The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Rutherford, NJ
Rutherford is a borough of 18,900 in Bergen County, about 8 miles northwest of Midtown Manhattan · Updated November 2026
Is Rutherford, NJ safe?
Yes. Most US neighborhoods have little crime, and Rutherford has less than most of them: its overall CrimeGrade™ is A, safer than the neighborhoods where 71% of Americans live. Violent crime grades better than property crime here, A+ against A-. Its neighborhoods are much alike, from A+ to A; see the map below.
A
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 912 of 1,000Safer than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
71% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Rutherford as a whole, and 29% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Rutherford scores 912.
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 Rutherford, NJ at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Rutherford, 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 Rutherford
Thefts from cars happen on streets and sidewalks far more often than nationally. In Rutherford, 93% of reported thefts from cars happen on streets and sidewalks, against 18% nationally.
Simple assaults are uncommon. Rutherford has simple assaults at a small fraction of the US rate: 2.4 a year per 1,000 residents, against 9.7 nationally.
The safest and least safe parts of Rutherford
Every part of Rutherford where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across Rutherford run from A+ to A; every part of Rutherford has 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 Rutherford, the southeast side has the least crime and the east side the most.
Is crime going up in Rutherford?
Reported property crime in Rutherford has fallen 18% 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 9.9 to 8.1 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 18). In 2024 alone, property crime fell 34%.
Property crime, change since 2019
RutherfordUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Rutherford. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Property, Rutherford
Property, US
2016
+12%
+15%
2017
+13%
+12%
2018
-10%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
-5%
-8%
2021
-16%
-10%
2022
+18%
-6%
2023
+23%
-7%
2024
-18%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Rutherford
CrimeGrade™ estimates Rutherford has about 13 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 64% less than the US as a whole and 52% less 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 Rutherford is theft, about 46% 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.
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 Rutherford
Rutherford has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Rutherford, 73% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (73%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Car theft
Streets and sidewalks (64%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Theft from cars
Streets and sidewalks (93%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Vandalism
Streets and sidewalks (43%)
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 Rutherford compares with nearby cities
Rutherford has more crime than 6 of its 10 nearest cities. Carlstadt and East Rutherford have the least crime nearby.
Parking lots, night lighting and walkability in Rutherford
Two things set Rutherford apart: it has 0.4 parking-lot spaces per resident, against 2.0 nationally, and a Walk Grade of C+ (46 of 100) on BestNeighborhood, against 21 for the US as a whole. Places with little parking-lot space tend to report less theft, and it runs low here.
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.0.4 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Lower 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
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+ (46 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 90% 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.62% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 88% 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 Rutherford: C- (32 of 100).12 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 87% 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.3.3% of homesUS: 7.1%Lower than for 82% 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 Rutherford
Crime costs Rutherford about $325 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 73% 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 $5.1 million a year, or $268 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$200,000
$11
Rape
$80,000
$4
Robbery
$100,000
$5
Assault
$560,000
$30
Burglary
$160,000
$8
Theft
$600,000
$32
Vehicle theft
$270,000
$14
Arson
$25,000
$1
Vandalism
$290,000
$15
Total
$2.3 million
$122
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 Rutherford 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 Rutherford, NJ average a SchoolGrade of B: 44% of students test proficient, against 32% projected for schools like them. Overall, they exceed expectations. See schools in Rutherford on SchoolGrade
