The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Neptune, NJ
Neptune is a township of 21,700 in Monmouth County, about 40 miles south of Midtown Manhattan · Updated November 2026
Is Neptune, NJ safe?
With an overall CrimeGrade™ of B+, Neptune has moderate crime by national standards. Most US neighborhoods have less: 68% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime. Violent and property crime both grade B+ here. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Neptune run from A+ to D-, so check the map below.
B+
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 708 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
32% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Neptune as a whole, and 68% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Neptune scores 708.
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 Neptune, NJ at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Neptune, 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 Neptune
Car thefts are less common than the crime level suggests. Crime overall in Neptune runs at about double the US rate, but car thefts run at a small fraction of that rate: 0.76 a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.7 nationally.
Simple assaults run high for a B-graded city. Neptune has 35.8 simple assaults a year per 1,000 residents; for the typical resident of a B-graded US city, the figure is 11.1.
The safest and least safe parts of Neptune
Low crime is the norm across Neptune: 68% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 8% in areas graded D or F. Grades across Neptune run from A+ to D-; 30% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
68%24%
A or B 68%C 24%D or F 8%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Within Neptune, the southwest side has the least crime and the east side the most.
Is crime going up in Neptune?
Since 2019, reported violent crime in Neptune is down 18%, while property crime has held about steady. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 3.5 to 2.9 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts stayed at about 32 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, violent crime fell 16%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
NeptuneUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Neptune. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Neptune
Violent, US
Property, Neptune
Property, US
2016
+63%
+4%
+4%
+15%
2017
+55%
+4%
+4%
+12%
2018
+10%
+0%
-3%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
+11%
+4%
+2%
-8%
2021
+29%
+6%
-22%
-10%
2022
+12%
+5%
-8%
-6%
2023
-3%
+2%
+8%
-7%
2024
-18%
-4%
+2%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Neptune
CrimeGrade™ estimates Neptune has about 78 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, about double the rate for the US as a whole and about triple the rate for 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 Neptune is assault, about 49% 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 Neptune Township Police Department sent the FBI no usable 2024 count of vandalism, so CrimeGrade™ built the figure from the department's own reports for recent years, brought up to 2024.
Select a crime's name to see its map above. CrimeGrade™ business reports map each crime at about 66-meter detail.
How Neptune compares with nearby cities
Neptune has more crime than 6 of its 9 nearest cities. Belmar and Shark River Hills have the least crime nearby.
Two things set Neptune apart: it has 76 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole, and a Walk Grade of C- (30 of 100) on BestNeighborhood, against 21 for the US as a whole. Even so, 61% of residents in Neptune live in car-dependent areas, where most errands take a car. Places like that tend to report more theft and robbery, and they run high here.
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.76 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 90% 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- (30 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 81% 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.3.5% of homesUS: 7.1%Lower than for 80% 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.10.9 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 58% 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.98% where people liveUS: 78%Higher than for 58% of US city residents
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.1.8 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher than for 55% of US city residents
BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of Neptune 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 Neptune
Crime costs Neptune about $1,759 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 46% more 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 $1,307 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$1.1 million
$48
Rape
$220,000
$10
Robbery
$370,000
$17
Assault
$7.2 million
$330
Burglary
$470,000
$22
Theft
$3.3 million
$150
Vehicle theft
$250,000
$12
Arson
$19,000
$1
Vandalism
$1.0 million
$48
Total
$14 million
$638
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 Neptune 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 Neptune, NJ average a SchoolGrade of C: 40% of students test proficient, against 30% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in Neptune on SchoolGrade
