The Garden State isn’t messing around when it comes to cracking down on crime and keeping residents safe. Since November 2016, the state has captured 150 violent offenders, thanks to the statewide Violent Crime Initiative. The program was so successful that Attorney General Christopher Porrino recently announced another new directive designed to thwart victim and witness intimidation. The fifty cities we’ve recognized this year are shining examples of New Jersey’s commitment to safe streets for all citizens.
Overall, New Jersey is below the national average for property crime, claiming the third-lowest property crime rate in the country. Of the cities on our list, 84% reported fewer than twenty-five burglaries, and a full thirty-six of them reported fewer than 100 total property crimes to the FBI in 2015.
Violent crime is just as rare in these New Jersey safe cities: 88% experienced fewer than ten total violent crimes, 92% cited zero counts of murder during the reporting period, and no city reported more than five robberies. In fact, your chance of falling victim to violent crime in all but one of the cities on our list is less than one in 1,000.
You’re already pretty lucky if you get to call the great state of New Jersey home, but you can help make your state—and hometown—even safer. Forty-three of the cities recognized this year appear for the second time in a row among New Jersey’s fifty safest cities, and we believe that’s largely due to strong community programs and citizen awareness of crime prevention strategies. See where your city landed this year and brush up on your security knowledge by keeping our New Jersey Safety Directory close at hand.
How We Chose the Safest Cities in New Jersey
To identify the safest cities in New Jersey, we reviewed the most recent FBI Crime Report statistics from 2015, along with population data. We eliminated all cities with fewer than 10,000 residents as well as any cities that failed to submit a complete crime report to the FBI.
From there, we evaluated the remaining cities. We narrowed it down based on the number of reported violent crimes (aggravated assault, murder, rape, and robbery) and property crimes (burglary, arson, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft) in each city. To further level the playing field, we calculated the likelihood of these crimes occurring out of 1,000 people in each city.
Learn more about how we rank our Safest Cities reports.
1. Washington Township, Morris CountyPrevious Rank: 1 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.11 |
2. River Vale TownshipPrevious Rank: Not ranked Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.00 |
3. Bernards Township ↑Previous Rank: 23 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.11 |
4. Kinnelon ↑Previous Rank: 27 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.10 |
5. Clinton Township ↑Previous Rank: 8 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.31 |
6. Hillsdale ↓Previous Rank: 3 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.10 |
7. Chatham Township ↓Previous Rank: 2 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.09 |
8. Colts Neck Township ↑Previous Rank: 32 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.20 |
9. Warren Township ↑Previous Rank: 12 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.19 |
10. Monroe Township, Middlesex County ↑Previous Rank: 18 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.07 |
11. Sparta Township ↓Previous Rank: 5 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.26 |
12. Ridgefield ↓Previous Rank: 9 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.26 |
13. Woolwich Township ↓Previous Rank: 10 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.41 |
14. Mahwah Township ↓Previous Rank: 13 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.19 |
15. New Milford ↓Previous Rank: 11 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.18 |
16. Berkeley Heights TownshipPrevious Rank: Not ranked Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.00 |
17. Madison ↑Previous Rank: 54 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.25 |
18. New ProvidencePrevious Rank: Not ranked Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.00 |
19. Wyckoff TownshipPrevious Rank: 19 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.18 |
20. Montgomery Township ↑Previous Rank: 21 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.26 |
21. Bergenfield ↓Previous Rank: 6 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.25 |
22. RingwoodPrevious Rank: 22 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.40 |
23. Randolph Township ↑Previous Rank: 42 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.19 |
24. Branchburg Township ↓Previous Rank: 7 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.14 |
25. Dumont ↓Previous Rank: 15 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.17 |
26. Raritan Township ↑Previous Rank: 45 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.54 |
27. Franklin Lakes ↑Previous Rank: 35 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.09 |
28. Glen RockPrevious Rank: 28 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.17 |
29. Oakland ↑Previous Rank: 99 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.23 |
30. Waterford Township ↑Previous Rank: 57 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.47 |
31. Palisades Park ↓Previous Rank: 30 Violent Crime per 1,000: 1.02 |
32. Denville Township ↑Previous Rank: 38 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.30 |
33. Hasbrouck Heights ↓Previous Rank: 20 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.33 |
34. Hillsborough Township ↓Previous Rank: 25 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.20 |
35. Morris Township ↑Previous Rank: 41 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.27 |
36. HopatcongPrevious Rank: 36 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.48 |
37. Plainsboro Township ↓Previous Rank: 24 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.26 |
38. River Edge ↓Previous Rank: 31 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.26 |
39. Hopewell Township ↓Previous Rank: 26 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.16 |
40. Tenafly ↓Previous Rank: 34 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.13 |
41. Marlboro Township ↓Previous Rank: 37 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.46 |
42. Fort Lee ↑Previous Rank: 48 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.75 |
43. Florence Township ↓Previous Rank: 16 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.89 |
44. Jefferson Township ↑Previous Rank: 55 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.60 |
45. Verona ↓Previous Rank: 14 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.15 |
46. WanaquePrevious Rank: 46 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.69 |
47. Westwood ↓Previous Rank: 4 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.45 |
48. Cranford Township ↓Previous Rank: 47 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.17 |
49. Lincoln Park ↓Previous Rank: 43 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.38 |
50. Readington Township ↓Previous Rank: 49 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.25 |
Didn’t see your city rank in the top 50?
Check the remaining cities below, and take a look at the most recent FBI crime data here.
| 51. Florham Park | 52. Hawthorne | 53. West Caldwell Township |
| 54. Hammonton | 55. Mount Olive Township | 56. Montville Township |
| 57. Manalapan Township | 58. Medford Township | 59. Middletown Township |
| 60. Parsippany-Troy Hills Township | 61. Pequannock Township | 62. Summit |
| 63. Barnegat Township | 64. Ridgewood | 65. Manchester Township |
| 66. Stafford Township | 67. Scotch Plains Township | 68. Holmdel Township |
| 69. Roselle Park | 70. Westfield | 71. Jackson Township |
| 72. Cliffside Park | 73. Cedar Grove Township | 74. Princeton |
| 75. West Milford Township | 76. East Greenwich Township | 77. Robbinsville Township |
| 78. Ramsey | 79. Middlesex | 80. East Windsor Township |
| 81. Little Ferry | 82. Bordentown Township | 83. Bridgewater Township |
| 84. Nutley Township | 85. South Brunswick Township | 86. Piscataway Township |
| 87. Clark Township | 88. Fairview | 89. Highland Park |
| 90. Howell Township | 91. Springfield | 92. Livingston Township |
| 93. Sayreville | 94. Harrison Township | 95. South River |
| 96. Aberdeen Township | 97. Wall Township | 98. Pompton Lakes |
| 99. Roxbury Township | 100. Point Pleasant |
How safe is your home?
Wherever you live, feeling safe in your home can bring greater peace of mind and happiness. Whether your city made our list or not, we recommend adding extra security to your home with monitored security services provided by the nation’s leading home security providers.
To learn more about the home security options available to you, check out SafeWise’s picks for Best Home Security Systems of 2018 or select the city nearest you in the drop down menu below.
Camden
Dayton
East Brunswick
Edison
Forked River
Glendora
Hillside
Lakewood
Madison
Maplewood
Newark
Nutley
Oakland
Old Bridge
Orange
Pomona
Saddle Brook
Salem
Somerset
Springfield
Toms River
Washington
West Caldwell
Wyckoff
If you would like to contact a SafeWise Safest Cities Analyst, please email safestcities@safewise.com.
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