Photo: Umrok · CC BY-SA 4.0Wilkes-Barre Township has more crime per resident than almost every U.S. town
Graded on crimes Wilkes-Barre Township’s police reported from 2023 to 2025, it scores D− for safety. Annual rates stand at 3.8 violent crimes and 119.3 incidents of property crime for every thousand residents, next to 2.9 and 17.4 in the rest of Pennsylvania. Violent crime here is higher than in 81% of U.S. towns; property crime, higher than in 100%.
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 Wilkes-Barre Township
1 of the 1 graded towns next door reports less crime
Of the 1 Pennsylvania towns on Wilkes-Barre Township’s borders, 1 have a Safety Grade: Wilkes-Barre (C−). Neighbors ↓
A job center
Wilkes-Barre Township has 6,074 jobs based in town for 3,236 residents (Census LEHD), so some reports involve people who work or shop there rather than residents. How to read it ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind Wilkes-Barre 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.
Crime in Wilkes-Barre 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 5 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Wilkes-Barre Township | Rest of Pennsylvania | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 4.0 | 3.2 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 2.5 | 2.9 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 5.0 | 2.6 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Wilkes-Barre Township’s police reported 37 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 3.8 per 1,000 residents a year, against 2.9 in the rest of Pennsylvania and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Reported crime is steady
Show as a table
| Year | Wilkes-Barre Township property | Rest of Pennsylvania property | Wilkes-Barre Township violent | Rest of Pennsylvania violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 122.9 | 19.0 | 4.0 | 3.2 |
| 2024 | 115.6 | 17.3 | 2.5 | 2.9 |
| 2025 | 119.5 | 16.0 | 5.0 | 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.
402 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.
16 violent and 386 property, as reported to the FBI by Wilkes-Barre Township’s police.
Three people died in crashes on Wilkes-Barre Township’s roads in 2019–2023
Wilkes-Barre Township had 3 fatal crashes in five years, in which three people 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 Wilkes-Barre Township’s size would see about 1 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Wilkes-Barre Township’s own rate (18.8) 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.
Wilkes-Barre Township and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wilkes-Barre Township | D− | 3.8 | 119.3 |
| Wilkes-Barre | C− | 4.2 | 15.3 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Pennsylvania towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wilkes-Barre Township | D− | 3.8 | 119.3 |
| Centerville | A | 0.2 | 3.9 |
| North Catasauqua | A− | 0.3 | 6.9 |
| Ebensburg | B+ | 0.7 | 9.0 |
| Springdale | B+ | 1.6 | 5.6 |
| Penbrook | C+ | 3.6 | 10.9 |
The five graded Pennsylvania towns closest to Wilkes-Barre Township’s population (3,236), 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 Wilkes-Barre 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 Wilkes-Barre Township’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (3,231 in 2025); our figure for Wilkes-Barre Township is 3,236 (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 Wilkes-Barre Township
Is Wilkes-Barre Township, PA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Wilkes-Barre Township reports more crime per resident than 100% of U.S. towns, a D− Safety Grade. Its police reported 3.8 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 Wilkes-Barre Township?
3.8 violent and 119.3 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 Wilkes-Barre Township safer than Wilkes-Barre?
Wilkes-Barre reports less crime per resident than Wilkes-Barre Township: Wilkes-Barre grades C− for safety and Wilkes-Barre Township D−. Wilkes-Barre’s police reported 4.2 violent and 15.3 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Wilkes-Barre Township?
Wilkes-Barre Township’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Wilkes-Barre Township”. 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 Wilkes-Barre 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.