The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Clifton, NJ
Clifton is the sixth-largest city in New Jersey, with 89,200 residents in Passaic County, about 12 miles northwest of Midtown Manhattan · Updated November 2026
Is Clifton, NJ safe?
Crime in Clifton is moderate, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of B+. Most US neighborhoods have little crime: 62% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime than Clifton. Violent crime grades better than property crime here, A against B-. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Clifton run from A to D-, so check the map or the safest and least safe neighborhoods below.
B+
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 767 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
38% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Clifton as a whole, and 62% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Clifton scores 767.
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 Clifton, NJ at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Clifton, 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 Clifton
Car thefts run high in Lake View. In this part of northeast Clifton, they run at more than double the rate in the rest of Clifton.
Aggravated assaults are less common than in most B-graded cities. Clifton has 1.1 aggravated assaults a year per 1,000 residents; for the typical resident of a B-graded US city, the figure is 3.1.
The safest and most dangerous neighborhoods in Clifton
Low crime is the norm across Clifton: 82% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 5% in areas graded D or F. Grades across Clifton run from A to D-; 36% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
82%13%
A or B 82%C 13%D or F 5%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
1Richfield & Allwood, southwestCar thefts run at less than half the rate in the rest of Clifton.A882
2Delawanna, southeastCar thefts run at less than half the rate in the rest of Clifton.A868
3Athenia, southAggravated assaults run about 40% lower here than in the rest of Clifton.A-835
4Albion Place, northwestClose to the rest of Clifton on most crimes.A-772
5Lake View, northeastThefts run at about double the rate in the rest of Clifton.B-586
Neighborhood areas of Clifton, ranked by overall CrimeGrade™; beside each grade is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer). Each one combines several of the smaller areas on the map.
Is crime going up in Clifton?
Reported crime in Clifton has risen since 2019: violent crime is up 48% and property crime up 51%. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 1.1 to 1.6 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 15 to 23 (US: 18). Neither changed much from 2023 to 2024.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
CliftonUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Clifton. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Clifton
Violent, US
Property, Clifton
Property, US
2016
+112%
+4%
+3%
+15%
2017
+93%
+4%
+9%
+12%
2018
+2%
+0%
+6%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
-18%
+4%
-0%
-8%
2021
-31%
+6%
+0%
-10%
2022
-6%
+5%
+29%
-6%
2023
+41%
+2%
+44%
-7%
2024
+48%
-4%
+51%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Clifton
CrimeGrade™ estimates Clifton has about 35 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 6% less than the US as a whole and 27% more than 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 Clifton is theft, about 50% 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.
The Clifton Police Department's 2024 report of burglary had a month far out of line with the rest, a sign of a data-entry error or a catch-up month, so CrimeGrade™ set it aside and used the other months.
Select a crime's name to see its map above. CrimeGrade™ business reports map each crime at about 66-meter detail.
How Clifton compares with nearby cities
Of the 10 cities closest to Clifton, 7 have less crime. Upper Montclair and East Rutherford have the least.
Empty homes, night lighting and walkability in Clifton
Two things set Clifton apart: it has 2.5% of its homes standing empty, against 7.1% nationally, and 0.5 parking-lot spaces per resident, against 2.0 nationally. Places like that tend to report less burglary, vandalism and arson, yet burglary and vandalism run higher here than that would suggest.
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson.2.5% of homesUS: 7.1%Lower than for 92% 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.C+ (44 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 89% of US city residents
Show all 6
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.0.5 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Lower than for 90% of US city residents
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery and car theft.67% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 89% 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 Clifton: C- (28 of 100).12 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 87% of US city residents
BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of Clifton on shops, parks, home prices, getting around and more.
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 Clifton
Crime costs Clifton about $845 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 30% 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 $59 million a year, or $662 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$2.4 million
$27
Rape
$560,000
$6
Robbery
$1.3 million
$14
Assault
$6.7 million
$75
Burglary
$1.1 million
$12
Theft
$8.0 million
$90
Vehicle theft
$3.2 million
$36
Arson
$51,000
$1
Vandalism
$4.0 million
$45
Total
$27 million
$306
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 Clifton 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.
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 Clifton, NJ average a SchoolGrade of D: 33% of students test proficient, against 31% projected for schools like them. Overall, they don't meet expectations. See schools in Clifton on SchoolGrade
