The Safest and Most Dangerous Cities in New Jersey

Violent Crime

Despite being founded by Quakers and deriving its name from the Hebrew word for “peace,” Salem is New Jersey’s most dangerous city. Indeed, with nearly 2,100 violent crimes per 100,000 citizens, its residents are left praying for more tranquility. That many offenses in this 18th-century town provide quite a workload for the country’s second-oldest courthouse.³

The streets of Atlantic City — which are well known to Monopoly players — are also rife with violent crime. With a history of nefarious activity dating back to prohibition (inspiring the TV series “Boardwalk Empire”), the former resort town and birthplace of the Miss America pageant⁴ has degraded despite the introduction of legalized gambling designed to revitalize the town.⁵ Atlantic City is now New Jersey’s second most dangerous city, with 1,880 incidents per 100,000 residents.

Official statistics cite the Camden County Police Department’s jurisdiction as New Jersey’s third most violent district. The odd designation of a jurisdiction rather than a municipality is because the city of Camden disbanded its cash-strapped, corruption-ridden police force more than a decade ago.⁶ Despite suffering nearly 1,700 crimes per 100,000 residents, things are looking up for the Philadelphia suburb that was once called the country’s most dangerous city.⁷

Conversely, the north of the state features affluent New York City bedroom communities comprising some of the safest towns in the nation. Only 15 American cities boast single-digit violent crime rates, and three of them are in New Jersey: Warren Township (six incidents per 100,000 residents), Florham Park (seven per 100,000) and East Hanover Township (nine violent crimes per 100,000 people). Given their respective populations, that ratio indicates that each city sees only one violent incident each year.

Property Crime

The borough of Brooklawn features New Jersey’s highest property crime by a wide margin, enduring more than 10,000 property crimes per 100,000 citizens. An underprivileged Philadelphia suburb located on several major transportation arteries within notorious Camden County, Brooklawn is the victim of several logistical factors that traditionally contribute to criminality. Additionally, its population of less than 2,000 residents can magnify the statistical impact of every reported offense. Just a few miles away (and still in Camden County), the borough of Somerdale sports the state’s third-highest property crime rate — although at about 5,540 reports per 100,000, it’s barely half as bad as Brooklawn.

For property crimes, Atlantic City again featured the state’s second-highest rate: nearly 6,800 infractions per 100,000 citizens. When strolling the famous boardwalk in search of saltwater taffy, visitors must be alert to all manner of criminal activity.

Those seeking greater security should head up the coast from A.C. to oceanside Monmouth County. There, the towns of Matawan (10 offenses per 100,000 residents) and Sea Bright (70 per 100,000) sport New Jersey’s two lowest property crime rates. Away from the ocean, but on the state’s largest lake, the borough of Hopatcong once thrived as a weekend getaway spot for New York City, and it now proudly has New Jersey’s third-lowest property crime rate (82 per 100,000).

Statewide Crime Trends in New Jersey

Local musical legends may paint New Jersey as “badlands” from which residents were “born to run” (Bruce Springsteen) or describe “living on a prayer” while being “wanted dead or alive” (Bon Jovi). But despite its rough reputation, this original colony remains one of the safest states in the nation. The Garden State features the ninth-lowest violent crime rate in the country and the 11th-lowest rate for property crime.

Violent Crime Rates in New Jersey

(per 100,000 residents)

It’s home to numerous notorious mobsters — both fictional and real⁸ — as well as the site of the infamous Lindbergh baby kidnapping,⁹ but violent crime is rare in New Jersey. Its violent crime rate of 221 victims per 100,000 residents is 39 percent below the national average — although it climbed 9.1 percent in the latest year-over-year assessment.

Individually, every type of violent crime is also scarcer in New Jersey. The murder rate (less than three homicides per 100,000) is 51 percent below national norms. Rape (about 18 crimes per 100,000) occurs 53 percent less than across the country, and robbery (about 50 offenses per 100,000) is one-quarter lower than overall figures. Aggravated assaults (about 150 attacks per 100,000) are 43 percent lower than the national average.

Property Crime Rates in New Jersey

(per 100,000 residents)

Urban areas are often most affected by property crimes, a fact that should spell bad news for New Jersey. Heavily populated New Jersey is the only state in which every county is classified as “urban” by the Census Bureau. Indeed, a whopping 94 percent of its population lives in urban areas.¹⁰ Despite that density, the state’s property crime rate of about 1,520 reports per 100,000 citizens remains 21 percent behind the American average. Property crime in New Jersey, however, climbed 7.4 percent in the most recent numbers.

Even with that jump, New Jersey has a burglary rate 38 percent lower than national norms (155 offenses per 100,000 residents), a larceny-theft rate 13 percent lower than average (less than 1,200 incidents per 100,000) and a vehicle theft rate 40 percent lower (about 190 per 100,000).

Where Our Crime Numbers Come From

Unless otherwise specified, the information in this article is based on crime data compiled by the FBI and made available through the Crime Data Explorer. Statewide violent and property crime statistics are drawn from the FBI’s 2023 Crime in the United States Report (Table 5). For city-level crime rates, we referred to Table 8, which lists reported offenses by state and city.

Important note: Crime statistics offer valuable insights, but they aren’t the only way to evaluate a community’s safety. Local context, law enforcement practices and reporting standards can all influence how crime is recorded. Additionally, FBI publication tables and the data displayed on the Crime Data Explorer may differ slightly due to variations in methodology.