The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Hackensack, NJ
Hackensack is a city of 46,000 in Bergen County, about 10 miles north of Midtown Manhattan · Updated November 2026
Is Hackensack, NJ safe?
Yes. An overall CrimeGrade™ of A- means crime in Hackensack is low. Most US neighborhoods have little crime too, so Hackensack sits near the middle: 48% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime, and 52% in neighborhoods with less. Violent crime grades better than property crime here, A against B+. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Hackensack run from A to B, so check the map below.
A-
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 826 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
48% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Hackensack as a whole, and 52% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Hackensack scores 826.
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 Hackensack, NJ at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Hackensack, 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 Hackensack
Burglaries run high for an A-graded city. Hackensack has 2.6 burglaries a year per 1,000 residents; for the typical resident of an A-graded US city, the figure is 1.2.
Thefts from cars happen in the morning far more often than nationally. In Hackensack, 61% of reported thefts from cars happen in the morning (6 am to noon), against 23% nationally.
The safest and least safe parts of Hackensack
Every part of Hackensack where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across Hackensack run from A to B; 15% of residents live in areas with less 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 Hackensack, the northeast side has the least crime and the center the most.
Is crime going up in Hackensack?
Since 2019, reported property crime in Hackensack is up 51%, while violent crime has held about steady. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 2.4 to 2.5 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 14 to 20 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, property crime fell 13%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
HackensackUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Hackensack. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Hackensack
Violent, US
Property, Hackensack
Property, US
2016
-15%
+4%
+17%
+15%
2017
-10%
+4%
+12%
+12%
2018
+11%
+0%
+9%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
-49%
+4%
-7%
-8%
2021
-50%
+6%
-2%
-10%
2022
-11%
+5%
+78%
-6%
2023
+4%
+2%
+74%
-7%
2024
+6%
-4%
+51%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Hackensack
CrimeGrade™ estimates Hackensack has about 33 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 11% less than the US as a whole and 20% 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.
Theft makes up about 48% of crime reported in Hackensack. 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 Hackensack
Hackensack has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Hackensack, 53% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (53%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Car theft
Parking lots and garages (37%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Theft from cars
Parking lots and garages (44%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Vandalism
Parking lots and garages (32%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Robbery
Streets and sidewalks (42%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Aggravated assault
Homes (52%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Shares of the crimes reported to police, 2022 to 2024. Reports with no time recorded are left out of the times.
How Hackensack compares with nearby cities
Hackensack has more crime than 8 of its 9 nearest cities. Rochelle Park and Hasbrouck Heights have the least crime nearby.
Two things set Hackensack apart: it has 91 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole, and 18.0 stores and restaurants for every 1,000 residents, against 10.5 nationally. It also combines many jobs with busy transit: places with both tend to report more theft and robbery than places with only one of them, and theft runs high here.
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.91 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 95% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.18.0 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 95% 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 (62 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 95% of US city residents
Show all 6
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery and car theft.82% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 93% 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 Hackensack: C (34 of 100).24 trips an hourUS: noneHigher 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
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 Hackensack
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Hackensack about $754 a year per household, 37% 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 $35 million a year, or $763 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$1.0 million
$23
Rape
$540,000
$12
Robbery
$600,000
$13
Assault
$5.1 million
$111
Burglary
$1.1 million
$24
Theft
$3.8 million
$82
Vehicle theft
$1.3 million
$28
Arson
$51,000
$1
Vandalism
$800,000
$17
Total
$14 million
$311
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 Hackensack 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 Hackensack, NJ average a SchoolGrade of C: 42% of students test proficient, against 27% projected for schools like them. Overall, they greatly exceed expectations. See schools in Hackensack on SchoolGrade
