Safest Counties in New Jersey: 20 Ranked (2026)
The 20 New Jersey counties where police report enough to the FBI to build a reliable rate, ranked by violent crime, with home prices, asking rents and incomes where available.
New Jersey has 21 counties. Twenty of them clear the reporting bar this page uses, and the gap between the quietest, Morris at 33 violent offenses per 100,000, and the busiest, Cumberland at 407, is 12 to one. Beside each rate sits what homes there closed at over the last 12 months, from 112,752 closing records Resideline tracked across all 20 counties.
The crime rates here are built from the 8,708,548 residents those police agencies actually report on, over the months they reported. Each figure is a single county-wide figure, so treat this as a way to narrow a search rather than a verdict on any street.
We do not treat missing or conflicting crime data as zero. A county appears here only when its reporting clears our reliability threshold, and we set aside results that conflict materially with the state's own records. Whether a county is ranked depends on its crime reporting alone; whether it shows a price depends on whether Resideline tracked enough closings there.
The ranking
| # | County | Violent per 100k | Property per 100k | Median closed price | Median asking rent | Median income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Morris | 33 | 500 | $670,000 | $3,250 | $137,213 |
| 2 | Hunterdon | 51 | 331 | $577,000 | $2,500 | $136,956 |
| 3 | Sussex | 55 | 304 | $420,000 | $2,200 | $114,993 |
| 4 | Somerset | 61 | 570 | $585,000 | $2,800 | $134,499 |
| 5 | Warren | 69 | 756 | $404,900 | $1,900 | $94,865 |
| 6 | Bergen | 72 | 834 | $750,000 | $3,150 | $121,894 |
| 7 | Ocean | 116 | 662 | $470,000 | $3,100 | $94,954 |
| 8 | Gloucester | 132 | 1,390 | $350,000 | $2,325 | $104,403 |
| 9 | Middlesex | 152 | 984 | $527,413 | $2,800 | $113,828 |
| 10 | Cape May | 167 | 1,432 | $700,000 | $2,350 | $91,758 |
| 11 | Union | 173 | 1,398 | $630,000 | $2,450 | $101,023 |
| 12 | Burlington | 179 | 1,157 | $389,800 | $2,490 | $106,525 |
| 13 | Salem | 190 | 1,005 | $260,000 | $1,600 | $81,009 |
| 14 | Mercer | 274 | 1,660 | $444,520 | $2,550 | $102,760 |
| 15 | Camden | 289 | 2,423 | $350,000 | $2,295 | $91,411 |
| 16 | Essex | 310 | 1,545 | $665,111 | $2,150 | $84,900 |
| 17 | Hudson | 324 | 1,576 | $679,300 | $2,554 | $93,468 |
| 18 | Atlantic | 362 | 2,348 | $355,000 | $2,300 | $74,693 |
| 19 | Passaic | 401 | 1,678 | $590,000 | $2,300 | $85,224 |
| 20 | Cumberland | 407 | 2,276 | $256,000 | $1,800 | $66,986 |
A closer look at the 12 safest counties
1. Morris County
At 33 violent offenses per 100,000, Morris sits in the lowest quarter of the places on this list. That is below the median comparable US county, which records 245. Buyers there paid a median of $670,000, some 134 percent of the level across the counties measured. Low crime and high prices arrive together here, which is the arrangement buyers assume is universal and is not. Households there earn a median of $137,213, about 140 percent of the median for these counties. Its property rate is also among the lowest here, 500 per 100,000, or 0.4 times the median comparable US county. For prices at street level, see Morristown, the market with the most tracked closings in this county's ZIP codes.
2. Hunterdon County
Hunterdon's violent crime rate is 51 per 100,000 residents, the lowest quarter among the New Jersey counties Resideline can measure. That is below the median comparable US county, which records 245. Homes changed hands at a median $577,000, around 116 percent of what the rest of this list recorded. Households there earn a median of $136,956, about 140 percent of the median for these counties. Property crime is low too, at 331 per 100,000, the bottom quarter of this list and 0.3 times the median comparable US county. The median rental listing asks $2,500 a month.
3. Sussex County
Sussex records 55 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, which places it in the lowest quarter of the New Jersey counties measured here. That is below the median comparable US county, which records 245. The median home closed at $420,000, roughly 84 percent of the middle figure for these counties. Against local incomes it is among the most affordable counties measured, at 3.7 times median household income. Its property rate is also among the lowest here, 304 per 100,000, or 0.3 times the median comparable US county. The median rental listing asks $2,200 a month.
4. Somerset County
At 61 violent offenses per 100,000, Somerset sits in the lowest quarter of the places on this list. That is below the median comparable US county, which records 245. Homes there closed at a median of $585,000, about 117 percent of the median across this list. Median household income is $134,499, roughly 137 percent of the level across this list. Property crime is low too, at 570 per 100,000, the bottom quarter of this list and 0.5 times the median comparable US county. The median rental listing asks $2,800 a month. Resideline publishes a separate page for Somerset, the market with the most tracked closings in this county's ZIP codes.
5. Warren County
Warren's violent crime rate is 69 per 100,000 residents, the lowest quarter among the New Jersey counties Resideline can measure. The median comparable US county records 245, so it is quieter than most of the country too. The median home closed at $404,900, roughly 81 percent of the middle figure for these counties. Its property rate, 756 per 100,000, sits in the middle of these counties. The median rental listing asks $1,900 a month.
6. Bergen County
Police in Bergen reported 72 violent offenses per 100,000 people, putting it in the middle range of this list. That is below the median comparable US county, which records 245. Homes there closed at a median of $750,000, about 150 percent of the median across this list. Households there earn a median of $121,894, about 124 percent of the median for these counties. Its property rate, 834 per 100,000, sits in the middle of these counties. Asking rents run about $3,150 a month.
7. Ocean County
Ocean records 116 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, which places it in the middle range of the New Jersey counties measured here. The median comparable US county records 245, so it is quieter than most of the country too. The median closed price, $470,000, sits near the center of the counties measured. Asking rents of $3,100 a month against that price put it in the top quarter of this list for gross return. Its property rate is among the lowest here, 662 per 100,000, or 0.6 times the median comparable US county. For prices at street level, see Toms River, the market with the most tracked closings in this county's ZIP codes.
8. Gloucester County
Police in Gloucester reported 132 violent offenses per 100,000 people, putting it in the middle range of this list. The median comparable US county records 245, so it is quieter than most of the country too. Buyers there paid a median of $350,000, some 70 percent of the level across the counties measured. Local incomes go further here than almost anywhere else on this list, with homes at 3.4 times median household income. At $2,325 a month in asking rent, the gross return here is in the top quarter of the counties measured. Property offenses run at 1,390 per 100,000, in the middle of this list. Resideline publishes a separate page for Williamstown, the market with the most tracked closings in this county's ZIP codes.
9. Middlesex County
At 152 violent offenses per 100,000, Middlesex sits in the middle range of the places on this list. That is below the median comparable US county, which records 245. Homes there closed at a median of $527,413, close to the middle of this list. Median household income is $113,828, roughly 116 percent of the level across this list. Its property rate, 984 per 100,000, sits in the middle of these counties. The median rental listing asks $2,800 a month. For prices at street level, see Monroe Township, the market with the most tracked closings in this county's ZIP codes.
10. Cape May County
Cape May's violent crime rate is 167 per 100,000 residents, the middle range among the New Jersey counties Resideline can measure. That is below the median comparable US county, which records 245. Buyers there paid a median of $700,000, some 140 percent of the level across the counties measured. Buying there takes 7.6 times the median household income, a heavier lift than most of this list. Its property rate, 1,432 per 100,000, sits in the middle of these counties. The median rental listing asks $2,350 a month. Resideline publishes a separate page for Ocean City, the market with the most tracked closings in this county's ZIP codes.
11. Union County
Police in Union reported 173 violent offenses per 100,000 people, putting it in the middle range of this list. The median comparable US county records 245, so it is quieter than most of the country too. A median closing price of $630,000 puts it at roughly 126 percent of the middle figure for this list. Buying there takes 6.2 times the median household income, a heavier lift than most of this list. Property offenses run at 1,398 per 100,000, in the middle of this list. The median rental listing asks $2,450 a month. For prices at street level, see Union, the market with the most tracked closings in this county's ZIP codes.
12. Burlington County
At 179 violent offenses per 100,000, Burlington sits in the middle range of the places on this list. That is below the median comparable US county, which records 245. Homes changed hands at a median $389,800, around 78 percent of what the rest of this list recorded. Against local incomes it is among the most affordable counties measured, at 3.7 times median household income. Property offenses run at 1,157 per 100,000, in the middle of this list. The median rental listing asks $2,490 a month. Resideline publishes a separate page for Mount Laurel, the market with the most tracked closings in this county's ZIP codes.
Does safety set the price in New Jersey?
Somewhat, and less than you would expect. The safest third of these counties runs 23 percent above the highest-crime third on price. The same safe places also earn 51 percent more, so income explains part of the raw gap. This state-level comparison does not isolate density, housing mix or other factors that may explain the remainder.
That matches what we found nationally: across 688 counties, once income and other county characteristics are controlled for, a crime rate stops predicting home prices. The full analysis is in our study of crime and home prices.
That is a county-level result. Within a county, research at the scale of a block or a neighborhood finds that violent crime does lower the value of the homes nearest to it, so use these figures to compare counties, not streets.
Where safety and affordability overlap in New Jersey
Four of the 6 safest counties on this list also cost no more than the list's median once prices are set against local incomes: Hunterdon (51 violent per 100,000, a home at 4.2 times median household income); Sussex (55 violent per 100,000, a home at 3.7 times median household income); Somerset (61 violent per 100,000, a home at 4.3 times median household income); Warren (69 violent per 100,000, a home at 4.3 times median household income). Against what households there earn, those are the counties where a low crime rate is not being charged for.
The large counties
Nine counties here have more than 500,000 residents. Their median violent rate is 173 per 100,000 against 167 for the smaller counties on the list, and the quietest of them is Morris at 33. It closes homes at a median of $670,000.
The counties we cannot rank
Larger New Jersey places are missing from the table above. Every one with more than 150,000 residents is listed here with the reason.
- •Monmouth, with about 648,000 residents, reports 89 percent of its population through the FBI program, below the 90 percent we require.
How to read this list
The right way to use this is to narrow the list, then check the address. Averages at this scale hide the variation that actually matters once you are choosing between two houses.
Prices and rents are as of September 9, 2026, from closings and rental listings Resideline tracks over the previous 12 months; a price is shown where at least 100 closings were tracked and a rent where at least 50 listings were. Rent figures are the median asking rent on listings, not lease figures. Crime is the 2025 FBI Crime Data Explorer release, measured for the whole county over the months each agency reported, and violent crime means murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault. Household income is the Census SAIPE 2024 estimate of the county's median household income; population is the Census 2024 estimate. Where this page compares a rate with the median comparable US county, that figure (245 violent and 1188 property offenses per 100,000) is the median across the 874 US counties with at least 50,000 residents whose agencies reported on 90 percent or more of them for the year.
Sources and related pages
- •Crime: FBI Crime Data Explorer, agency-level offense counts for 2025, aggregated by county over the months each agency reported.
- •Income: Census SAIPE 2024, county median household income.
- •Population: Census county population estimates, vintage 2024.
- •Prices and rents: Resideline's tracked closings and rental listings, 12 months to September 2026.
- •Related: Safest counties by state; Does crime actually lower home prices?; New Jersey housing market; Safest counties in Pennsylvania.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the safest county in New Jersey?
Of the 20 New Jersey counties measured here, Morris County records the lowest violent crime rate at 33 offenses per 100,000 residents, against 245 for the median comparable US county. Homes there closed at a median of $670,000 over the last 12 months.
Is this every county in New Jersey?
No. It covers 20 of the state's 21 counties, the ones where police agencies report at least 90 percent of the population to the FBI, the area has at least 50,000 residents, and the resulting rate falls inside the sanity bounds we apply. Whether Resideline has enough sales there decides only whether a price is shown. The larger places that miss those bars are listed on the page with the reason.
Does a lower crime rate mean higher home prices?
Less than most people assume. Comparing the safest third of these counties with the highest-crime third, the median closed price is 23 percent higher and household income 51 percent higher. Across 688 US counties we found that once income and other county characteristics are controlled for, a county's crime rate stops predicting its home prices. At the scale of a block, the research says violent crime does lower nearby values.
Is this crime rate for my neighborhood?
No. The FBI publishes these figures for whole counties, so every part of a county carries the same number here, from its densest district to its farmland. It is useful for narrowing a search and not a substitute for looking at a specific address.
Are these rents asking rents or lease rents?
They are the median asking rent on rental listings in the county over the last 12 months. That is what landlords advertised, a guide to the market rather than a lease figure.
About the author
Jeffrey Batista
Jeffrey Batista is the founder of Resideline, a real estate technology company building institutional grade valuation and investment analysis tools for real estate investors.
A software engineer with more than 10 years of experience, Jeffrey has worked across full stack development, infrastructure, data engineering, machine learning, and large scale systems. He left his engineering career to build Resideline full time.
Jeffrey is also a real estate investor with nearly a decade of hands on experience buying, renovating, managing, and analyzing residential properties. His experience on both sides of the industry, as an engineer and an investor, led him to build Resideline after seeing how fragmented and outdated many of the tools available to individual investors were.
Today, he leads the development of Resideline's proprietary data infrastructure, automated valuation models, rental analytics, and investment underwriting technology.