Photo: Ugen64 at English Wikipedia · Public domainSwarthmore has less crime per resident than 85% of U.S. towns
One of the 3 towns next door with figures records less crime per resident. Measured on crimes Swarthmore’s police reported between 2023 and 2025, it earns a Safety Grade of A: #182 of 578 graded towns in Pennsylvania. Annual rates stand at 0.5 violent crime and 5.0 incidents of property crime for every thousand residents, next to 2.9 and 17.5 in the rest of Pennsylvania. Add to that, the crimes the grade counts fell 42% per resident from 2023 to 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 Swarthmore
1 of the 3 graded towns next door reports less crime
Of the 3 Pennsylvania towns on Swarthmore’s borders, 3 have a Safety Grade: Nether Providence Township (A), Ridley Township (B), Springfield Township (C). Neighbors ↓
Among Pennsylvania towns, closer to the middle
Pennsylvania’s cities and towns report less crime than most states’, so Swarthmore’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 69% of the 578 Pennsylvania towns we grade, against 85% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
A college town
Swarthmore is home to Swarthmore College, with 1,644 students taking classes on campus (federal college data), and 28% 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 Swarthmore’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; violent crime is the stronger of the two.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Swarthmore property | Rest of Pennsylvania property | Swarthmore violent | Rest of Pennsylvania violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 5.1 | 19.1 | 0.6 | 3.2 |
| 2024 | 6.6 | 17.4 | 0.9 | 2.9 |
| 2025 | 3.3 | 16.1 | 0.0 | 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 | Swarthmore | Rest of Pennsylvania | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 0.6 | 3.2 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 0.9 | 2.9 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 0.0 | 2.6 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Swarthmore’s police reported 10 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 0.5 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 Swarthmore 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 no violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
22 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.
0 violent and 22 property, as reported to the FBI by Swarthmore’s police.
One person died in crashes on Swarthmore’s roads in 2019–2023
Swarthmore 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 Swarthmore’s size would see about 2 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Swarthmore’s own rate (3.1) 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.
Swarthmore and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Swarthmore | A | 0.5 | 5.0 |
| Nether Providence Township | A | 0.3 | 4.6 |
| Springfield Township | C | 0.7 | 26.2 |
| Ridley Township | B | 0.6 | 11.5 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Pennsylvania towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Swarthmore | A | 0.5 | 5.0 |
| Conemaugh Township | A | 0.3 | 2.8 |
| Jackson Township | A− | 1.5 | 1.7 |
| Oakmont | B+ | 0.4 | 8.7 |
| Allegheny Township | C− | 1.1 | 30.8 |
| Connellsville | D | 4.0 | 29.1 |
The five graded Pennsylvania towns closest to Swarthmore’s population (6,561), 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 Swarthmore. 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 Swarthmore’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (6,613 in 2025); our figure for Swarthmore is 6,561 (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 Swarthmore
Is Swarthmore, PA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Swarthmore reports less crime per resident than 85% of U.S. towns, an A Safety Grade and #182 of 578 in Pennsylvania. Its police reported 0.5 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 Swarthmore?
0.5 violent and 5.0 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 Swarthmore safer than Nether Providence Township?
Nether Providence Township reports less crime per resident than Swarthmore: Nether Providence Township grades A for safety and Swarthmore A. Nether Providence Township’s police reported 0.3 violent and 4.6 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Swarthmore?
Swarthmore’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Swarthmore”. 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 Swarthmore.
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.