Photo: Montgomery County Planning Commission · CC BY-SA 2.0Upper Merion Township reports more crime per resident than 83% of U.S. towns
On crimes reported to the FBI by Upper Merion Township’s police in 2023–2025, it grades C− for safety: #539 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 Upper Merion Township
6 of the 7 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 8 Pennsylvania towns on Upper Merion Township’s borders, 7 have a Safety Grade: Schuylkill Township (A+), Lower Providence Township (A), Lower Merion Township (B−), West Norriton Township (C+), Bridgeport (C), West Conshohocken (C), Plymouth Township (D). Tredyffrin Township reported to the FBI for 2023 and 2025 but not 2024. Neighbors ↓
A job center
Upper Merion Township has 60,715 jobs based in town for 36,674 residents (Census LEHD), so some reports involve people who work or shop there rather than residents. 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 Upper Merion Township’s grade
Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Violent crime holds Upper Merion Township’s grade up; property crime pulls it down.
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 | Upper Merion Township property | Rest of Pennsylvania property | Upper Merion Township violent | Rest of Pennsylvania violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 42.2 | 19.0 | 1.2 | 3.3 |
| 2024 | 37.5 | 17.3 | 1.2 | 2.9 |
| 2025 | 25.7 | 16.0 | 0.4 | 2.7 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
Violent crime, by year and by type
Upper Merion Township’s police reported 102 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 0.9 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 | Upper Merion Township | Rest of Pennsylvania | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 1.2 | 3.3 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 1.2 | 2.9 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 0.4 | 2.7 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
For every 1,000 residents, about 26 property crimes 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.
971 crimes reported in 2025
15 violent and 956 property, as reported to the FBI by Upper Merion Township’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
16 people died in crashes on Upper Merion Township’s roads in 2019–2023
Upper Merion Township had 16 fatal crashes in five years, in which 16 people died; 4 were pedestrians. 7 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is 9.1 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.
Upper Merion Township and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Upper Merion Township | C− | 0.9 | 35.0 |
| Tredyffrin Township | — | — | — |
| West Norriton Township | C+ | 1.3 | 16.0 |
| Schuylkill Township | A+ | 0.1 | 2.9 |
| Bridgeport | C | 1.1 | 22.8 |
| Plymouth Township | D | 1.3 | 55.4 |
| Lower Providence Township | A | 0.4 | 5.1 |
| West Conshohocken | C | 4.0 | 14.7 |
| Lower Merion Township | B− | 0.6 | 16.0 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Tredyffrin Township reported to the FBI for 2023 and 2025 but not 2024.
Pennsylvania towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Upper Merion Township | C− | 0.9 | 35.0 |
| Hampden Township | A+ | 0.2 | 3.0 |
| Cranberry Township | A− | 0.2 | 7.2 |
| Falls Township | B− | 1.3 | 15.8 |
| Norristown | C− | 4.5 | 18.9 |
| Cheltenham Township | D− | 2.6 | 61.6 |
The five graded Pennsylvania towns closest to Upper Merion Township’s population (36,674), 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 Upper Merion 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 Upper Merion Township’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (37,149 in 2025); our figure for Upper Merion Township is 36,674 (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 Upper Merion Township
Is Upper Merion Township, PA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Upper Merion Township reports more crime per resident than 83% of U.S. towns, a C− Safety Grade and #539 of 578 in Pennsylvania. Its police reported 0.9 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 Upper Merion Township?
0.9 violent and 35.0 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Pennsylvania reports 2.9 and 17.4; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is crime going up or down in Upper Merion Township?
Reported crime per resident fell from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings.
How many homicides were there in Upper Merion Township in 2025?
Upper Merion Township’s police reported 1 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 2.7 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Upper Merion Township safer than West Norriton Township?
West Norriton Township reports less crime per resident than Upper Merion Township: West Norriton Township grades C+ for safety and Upper Merion Township C−. West Norriton Township’s police reported 1.3 violent and 16.0 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Upper Merion Township?
Upper Merion Township’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Upper Merion Township”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Upper Merion Township.
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.