Photo: Nyttend · Public domainPer resident, Union Township records more property crime than nine in ten U.S. towns
Each of the 4 towns on its borders with figures records less crime per resident. Union Township’s letter overall is C− (#530 of 578 graded towns in Pennsylvania): more crime per resident than 81% of U.S. towns, from crimes its police reported through 2023 to 2025. By contrast, typical years here bring 1.9 violent crimes plus 28.9 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents, against 2.9 plus 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 Union Township
4 of the 4 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 4 Pennsylvania towns on Union Township’s borders, 4 have a Safety Grade: Mahoning Township (A+), North Beaver Township (A+), Neshannock Township (A+), New Castle (B). Neighbors ↓
A college town
Union Township is home to New Castle School of Trades, with 623 students taking classes on campus (federal college data), and 2% 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 ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind Union 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 (1.9) 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.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Union Township | Rest of Pennsylvania | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 1.6 | 3.2 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 1.9 | 2.9 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 2.1 | 2.6 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Union Township’s police reported 27 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 1.9 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 Union 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 2 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
Reported crime is steady
Show as a table
| Year | Union Township property | Rest of Pennsylvania property | Union Township violent | Rest of Pennsylvania violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 36.6 | 19.0 | 1.6 | 3.2 |
| 2024 | 24.7 | 17.3 | 1.9 | 2.9 |
| 2025 | 25.4 | 16.0 | 2.1 | 2.6 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
Reported crime per resident was steady from 2023 to 2025: the change is within ordinary year-to-year swings. Per 1,000 residents, 2023–2025, against the rest of Pennsylvania.
133 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.
10 violent and 123 property, as reported to the FBI by Union Township’s police.
One person died in crashes on Union Township’s roads in 2019–2023
Union Township had 1 fatal crash in five years, in which one person died; 1 was a pedestrian.
That is about what is typical for Pennsylvania towns of 2,500–5,000 people: at their median rate (7.1 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Union Township’s size would see about 2 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Union Township’s own rate (4.1) 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.
Union Township and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Union Township | C− | 1.9 | 28.9 |
| Neshannock Township | A+ | 0.1 | 1.6 |
| Mahoning Township | A+ | 0.1 | 0.3 |
| New Castle | B | 1.9 | 8.7 |
| North Beaver Township | A+ | 0.1 | 0.5 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Pennsylvania towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Union Township | C− | 1.9 | 28.9 |
| Redstone Township | A+ | 0.4 | 0.6 |
| Penn Township | A | 0.1 | 4.4 |
| Royersford | A− | 0.7 | 5.5 |
| Turtle Creek | A− | 1.2 | 4.2 |
| Fountain Hill | B | 1.0 | 9.5 |
The five graded Pennsylvania towns closest to Union Township’s population (4,851), 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 Union 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 Union Township’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (4,839 in 2025); our figure for Union Township is 4,851 (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 Union Township
Is Union Township, PA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Union Township reports more crime per resident than 81% of U.S. towns, a C− Safety Grade and #530 of 578 in Pennsylvania. Its police reported 1.9 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 Union Township?
1.9 violent and 28.9 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 Union Township safer than Neshannock Township?
Neshannock Township reports less crime per resident than Union Township: Neshannock Township grades A+ for safety and Union Township C−. Neshannock Township’s police reported 0.1 violent and 1.6 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Union Township?
Union Township’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Union Township, Lawrence County”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
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Neighbors looking out for each other in Union 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.