Far Rockaway, Queens, NY Violent Crime Rates and Maps
Far Rockaway is a neighborhood of 77,600 residents in Queens, about 9 miles southeast of downtown · Updated November 2026
How common is violent crime in Far Rockaway?
Far Rockaway grades D+ for violent crime, with more of it than the neighborhoods where 91% of Americans live. Assaults make up 95% of it, and most of those are simple assaults, which involve no weapon and no serious injury. Queens as a whole grades B for violent crime.
D+
Violent crime CrimeGrade™
Safety score 257 of 1,000More violent crime than nearly all US neighborhoodsi What this means
9% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more violent crime than Far Rockaway as a whole, and 91% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a violent crime safety score of 860, a CrimeGrade™ of A. Far Rockaway scores 257.
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 violent crime than most US neighborhoods.
How to read the map: each area's color compares its violent crime with the people who spend time there, on one national scale, from green for the least to red for the most. Each area gets its own color, so a busy downtown or nightlife strip can show red while the homes around it stay green. The interactive maps load faster on a solid connection. Compare high speed internet in Far Rockaway, Queens, NY at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Far Rockaway in Queens, 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 about violent crime in Far Rockaway
Robberies run high. Far Rockaway has robberies at more than double the US rate: 1.5 a year per 1,000 residents, against 0.62 nationally.
How Far Rockaway compares within Queens
Violent crime varies widely across Far Rockaway: 31% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 53% in areas graded D or F. Violent crime grades across Far Rockaway run from A+ to F.
31%16%53%
A or B 31%C 16%D or F 53%
Share of residents, by the violent crime CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Far Rockaway has less violent crime than 2 of the 47 neighborhoods in Queens. It covers much of the Far Rockaway, St Albans, and Laurelton areas.
Is violent crime going up in Queens?
Reported violent crime in Queens as a whole has risen 15% since 2019. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 5.7 to 6.6 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7). Violent crime changed little from 2023 to 2024.
Violent crime, change since 2019
QueensUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police departments that serve Queens. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Queens
Violent, US
2016
+1%
+4%
2017
-4%
+4%
2018
-4%
+0%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
-4%
+4%
2021
+10%
+6%
2022
+28%
+5%
2023
+15%
+2%
2024
+15%
-4%
Violent crime rates and types in Far Rockaway
CrimeGrade™ estimates Far Rockaway has about 35 reported violent crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, more than double the rate for the US as a whole and 62% more than Queens as a whole.
All violent crime
Assaults
Robbery
Reported crimes a year, per 1,000 residents. Violent crime here includes simple assaults, which the FBI's violent crime rate leaves out.
Assault is the most common violent crime in Far Rockaway, about 95% of the total.
Each CrimeGrade™ here compares a violent crime with the people who spend time in an area, not only the people who live there. 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 violent crime happens in Queens
The New York City Police Department polices Far Rockaway; these figures cover New York as a whole, 2022 to 2024.
In New York as a whole, 50% of aggravated assaults happen at a home, against 53% nationally. Robberies happen most often on streets and sidewalks: 45% of them.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Robbery
Streets and sidewalks (45%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (50%)
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.
Violent crime in Far Rockaway and nearby neighborhoods
Far Rockaway has more violent crime than 8 of its 10 nearest neighborhoods. Howard Beach and Springfield Gardens have the least violent crime nearby.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from Far Rockaway. Beside each violent crime CrimeGrade™ is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer).
Compared with neighborhoods of similar size and density, Far Rockaway has more violent crime than 81% of them.
Nightlife, density and walkability in Far Rockaway
Among the traits that tend to go with violent crime, two set Far Rockaway apart: it has 0.1 bars and nightlife spots for every 1,000 residents, against 0.6 nationally, and 96% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally. Places with few bars tend to report less assault and robbery, yet assault and robbery run higher here than that would suggest.
Bars and nightlifeBars, lounges, clubs and casinos. Places with more bars tend to report more assault and robbery.0.1 per 1,000 residentsUS: 0.6Lower than for 85% of residents of US city neighborhoods
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery.96% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 83% of residents of US city neighborhoods
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 assault.B+ (66 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 75% of residents of US city neighborhoods
Show all 4
Transit serviceBuses and trains an hour at the evening rush. Places with busy transit tend to report more robbery. BestNeighborhood's Transit Grade for Far Rockaway: C+ (40 of 100).36 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 81% of residents of US city neighborhoods
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 violent crime costs Far Rockaway
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, violent crime costs Far Rockaway about $158 million a year, or $2,039 per resident. The costs that reach a bill, such as medical care, lost work and the justice system, come to about $42 million, or $536 per resident.
Billed cost of violent crime per resident, per year
How CrimeGrade™ works
The violent crime CrimeGrade™ covers murder, rape, robbery and assault, from A+ for the least crime to F for the most, on one scale for the whole country.
It weighs each violent crime against the people who spend time in an area, so a busy downtown is graded on its workers and visitors as well as its residents.
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
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.
