The 50 Safest Cities in New Jersey—2017

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 County Previous Rank: 1 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.11 Property Crime per 1,000: 1.76	2. River Vale Township Previous Rank: Not ranked Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.00 Property Crime per 1,000: 2.48
3. Bernards Township ↑ Previous Rank: 23 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.11 Property Crime per 1,000: 3.27	4. Kinnelon ↑ Previous Rank: 27 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.10 Property Crime per 1,000: 3.36
5. Clinton Township ↑ Previous Rank: 8 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.31 Property Crime per 1,000: 3.21	6. Hillsdale ↓ Previous Rank: 3 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.10 Property Crime per 1,000: 3.52
7. Chatham Township ↓ Previous Rank: 2 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.09 Property Crime per 1,000: 3.75	8. Colts Neck Township ↑ Previous Rank: 32 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.20 Property Crime per 1,000: 3.68
9. Warren Township ↑ Previous Rank: 12 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.19 Property Crime per 1,000: 3.73	10. Monroe Township, Middlesex County ↑ Previous Rank: 18 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.07 Property Crime per 1,000: 3.85
11. Sparta Township ↓ Previous Rank: 5 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.26 Property Crime per 1,000: 3.85	12. Ridgefield ↓ Previous Rank: 9 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.26 Property Crime per 1,000: 3.88
13. Woolwich Township ↓ Previous Rank: 10 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.41 Property Crime per 1,000: 3.78	14. Mahwah Township ↓ Previous Rank: 13 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.19 Property Crime per 1,000: 4.10
15. New Milford ↓ Previous Rank: 11 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.18 Property Crime per 1,000: 4.12	16. Berkeley Heights Township Previous Rank: Not ranked Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.00 Property Crime per 1,000: 4.34
17. Madison ↑ Previous Rank: 54 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.25 Property Crime per 1,000: 4.14	18. New Providence Previous Rank: Not ranked Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.00 Property Crime per 1,000: 4.50
19. Wyckoff Township Previous Rank: 19 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.18 Property Crime per 1,000: 4.33	20. Montgomery Township ↑ Previous Rank: 21 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.26 Property Crime per 1,000: 4.38
21. Bergenfield ↓ Previous Rank: 6 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.25 Property Crime per 1,000: 4.47	22. Ringwood Previous Rank: 22 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.40 Property Crime per 1,000: 4.36
23. Randolph Township ↑ Previous Rank: 42 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.19 Property Crime per 1,000: 4.61	24. Branchburg Township ↓ Previous Rank: 7 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.14 Property Crime per 1,000: 4.67
25. Dumont ↓ Previous Rank: 15 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.17 Property Crime per 1,000: 4.80	26. Raritan Township ↑ Previous Rank: 45 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.54 Property Crime per 1,000: 4.49
27. Franklin Lakes ↑ Previous Rank: 35 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.09 Property Crime per 1,000: 5.06	28. Glen Rock Previous Rank: 28 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.17 Property Crime per 1,000: 5.02
29. Oakland ↑ Previous Rank: 99 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.23 Property Crime per 1,000: 4.96	30. Waterford Township ↑ Previous Rank: 57 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.47 Property Crime per 1,000: 4.84
31. Palisades Park ↓ Previous Rank: 30 Violent Crime per 1,000: 1.02 Property Crime per 1,000: 4.36	32. Denville Township ↑ Previous Rank: 38 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.30 Property Crime per 1,000: 5.22
33. Hasbrouck Heights ↓ Previous Rank: 20 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.33 Property Crime per 1,000: 5.25	34. Hillsborough Township ↓ Previous Rank: 25 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.20 Property Crime per 1,000: 5.40
35. Morris Township ↑ Previous Rank: 41 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.27 Property Crime per 1,000: 5.40	36. Hopatcong Previous Rank: 36 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.48 Property Crime per 1,000: 5.42
37. Plainsboro Township ↓ Previous Rank: 24 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.26 Property Crime per 1,000: 5.70	38. River Edge ↓ Previous Rank: 31 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.26 Property Crime per 1,000: 5.77
39. Hopewell Township ↓ Previous Rank: 26 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.16 Property Crime per 1,000: 5.93	40. Tenafly ↓ Previous Rank: 34 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.13 Property Crime per 1,000: 6.05
41. Marlboro Township ↓ Previous Rank: 37 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.46 Property Crime per 1,000: 5.78	42. Fort Lee ↑ Previous Rank: 48 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.75 Property Crime per 1,000: 5.88
43. Florence Township ↓ Previous Rank: 16 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.89 Property Crime per 1,000: 5.80	44. Jefferson Township ↑ Previous Rank: 55 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.60 Property Crime per 1,000: 6.09
45. Verona ↓ Previous Rank: 14 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.15 Property Crime per 1,000: 6.75	46. Wanaque Previous Rank: 46 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.69 Property Crime per 1,000: 6.34
47. Westwood ↓ Previous Rank: 4 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.45 Property Crime per 1,000: 6.62	48. Cranford Township ↓ Previous Rank: 47 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.17 Property Crime per 1,000: 6.90
49. Lincoln Park ↓ Previous Rank: 43 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.38 Property Crime per 1,000: 6.78	50. Readington Township ↓ Previous Rank: 49 Violent Crime per 1,000: 0.25 Property Crime per 1,000: 7.05

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.

If you would like to contact a SafeWise Safest Cities Analyst, please email safestcities@safewise.com.