Newark is the largest city in New Jersey, with 309,000 residents in Essex County, about 11 miles west of Midtown Manhattan · Updated November 2026
How common is violent crime in Newark?
Newark grades C for violent crime, with more of it than the neighborhoods where 89% of Americans live. Assaults make up 88% of it, and most of those are simple assaults, which involve no weapon and no serious injury.
C
Violent crime CrimeGrade™
Safety score 388 of 1,000More violent crime than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
11% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more violent crime than Newark as a whole, and 89% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a violent crime safety score of 860, a CrimeGrade™ of A. Newark scores 388.
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 Newark, NJ at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Newark, 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 Newark
One part of Newark stands out for robbery. Robberies in West Side & Lower Vailsburg, in west Newark, run at about triple the rate in the rest of the city.
Murder runs high. Newark has about 39 murders a year, a rate more than double the national one.
Where violent crime is lowest and highest in Newark
Violent crime varies widely across Newark: 42% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 43% in areas graded D or F. Violent crime grades across Newark run from A to F.
42%15%43%
A or B 42%C 15%D or F 43%
Share of residents, by the violent crime CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
1North Ironbound, eastAggravated assaults run at about half the rate in the rest of Newark.B+701
8West Side & Lower Vailsburg, westSimple assaults run about 70% higher here than in the rest of Newark.F0
Neighborhood areas of Newark, ranked by violent crime 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 violent crime going up in Newark?
Reported violent crime in Newark peaked in 2021 and has fallen 10% since, back near its 2019 level. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 6.2 to 5.7 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7). In 2024 alone, violent crime rose 18%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
NewarkUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Newark. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Newark
Violent, US
2016
+53%
+4%
2017
+47%
+4%
2018
+19%
+0%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
-21%
+4%
2021
+3%
+6%
2022
-16%
+5%
2023
-22%
+2%
2024
-8%
-4%
Violent crime rates and types in Newark
CrimeGrade™ estimates Newark has about 17 reported violent crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 24% more than the US as a whole and 82% more than New Jersey.
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 Newark, about 88% of the total. Murder and rape are far rarer, but they account for 52% of the cost of violent crime here.
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 Newark
Newark has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Newark, 47% of aggravated assaults happen at a home, against 53% nationally. Robberies happen most often on streets and sidewalks: 75% of them.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Robbery
Streets and sidewalks (75%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (47%)
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 Newark and nearby cities
Of the 9 cities closest to Newark, 8 have less violent crime. South Orange and Bloomfield have the least.
Among the traits that tend to go with violent crime, two set Newark apart: it has 96% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally, and 39 buses and trains an hour at the evening rush, where most Americans have none nearby. Places like that tend to report more robbery, and it runs high here.
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 97% of US city residents
Transit serviceBuses and trains an hour at the evening rush. Places with busy transit tend to report more robbery. BestNeighborhood's Transit Grade for Newark: C (38 of 100).39 trips an hourUS: noneHigher 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 assault. 67% of residents here live in walkable areas.A- (73 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 96% of US city residents
Show all 4
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more robbery.51 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 63% of US city residents
BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of Newark 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 violent crime costs Newark
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, violent crime costs Newark about $786 million a year, or $2,543 per resident. The costs that reach a bill, such as medical care, lost work and the justice system, come to about $151 million, or $490 per resident.
Billed cost of violent crime per resident, per year
How the cost breaks down
Pain and suffering are about 81% of that full cost.
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$72 million
$233
Rape
$7.5 million
$24
Robbery
$14 million
$44
Assault
$58 million
$188
Total
$151 million
$490
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.
