The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Paterson, NJ
Paterson is the third-largest city in New Jersey, with 158,100 residents in Passaic County, about 14 miles northwest of Midtown Manhattan · Updated November 2026
Is Paterson, NJ safe?
Paterson is among the higher-crime places in the US: an overall CrimeGrade™ of D-, with more crime than the neighborhoods where 92% of Americans live. Violent crime grades D and property crime F. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Paterson run from B+ to F, so check the map or the safest and least safe neighborhoods below.
D-
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 77 of 1,000Less safe than nearly all US neighborhoodsi What this means
8% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Paterson as a whole, and 92% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Paterson scores 77.
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 Paterson, NJ at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Paterson, 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 Paterson
Thefts from cars happen on streets and sidewalks far more often than nationally. In Paterson, 68% of reported thefts from cars happen on streets and sidewalks, against 18% nationally.
Robbery at more than triple the US rate. Paterson has 2.5 robberies a year per 1,000 residents, against 0.62 nationally.
The safest and most dangerous neighborhoods in Paterson
High crime is widespread across Paterson: 82% of residents live in areas graded D or F, and 3% in areas graded A or B. Grades across Paterson run from B+ to F; every part of Paterson has more crime than the typical US neighborhood.
15%82%
A or B 3%C 15%D or F 82%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
1Downtown Paterson, westRobberies run about 40% lower here than in the rest of Paterson.D+267
2Lake View, southeastSimple assaults run about 30% lower here than in the rest of Paterson.D183
3Albion Place, southThefts run about 40% lower here than in the rest of Paterson.D-127
Neighborhood areas of Paterson, 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 Paterson?
Since 2019, reported violent crime in Paterson is up 15%, while property crime has held about steady. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 8.4 to 9.7 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 22 to 23 (US: 18). Neither changed much from 2023 to 2024.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
PatersonUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Paterson. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Paterson
Violent, US
Property, Paterson
Property, US
2016
-8%
+4%
+0%
+15%
2017
-16%
+4%
+8%
+12%
2018
-12%
+0%
+14%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
+9%
+4%
-33%
-8%
2021
+16%
+6%
-27%
-10%
2022
+23%
+5%
+8%
-6%
2023
+9%
+2%
+12%
-7%
2024
+16%
-4%
+8%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Paterson
CrimeGrade™ estimates Paterson has about 58 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 56% more than the US as a whole and about double 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.
Assault is the most common crime in Paterson, about 38% of everything reported, and it also accounts for 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.
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 Paterson
Paterson has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Paterson, 64% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (64%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Car theft
Streets and sidewalks (59%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Theft from cars
Streets and sidewalks (68%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Vandalism
Homes (45%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Robbery
Streets and sidewalks (53%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (51%)
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 Paterson compares with nearby cities
Paterson has the most crime of its 10 nearest cities.
Two things set Paterson apart: it has 96% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally, and 0.2 parking-lot spaces per resident, against 2.0 nationally. Places where many residents live in dense blocks tend to report more robbery and car theft, and they run high here.
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery and car theft.96% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 97% of US city residents
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. 56% of residents here live in walkable areas.B+ (69 of 100)US: 21Higher 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
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 Paterson: C- (31 of 100).14 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 89% of US city residents
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.27 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 76% 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 Paterson
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Paterson about $2,696 a year per household, more than double the US figure of $1,205. The total is about $135 million a year.
Cost of crime per resident, per year
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, which comes almost entirely from violent crime, the full cost rises to about $485 million a year, or $3,068 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$30 million
$191
Rape
$3.5 million
$22
Robbery
$12 million
$77
Assault
$48 million
$306
Burglary
$5.1 million
$32
Theft
$12 million
$76
Vehicle theft
$12 million
$79
Arson
$330,000
$2
Vandalism
$11 million
$66
Total
$135 million
$852
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 Paterson 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 Paterson, NJ average a SchoolGrade of D-: 25% of students test proficient, against 20% projected for schools like them. Overall, they don't meet expectations. See schools in Paterson on SchoolGrade
