The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Rotterdam, NY
Rotterdam is a town of 21,200 in Schenectady County, about 14 miles northwest of downtown Albany · Updated November 2026
Is Rotterdam, NY safe?
Yes. An overall CrimeGrade™ of A means crime in Rotterdam is low. Most US neighborhoods have little crime too, so Rotterdam sits near the middle: 52% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime, and 48% in neighborhoods with less. Violent crime grades A and property crime A-. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Rotterdam run from A+ to B+, so check the map below.
A
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 849 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
52% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Rotterdam as a whole, and 48% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Rotterdam scores 849.
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 Rotterdam, NY at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Rotterdam, 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 Rotterdam
Vehicle theft is a strength. Rotterdam grades A- for property crime, but vehicle theft grades A+, better than in the neighborhoods where 71% of Americans live.
Thefts run high for an A-graded city. Rotterdam has 16.6 thefts a year per 1,000 residents; for the typical resident of an A-graded US city, the figure is 8.3.
The safest and least safe parts of Rotterdam
Every part of Rotterdam where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across Rotterdam run from A+ to B+; 65% 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 Rotterdam, the south side has the least crime and the north side the most.
Is crime going up in Rotterdam?
Reported property crime in Rotterdam has fallen 35% since 2019. Too few violent crimes are reported here each year for a reliable violent crime trend. Burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts went from about 25 to 16 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 18). In 2024 alone, property crime fell 22%.
Property crime, change since 2019
RotterdamUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Rotterdam. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Property, Rotterdam
Property, US
2016
+20%
+15%
2017
+11%
+12%
2018
+22%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
-7%
-8%
2021
-8%
-10%
2022
-11%
-6%
2023
-18%
-7%
2024
-35%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Rotterdam
CrimeGrade™ estimates Rotterdam has about 36 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, about the same as the US as a whole and close to New York.
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 is the most common crime in Rotterdam, about 46% of everything reported, but assault 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 Rotterdam
Rotterdam has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Rotterdam, 26% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often at other places: 68% of them, against 7% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Other places (44%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Car theft
Other places (42%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Theft from cars
Other places (68%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Other places (43%)
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 Rotterdam compares with nearby cities
Rotterdam has less crime than 3 of its 6 nearest cities.
One thing sets Rotterdam apart: it has 2% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally. Places like that tend to report less robbery and car theft, and car theft runs low here.
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery and car theft.2% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 83% 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. 73% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D+ (25 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 73% 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 Rotterdam: D+ (20 of 100).4 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 67% 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.99% where people liveUS: 78%Higher than for 66% of US city residents
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.34 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 65% 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.4.9% of homesUS: 7.1%Lower than for 61% 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 Rotterdam
Crime costs Rotterdam about $605 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 50% 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 $9.5 million a year, or $449 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$290,000
$14
Rape
$130,000
$6
Robbery
$170,000
$8
Assault
$2.2 million
$102
Burglary
$190,000
$9
Theft
$1.8 million
$85
Vehicle theft
$160,000
$8
Arson
$7,700
under $1
Vandalism
$730,000
$34
Total
$5.6 million
$267
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 Rotterdam 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 Rotterdam, NY average a SchoolGrade of C+: 58% of students test proficient, against 70% projected for schools like them. Overall, they underperform expectations. See schools in Rotterdam on SchoolGrade
