The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Linden, NJ
Linden is a city of 45,300 in Union County, about 16 miles southwest of Midtown Manhattan · Updated November 2026
Is Linden, NJ safe?
Mostly, yes. Crime in Linden is low, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of A-, but most US neighborhoods are safer still: Linden has more crime than the neighborhoods where 61% of Americans live. Violent crime grades A- and property crime B. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Linden run from A to C+, so check the map below.
A-
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 772 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
39% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Linden as a whole, and 61% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Linden scores 772.
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 Linden, NJ at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Linden, 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 Linden
Thefts run high for an A-graded city. Linden has 29.9 thefts a year per 1,000 residents; for the typical resident of an A-graded US city, the figure is 8.3.
Burglaries are less common than the crime level suggests. Crime overall in Linden runs 33% above the US rate, but burglaries run 33% below it: 1.6 a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.4 nationally.
The safest and least safe parts of Linden
Most of Linden grades well: 81% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and the rest in areas graded C. Grades across Linden run from A to C+; 9% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
81%19%
A or B 81%C 19%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Within Linden, the southeast side has the least crime and the north side the most.
Crime rates and types in Linden
CrimeGrade™ estimates Linden has about 49 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 33% more than the US as a whole and 79% 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 Linden is theft, about 61% 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 Linden Police Department's 2024 report to the FBI was missing some months of aggravated assault, simple assault, burglary, theft, vehicle theft and vandalism; CrimeGrade™ filled them in from the department's own monthly pattern.
Select a crime's name to see its map above. CrimeGrade™ business reports map each crime at about 66-meter detail.
How Linden compares with nearby cities
Linden has more crime than 8 of its 10 nearest cities. Cranford and Kenilworth have the least crime nearby.
Two things set Linden apart: it has a Walk Grade of B- (52 of 100) on BestNeighborhood, against 21 for the US as a whole, and 73% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally. Places like that tend to report more theft and assault, and they run high here.
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- (52 of 100)US: 21Higher 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
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery and car theft.73% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 91% 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.2.9 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher than for 82% 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 Linden: C- (28 of 100).8 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 80% of US city residents
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson.4.1% of homesUS: 7.1%Lower than for 73% of US city residents
BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of Linden 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 Linden
Crime costs Linden about $1,153 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, about the same as 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 $42 million a year, or $925 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$1.7 million
$37
Rape
$470,000
$10
Robbery
$610,000
$13
Assault
$5.2 million
$114
Burglary
$640,000
$14
Theft
$7.0 million
$154
Vehicle theft
$1.3 million
$29
Arson
$58,000
$1
Vandalism
$1.6 million
$35
Total
$18 million
$408
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 Linden 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 Linden, NJ average a SchoolGrade of D-: 31% of students test proficient, against 22% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in Linden on SchoolGrade
