The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Garfield, NJ
Garfield is a city of 32,500 in Bergen County, about 11 miles northwest of Midtown Manhattan · Updated November 2026
Is Garfield, NJ safe?
Crime in Garfield is moderate, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of B-. Most US neighborhoods have little crime: 76% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime than Garfield. Violent crime grades better than property crime here, A- against C-. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Garfield run from A- to D+, so check the map below.
B-
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 614 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
24% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Garfield as a whole, and 76% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Garfield scores 614.
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 Garfield, NJ at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Garfield, 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 Garfield
Burglary is a strength. Garfield grades C- for property crime, but burglary grades A, better than in the neighborhoods where 60% of Americans live.
Thefts from cars happen on streets and sidewalks far more often than nationally. In Garfield, 74% of reported thefts from cars happen on streets and sidewalks, against 18% nationally.
The safest and least safe parts of Garfield
Most of Garfield grades well: 58% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 8% in areas graded D or F. Grades across Garfield run from A- to D+; every part of Garfield has more crime than the typical US neighborhood.
58%34%
A or B 58%C 34%D or F 8%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Within Garfield, the northeast side has the least crime and the south side the most.
Is crime going up in Garfield?
Since 2019, reported violent crime in Garfield is up 23% and property crime is down 11%. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 1.6 to 2.0 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 19 to 17 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, violent crime rose 65%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
GarfieldUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Garfield. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Garfield
Violent, US
Property, Garfield
Property, US
2016
+76%
+4%
-6%
+15%
2017
+16%
+4%
-9%
+12%
2018
+55%
+0%
-5%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
-27%
+4%
-41%
-8%
2021
-2%
+6%
-40%
-10%
2022
-27%
+5%
-18%
-6%
2023
-26%
+2%
-17%
-7%
2024
+23%
-4%
-11%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Garfield
CrimeGrade™ estimates Garfield 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.
Theft makes up about 47% of crime reported in Garfield. Assault is less common but costs more, because each one does more harm.
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 Garfield
Garfield has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Garfield, 69% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (69%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Streets and sidewalks (55%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Theft from cars
Streets and sidewalks (74%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Vandalism
Homes (38%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Aggravated assault
Homes (54%)
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 Garfield compares with nearby cities
Garfield has more crime than 9 of its 10 nearest cities. Carlstadt and Rochelle Park have the least crime nearby.
Two things set Garfield apart: it has 0.2 parking-lot spaces per resident, against 2.0 nationally, and a Walk Grade of B (63 of 100) on BestNeighborhood, against 21 for the US as a whole. Places with little parking-lot space tend to report less theft, yet theft runs higher here than that would suggest.
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.0.2 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Lower than for 96% 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.B (63 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 95% 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.90% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 95% of US city residents
Show all 6
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
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.19 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 88% 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 Garfield: C- (30 of 100).8 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 80% 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 Garfield
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Garfield about $857 a year per household, 29% 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 $28 million a year, or $848 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$1.6 million
$49
Rape
$410,000
$13
Robbery
$430,000
$13
Assault
$2.8 million
$86
Burglary
$250,000
$8
Theft
$2.2 million
$69
Vehicle theft
$1.6 million
$48
Arson
$27,000
$1
Vandalism
$640,000
$20
Total
$9.9 million
$305
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 Garfield 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. Garfield 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 Garfield, NJ average a SchoolGrade of C-: 38% of students test proficient, against 24% projected for schools like them. Overall, they greatly exceed expectations. See schools in Garfield on SchoolGrade
