The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Carteret, NJ
Carteret is a borough of 25,500 in Middlesex County, about 18 miles southwest of Midtown Manhattan · Updated November 2026
Is Carteret, NJ safe?
Mostly, yes. Crime in Carteret is low, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of A-, but most US neighborhoods are safer still: Carteret has more crime than the neighborhoods where 60% of Americans live. Property crime grades better than violent crime here, A- against B+. Its neighborhoods are much alike, from A- to B; see the map below.
A-
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 778 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
40% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Carteret as a whole, and 60% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Carteret scores 778.
Crime is concentrated in a small share of places, so most neighborhoods score high on the 0 to 1,000 scale. That is why a score in the 800s can still mean more crime than most US neighborhoods.
How to read the map: each area's color compares its crime with the people, homes and cars there, on one national scale, from green for the least crime to red for the most. Each area gets its own color, so a busy shopping center can show red while the homes beside it stay green. The interactive maps load faster on a strong connection. Compare high speed internet in Carteret, NJ at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Carteret, and anyone thinking about buying or renting a home there.
Business and enterprise customers: this free map shows neighborhood areas. CrimeGrade™ business reports map crime at about 66-meter detail and estimate it for one address and type of business. See business reports
What stands out in Carteret
Thefts from cars happen in the morning far more often than nationally. In Carteret, 49% of reported thefts from cars happen in the morning (6 am to noon), against 23% nationally.
The safest and least safe parts of Carteret
Every part of Carteret where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across Carteret run from A- to B; every part of Carteret has more crime than the typical US neighborhood.
100%
A or B 100%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Within Carteret, the west side has the least crime and the south side the most.
Is crime going up in Carteret?
Reported property crime in Carteret has risen 11% since 2019. Too few violent crimes are reported here each year for a reliable violent crime trend. Burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts went from about 11 to 13 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 18). In 2024 alone, property crime fell 17%.
Property crime, change since 2019
CarteretUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Carteret. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Property, Carteret
Property, US
2016
-9%
+15%
2017
+22%
+12%
2018
+11%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
-8%
-8%
2021
-13%
-10%
2022
-2%
-6%
2023
+34%
-7%
2024
+11%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Carteret
CrimeGrade™ estimates Carteret has about 29 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 23% less than the US as a whole and close to New Jersey.
Overall crime
Violent crime
Property crime
Reported crimes a year, per 1,000 residents. These figures include simple assaults and vandalism, which the FBI's violent and property crime rates leave out.
The largest share of crime reported in Carteret is assault, about 45% of the total. It also makes up the largest share of what crime costs here.
Each CrimeGrade™ compares a crime with what it affects: people for assaults and robbery, homes for burglary, parked cars for vehicle theft. Rates count crimes per 1,000 residents.
Select a crime's name to see its map above. CrimeGrade™ business reports map each crime at about 66-meter detail.
Where and when crime happens in Carteret
Carteret has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Carteret, 62% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (62%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Car theft
Streets and sidewalks (37%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Theft from cars
Homes (45%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Vandalism
Homes (40%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Aggravated assault
Homes (59%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Shares of the crimes reported to police, 2022 to 2024. Reports with no time recorded are left out of the times.
How Carteret compares with nearby cities
Carteret has more crime than 7 of its 10 nearest cities. Iselin and Colonia have the least crime nearby.
Density, night lighting and walkability in Carteret
Two things set Carteret apart: it has 85% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally, and 5.3 stores and restaurants for every 1,000 residents, against 10.5 nationally. Places where many residents live in dense blocks tend to report more robbery and car theft, and they run high here.
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery and car theft.85% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 93% of US city residents
Lit at nightSatellite images show which neighborhoods are lit at night, a sign of busy streets and businesses. Brightly lit places tend to report more theft and vandalism.100% where people liveUS: 78%Higher than for 92% of US city residents
Walk GradeBestNeighborhood's grade for getting through daily life on foot, traced along real walking routes to shops, schools and parks. Walkable places tend to report more theft and assault. 54% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.C (34 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 84% of US city residents
Show all 6
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.5.3 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower than for 91% of US city residents
Transit serviceBuses and trains an hour at the evening rush. Places with busy transit tend to report more theft and robbery. BestNeighborhood's Transit Grade for Carteret: C- (27 of 100).4 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 66% of US city residents
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.48 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 60% of US city residents
These traits tend to go with more or less crime; none of them causes it on its own. Sources: Census job counts and housing figures, OpenStreetMap and Overture business listings, CrimeGrade™ parking estimates, NASA night-light imagery, US Forest Service tree cover, EPA transit data and BestNeighborhood's Walk Grade.
What crime costs Carteret
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Carteret about $971 a year per household, 19% less than the US figure of $1,205.
Cost of crime per resident, per year
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, which comes almost entirely from violent crime, the full cost comes to about $24 million a year, or $955 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$1.1 million
$42
Rape
$290,000
$11
Robbery
$330,000
$13
Assault
$3.7 million
$147
Burglary
$370,000
$14
Theft
$1.3 million
$49
Vehicle theft
$620,000
$24
Arson
$14,000
$1
Vandalism
$410,000
$16
Total
$8.1 million
$318
How CrimeGrade™ works
A CrimeGrade™ shows how much crime an area has compared with the rest of the country, from A+ for the least crime to F for the most. Every neighborhood in the US is graded on the same scale, so a B in Carteret means the same as a B anywhere else.
CrimeGrade™ starts from the crimes people report to police and measures each kind of crime against what it affects: people for assaults, homes for burglaries, parked cars for car thefts.
The rates on this page count crimes for every 1,000 people who live here, the way police departments report them. Carteret is the other kind of example: few people work in, shop in or visit it, so its crime per resident looks lower than its CrimeGrade™ suggests.
Comparisons with US neighborhoods use the Census Bureau's block groups, small areas of about 1,400 residents, and count the people who live in each. The figures count crimes reported to police; many crimes, shoplifting above all, never are. Behind the grades, CrimeGrade™ tested 21,607 factors from 125 data families. For business owners, paid CrimeGrade™ location reports estimate crime at a single address for each type of business.
Where the numbers come from
Crime reports that police departments file with the FBI
State crime records and city crime data, where they are published
Published research on what crime costs victims and communities
These are estimates of reported crime for whole areas, not a record of what happened on any one street. CrimeGrade™ updates them once a year and provides them free and without guarantee. Check local sources before you rely on them for a decision.
Schools in Carteret, NJ average a SchoolGrade of D-: 29% of students test proficient, against 28% projected for schools like them. Overall, they don't meet expectations. See schools in Carteret on SchoolGrade
