Trenton is the capital of New Jersey, a city of 223,300 in Mercer County · Updated November 2026
How common is violent crime in Trenton?
Violent crime is high in Trenton: a C+, with more violent crime than the neighborhoods where 84% of Americans live. Assaults make up 87% of it, and most of those are simple assaults, which involve no weapon and no serious injury.
C+
Violent crime CrimeGrade™
Safety score 532 of 1,000More violent crime than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
16% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more violent crime than Trenton as a whole, and 84% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a violent crime safety score of 860, a CrimeGrade™ of A. Trenton scores 532.
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 Trenton, NJ at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Trenton, 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 Trenton
Robberies run high in Chambersburg, Franklin Park & South Trenton. In this part of south Trenton, they run at more than triple the rate in the rest of Trenton.
Murder runs high. Trenton has about 22 murders a year, a rate about double the national one.
Where violent crime is lowest and highest in Trenton
Violent crime changes a lot from one part of Trenton to the next: 57% of residents live in areas graded A or B, while 38% live in areas graded D or F. Violent crime grades across Trenton run from A+ to F.
57%38%
A or B 57%C 5%D or F 38%
Share of residents, by the violent crime CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
1Hiltonia, northwestRobberies run at a small fraction of the rate in the rest of Trenton.A-821
Neighborhood areas of Trenton, 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.
Violent crime rates and types in Trenton
CrimeGrade™ estimates Trenton has about 17 reported violent crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 25% more than the US as a whole and 83% 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 Trenton, about 87% of the total. Murder and rape are far rarer, but they account for 48% 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.
Violent crime in Trenton and nearby cities
Trenton has the most violent crime of its 9 nearest cities.
Among the traits that tend to go with violent crime, two set Trenton apart: it has a Walk Grade of C+ (40 of 100) on BestNeighborhood, against 21 for the US as a whole, and 52% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally. It also combines many jobs with busy transit: places with both tend to report more robbery than places with only one of them, and it runs high here.
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.C+ (40 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 88% of US city residents
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery.52% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 84% of US city residents
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more robbery.66 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 83% of US city residents
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 Trenton: D+ (23 of 100).7 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 77% of US city residents
BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of Trenton 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 Trenton
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, violent crime costs Trenton about $474 million a year, or $2,123 per resident. The costs that reach a bill, such as medical care, lost work and the justice system, come to about $97 million, or $435 per resident.
Billed cost of violent crime per resident, per year
How the cost breaks down
Pain and suffering are about 79% of that full cost.
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$41 million
$186
Rape
$5.2 million
$23
Robbery
$12 million
$53
Assault
$39 million
$173
Total
$97 million
$435
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
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.
