Crime in Watchung, New Jersey
Major crime in Watchung is 3.8 times the U.S. rate per resident: 47% lower for persons crimes and 4.5 times for property crimes. Expected major crimes are up 10.0% from a year earlier.
Modeled estimates per resident, not counts of incidents. How we calculated this
Index: crimes per resident compared with the U.S., where 100 is the U.S. rate and 200 is twice it.
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Shoplifting stands out most, at 13.2 times the U.S. rate
Expected crimes per year in Watchung for each type, and the index against the U.S. rate per resident.
Citywide indexWhere the middle half of residents live
Property crimes
Social disorder
Neighborhoods in Watchung
Watchung is made up of 3 census block groups. The typical resident lives where the major-crime index is 77; the middle half of residents live where it is between 77 and 795.
- 0–5023.7%
- 50–10033.3%
- 100–2000.0%
- 200–4000.0%
- 400+43.0%
Share of residents by the index of their census block group, a neighborhood of roughly 600 to 3,000 people.
Highest on weekday daytimes
Major-crime index by time of week, against the U.S. rate for the same hours.
Major crime rose 10.0% in a year; across New Jersey it fell 10.2%
Change in expected crimes, with New Jersey as a whole in gray. The past year uses the reporting agencies' year-to-date FBI data; 2031 is the model's projection.
Watchung against U.S. places with 5,000 to 10,000 residents
13 of the 2,163 other places of this size have a higher major-crime index than Watchung; the middle of the group is 63. The 9 nearest in population:
Major-crime index per resident, U.S. = 100; residents in gray.
Watchung has a higher major-crime index than all of its 8 nearest neighbors
The 8 nearest cities and towns we cover, by major-crime index. The closest, North Plainfield (1 mi), is 61% below Watchung's rate.
Major-crime index per resident, U.S. = 100; distances between where residents live, in miles.
Questions about crime in Watchung
What are the most common crimes in Watchung?
By expected count, the most common persons and property crimes are shoplifting (about 278 a year), other larceny (about 101 a year) and motor vehicle theft (about 18 a year). Compared with the U.S., shoplifting stands out most: 13.2 times the U.S. rate per resident.
How we calculated this
Each police agency's crimes, as reported to the FBI, are spread across the census block groups it serves using population, jobs, points of interest and, where available, local incident records. Watchung's figures add up its 3 block groups. The index compares crimes per resident with the U.S. rate.
- Watchung has no published incident records in our data, so its estimate relies on agency totals and neighborhood characteristics.
- 0.0% of residents live in block groups whose estimate has high confidence (80% interval within about 5x).
- Rates are per resident, so places where many people work or visit but few live, such as downtowns, airports and stadiums, can read high.
- Disorderly conduct and trespassing are modeled, because the FBI records them only through arrests.
- Residents: 6,613. Model updated Oct 20, 2026. Release 2026-2026-10-20-2
Full method and validation·Data sources
CrimeMetric. "Crime in Watchung, New Jersey." Vorp Labs, model updated Oct 20, 2026. https://crimemetric.com/nj/watchung
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Major-crime index, U.S. = 100
- North Plainfield1 mi148
- Plainfield2 mi81
- Dunellen4 mi42
- South Plainfield5 mi123
- Middlesex6 mi31
- Garwood6 mi50
- Summit6 mi31
- Colonia7 mi45