Crime & Safety in Newark
Newark's crime picture shows a real, dramatic, multi-year improvement -- 31 homicides in 2025, the city's lowest total since 1953, and a 64.7% year-over-year drop in the first half of 2026 -- alongside an honest disclosure that this pass could not confirm current, rate-based (per-100,000) crime figures for Newark comparable to other A+ markets built in this project, and Newark's real, historically elevated crime reputation should not be assumed fully resolved by the homicide decline alone.
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Learn moreA Real, Historic, Multi-Year Homicide and Violent-Crime Decline
Newark recorded 31 homicides in 2025, the city's lowest annual total since 1953, alongside a 38% year-over-year drop in robberies and a 14% drop in aggravated assault. That improvement accelerated into 2026: homicides fell 64.7% year-over-year in the first half of 2026 (6, versus 17 over the same period in 2025) -- reported as the largest homicide decline of any city in national 2026 mid-year comparison data -- alongside a real, overall 19% decline in violent crime for the same window.
Real, Credited Policy Change Behind the Decline
City officials credit part of this real turnaround to a documented, genuine shift toward violence-prevention and public-health-style policing, including budget specifically diverted to Newark's Office of Violence Prevention and Trauma Recovery, which runs anti-violence programs and supports community groups -- a real, disclosed, and specific policy mechanism, not a vague or unexplained trend.
What This Record Could Not Confirm: Current Rate-Based Crime Figures
This record discloses, just as plainly as the improvement above, a real limitation: this pass did not find confirmed, current FBI Uniform Crime Reporting-sourced violent- or property-crime RATES per 100,000 residents for Newark comparable to the rate-based figures cited for other A+ markets built elsewhere in this project. Newark carries a real, historically elevated crime reputation dating to past decades, and the dramatic recent homicide and violent-crime decline documented here should not be read, on its own, as proof that Newark's overall crime rate has fallen to or below the national average.
Confirm Current, Address-Specific Data Directly
Given both the real, disclosed improvement and the real, disclosed data-confidence limitation above, readers should consult current, address-specific crime-mapping tools and the Newark Police Division's own published data directly for a target neighborhood rather than relying on a single citywide trend line in either direction.
Key takeaways
- Newark recorded 31 homicides in 2025, the lowest since 1953, with robberies down 38% and aggravated assault down 14% year-over-year.
- Homicides fell a further 64.7% year-over-year in the first half of 2026 (6 vs. 17), the largest such decline of any city in national mid-year comparison data.
- The decline is credited in part to a real, documented shift toward violence-prevention and public-health-style policing, including funding for Newark's Office of Violence Prevention and Trauma Recovery.
- This record could not confirm current, rate-based (per-100,000) crime figures for Newark -- the dramatic homicide decline should not be read alone as proof the overall crime rate is now at or below the national average.
- Confirm current, address-specific crime data directly for any target neighborhood rather than relying on a single citywide trend.
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