New Jersey Ranks As Safest US State In Consumer Group's Survey

NEW JERSEY — In New Jersey, we're used to hearing that we're ranked No. 1 for less-than-positive attributes. But a new survey has ranked the Garden State as the safest in the nation.

The Consumer Affairs Research Team looked at data including recently released data from the FBI and the U.S. Census Bureau to score each state based on violent and property crime rates, the number of law enforcement officers per capita and law enforcement budgets, the organization said.

That data put New Jersey at the top of the list, largely on the strength of the number of law enforcement officers in the state, it said.

New Jersey had 38,628 total law enforcement officers, or approximately one for every 230 people, as of 2020, the group said, more than 100 percent greater than the national average of law enforcement officers. It is fifth-best in violent crime and fifth in property crime, but 47th in budget per law enforcement employee.

Within New Jersey, two Ocean County municipalities ranked at the top, with Toms River receiving the nod as the safest large city, and Mantoloking named the safest small city. Matawan was listed as the safest midsize town.

For the rankings, the group ranked the 50 states for safety based on the amount of violent crime (murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault), property crime (burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, arson), estimated budget per law enforcement employee and number of law enforcement officers per capita.

The top 10 states included eight from the Northeast, the group said, and there were none from the West.

1. New Jersey
2. New Hampshire
3. Rhode Island
4. Maine
5. Vermont
6. Connecticut
7. Ohio
8. New York
9. Virginia
10. Massachusetts

Maine had the best score of all 50 states for violent crime per capita and Massachusetts had the best score for property crime per capita, the organization said.