Photo: Zoewscott · Public domainPer resident, West Chester records more violent crime than 61% of U.S. towns
Its Safety Grade, B− (#439 of 578 graded towns in Pennsylvania), rests on crimes its police reported from 2023 to 2025: close to the middle of U.S. towns. The rate the grade counts dropped 26% from 2023 to 2025. Recorded violent crimes ran at 2.2 per 1,000 residents a year and property crime at 11.4, against 2.9 and 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 West Chester
1 of the 1 graded towns next door reports less crime
Of the 2 Pennsylvania towns on West Chester’s borders, 1 have a Safety Grade: West Goshen Township (B−). East Bradford Township has no FBI figures of its own for 2023–2025. Neighbors ↓
Among Pennsylvania towns, lower
Pennsylvania’s cities and towns report less crime than most states’, so West Chester’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 24% of the 578 Pennsylvania towns we grade, against 46% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
A college town
West Chester is home to West Chester University of Pennsylvania, with 15,394 students taking classes on campus (federal college data), and 37% 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 West Chester’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 (2.2) 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 (11.4) 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 per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | West Chester property | Rest of Pennsylvania property | West Chester violent | Rest of Pennsylvania violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 12.6 | 19.1 | 2.8 | 3.2 |
| 2024 | 12.5 | 17.4 | 2.1 | 2.9 |
| 2025 | 9.6 | 16.1 | 1.8 | 2.7 |
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 | West Chester | Rest of Pennsylvania | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 2.8 | 3.2 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 2.1 | 2.9 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 1.8 | 2.7 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
West Chester’s police reported 142 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 2.2 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 West Chester 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.
274 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.
44 violent and 230 property, as reported to the FBI by West Chester’s police.
Two people died in crashes on West Chester’s roads in 2019–2023
West Chester had 1 fatal crash in five years, in which two people 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 West Chester’s size would see about 6 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so West Chester’s own rate (1.9) 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.
West Chester and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Chester | B− | 2.2 | 11.4 |
| West Goshen Township | B− | 2.3 | 10.4 |
| East Bradford Township | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. East Bradford Township has no FBI figures of its own for 2023–2025.
Pennsylvania towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Chester | B− | 2.2 | 11.4 |
| Uwchlan Township | A− | 0.9 | 5.3 |
| Whitemarsh Township | A− | 0.5 | 7.1 |
| Phoenixville | A− | 1.1 | 5.6 |
| Lansdale | B | 1.0 | 9.4 |
| West Manchester Township | C− | 1.5 | 26.4 |
The five graded Pennsylvania towns closest to West Chester’s population (19,591), 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 West Chester. 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 West Chester’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (23,951 in 2025); our figure for West Chester is 19,591 (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 West Chester
Is West Chester, PA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, West Chester reports more crime per resident than 54% of U.S. towns, a B− Safety Grade and #439 of 578 in Pennsylvania. Its police reported 2.2 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 West Chester?
2.2 violent and 11.4 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 West Chester safer than West Goshen Township?
West Goshen Township reports less crime per resident than West Chester: West Goshen Township grades B− for safety and West Chester B−. West Goshen Township’s police reported 2.3 violent and 10.4 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices West Chester?
West Chester’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “West Chester”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
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Neighbors looking out for each other in West Chester.
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.