsylvania’s cities and towns report less crime than most states’, so Reading’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 14% of the 578 Pennsylvania towns we grade, against 30% 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 Reading’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. Its violent rate (3.5) 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 (14.7) 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.
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 | Reading property | Rest of Pennsylvania property | Reading violent | Rest of Pennsylvania violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 16.9 | 19.1 | 4.6 | 3.2 |
| 2024 | 14.3 | 17.4 | 3.4 | 2.9 |
| 2025 | 12.8 | 16.1 | 2.6 | 2.6 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
For every 1,000 residents, about 13 property crimes reported
And about 3 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.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Reading’s police reported 1,031 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 3.5 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 | Reading | Rest of Pennsylvania | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 4.6 | 3.2 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 3.4 | 2.9 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 2.6 | 2.6 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
1,527 crimes reported in 2025
256 violent and 1,271 property, as reported to the FBI by Reading’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
25 people died in crashes on Reading’s roads in 2019–2023
Reading had 24 fatal crashes in five years, in which 25 people died; 5 were pedestrians and 1 was a cyclist.
That is 5.2 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.
Reading and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reading | C | 3.5 | 14.7 |
| Cumru Township | — | — | — |
| West Reading | C− | 4.3 | 19.5 |
| Kenhorst | — | — | — |
| Wyomissing | C+ | 0.8 | 20.4 |
| Muhlenberg Township | B− | 0.6 | 15.7 |
| Lower Alsace Township | — | — | — |
| Bern Township | B+ | 1.3 | 6.0 |
| Mount Penn | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Cumru Township reported to the FBI for 2023 and 2025 but not 2024. Kenhorst, Lower Alsace Township and Mount Penn have no FBI figures of their own for 2023–2025.
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 Reading. 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 Reading’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (99,299 in 2025); our figure for Reading is 95,832 (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 Reading
Is Reading, PA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Reading reports more crime per resident than 70% of U.S. towns, a C Safety Grade and #498 of 578 in Pennsylvania. Its police reported 3.5 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 Reading?
3.5 violent and 14.7 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 Reading?
Reported crime per resident fell from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings.
How many homicides were there in Reading in 2025?
Reading’s police reported 11 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 11.1 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Reading safer than West Reading?
West Reading reports more crime per resident than Reading: West Reading grades C− for safety and Reading C. West Reading’s police reported 4.3 violent and 19.5 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Reading?
Reading’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Reading”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Reading.
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.