Is The Bronx Safe To Visit? (Crime Rates And Crime Stats)


The Bronx’s history is rich and deep. It is the birthplace of hip-hop. It is home to The Yankees and it is probably the most misunderstood borough in New York. The Bronx has been burdened with the reputation of being gritty, tough and crime-ridden. But how outdated is that reputation? Is the Bronx still burning?

Lets deep dive into the statistics and talk to the residents of the city to give you a better understanding of how safe the city really is.

(Related: Check out our full write up about the safety of New York City)

Is The Bronx Safe?

Looking only at the crime statistics, the Bronx is a moderately safe place to visit as long as you avoid the south and lower central areas.

In 2020, the Bronx had a violent crime rate of 663.15 incidents per 100,000 residents. Out of the 100 most populous cities in the United States, the Bronx’s violent crime rate is the 46th highest in the nation. Long Beach, Reno, Pittsburgh, Seattle and Las Vegas all have similar violent crime rates as the Bronx.

is the bronx safe

The Bronx’s Crime Rate Map

The Bronx is patrolled by the 40th – 52nd Precincts of the New York City Police Department.

Here’s a map showing you the crime rate for the different precincts of the Bronx.

bronx crime rate map

Precinct Area Population Crime Rate Per 1000 residents
40th Precinct Port Morris, Mott Haven, and Melrose 91,497 26.1648
41st Precinct Hunts Point and Longwood 52,246 20.1355
42nd Precinct Claremont, Crotona Park East, and Crotona Park 79,762 21.5767
43rdPrecinct Westchester Avenue, Castle Hill Avenue, White Plains Road, and Parkchester. 172,131

13.1992
44th Precinct Grand Concourse, Bronx Terminal Market, and Yankee Stadium. 146,441

15.8289
45th Precinct Co-op City and City Island 120,825 8.7068
46th Precinct Fordham, University Heights, Morris Heights and Mount Hope 128,200 16.0998
47th Precinct Woodlawn, Wakefield, Williamsbridge, Baychester, Edenwald, Olinville, Fishbay, and Woodlawn Cemetary 152,373 13.2176
48th Precinct Belmont, East Tremont, and West Farms 83,266 19.3837
49th Precinct Allerton, Morris Park, Van Nest, Pelham Parkway, Eastchester Gardens, and Pelham Gardens. 114,712 10.5656
50th Precinct Riverdale, Fieldston, Kingsbridge, Marble Hill, and Spuyten Duyvil 101,720 10.0669
52nd Precinct Bedford Park, Fordham, Kingsbridge, Norwood, Bronx Park, and University Heights 139,307 13.6677

Looking at the table above, the 40th, 41st, 42nd and 48th precincts all have the highest rates of crime.

The Most Dangerous Neighborhoods In The Bronx:

  • Port Morris
  • Mott Haven
  • Melrose
  • Hunts Point
  • Longwood
  • Claremont
  • Crotona Park East
  • Crotona Park
  • Belmont
  • East Tremont
  • West Farms

The Safest Neighborhoods In The Bronx:

  • Riverdale
  • Fieldston
  • Kingsbridge
  • Marble Hill
  • Spuyten Duyvil
  • Co-op City
  • City Island
  • Allerton
  • Morris Park
  • Van Nest
  • Pelham Parkway
  • Eastchester Gardens
  • Pelham Gardens

The Bronx’s Population

The population for the The Bronx in 2020 is 1,472,654 residents.

The Bronx Crime Stats

Here’s a breakdown of all the crimes in The Bronx for 2020 compared with 1990 and 2001:

Looking at the chart, you can see that crime in the Bronx has significantly decreased over the years.

1990

2001

2020

Murder

653

190

111

Rape

644

502

327

Robbery

17,862

5,178

3,501

Fel. Assault

9,538

5,335

5,827

Burglary

19,326

5,813

2,679

Grand Larceny

8,856

4,373

6,096

Auto Thefts

22,946

5,522

2,096

TOTAL

79,825

26,913

20,637

*All data is from the NYPD CompStat

In 2020 the Bronx reported 9,766 violent crimes and had a violent crime rate of 663.15 per 100,000 people.

The national average for violent crime is 366.7 per 100,000 residents and the national average for property crime is 2,109.9 per 100,000 residents. Bronx’s violent crime rate is 2.18 times more than the national average.

**Violent crimes include; homicides, rape, robbery and aggravated assaults and the violent crime rate is calculated by dividing the number of reported crimes by the total population; the result is multiplied by 100,000.

The Bronx Murder Stats

In 2020 the Bronx reported 111 homicides, which gives it a murder rate of 8 per 100,000 residents. The national murder rate is 5 per 100,000 people. The Bronx’s murder rate is about 1.6 times more than the national average.

The Bronx vs The Other Boroughs

Looking at the table you can see that the Bronx had the highest violent crime rate of all the boroughs.

City

Population

Number of violent crimes in 2020

Rate per 100,000 people

The Bronx

1,472,654

9,766

663.15

Manhattan

1,694,251

7,081

417.94

Brooklyn

2,736,074

10,619

388.11

Queens

2,405,464

7,170

298.07

Staten Island

495,747

913

184.16

The Bronx vs The Most Dangerous Cities In The United States

Here’s a list of the top 10 most dangerous cities in the United States ranked by violent crime rate. It can give you some perspective on the Bronx’s violent crime rate, which is 667.35 per 100,000 people.

The Bronx’s violent crime rate is 3.6 times LESS than Memphis, the most dangerous city on the list.

City Population Number of violent crimes in 2020 Rate per 100,000 people
Memphis 633,104 15,310 2,418.24
Detroit 639,111 14,370 2,248.44
Baltimore 2,707,064 9,273 2,027.01
St. Louis 301,578 6,017 1,995.17
Little Rock 202,591 3,657 1,805.11
South Bend 103,453 1,765 1,706.09
Cleveland 372,624 6,281 1,685.61
Milwaukee 577,222 9,407 1,629.70
Kansas City 508,090 7,919 1,558.58
Lansing 112,644 1,699 1,508.29
Springfield 169,176 2,545 1,504.35

*All data is from the 2019 FBI Crime Stats Report**

What do residents of The Bronx say about its safety

  1. "The area around Yankee Stadium is in fact terrible."
  2. "Parts of the Bronx aren’t great. Most of the Bronx is fine."
  3. "The Bronx is huge! There’s parts of the Bronx that is very safe and other that are not so much."
  4. "Your safety really depends on where you go in the Bronx. The south and lower central Bronx are not great areas, avoid! The Kingsbridge and Riverdale area you can practically visit at all hours."
  5. "The south Bronx is a dump! There’s a lot of crime, noise pollution, dog poop and it is dirty and depressing."
  6. "Despite what you might have erroneously heard, the Bronx isn’t just one giant ghetto. The Bronx is huge. Certain parts are good and certain parts are bad, but it’s not all bad."
  7. "Most of the Bronx is fine. Its bad reputation comes from the urban blight that went down in a few areas throughout the 70s-90s, but it’s redeveloping quickly."
  8. "Some parts of the Bronx are dangerous and some are very safe, just like any other city. "
  9. "I don’t recommend anywhere in the Bronx for tourist. For every nice block, there’s 10 surrounding it that you want to avoid. Also these predators can spot a tourist a mile away "

Is Bronx safe at night?

The Bronx can be safe to visit at night if you stick to the safer areas and avoid south and lower central Bronx. If you are unfamiliar with the area, we do not recommend you wander around at night, because one wrong turn could land you in an entirely different environment.

Is it safe to visit alone?

The Bronx can a safe place to visit alone. However you should take special precautions at night as you will be more vulnerable to becoming a victim of crime.

Tips To Stay Safe In The Bronx

  • Don’t be out alone and late at night looking like a tourist in general.
  • Don’t walk alone drunk after dark.
  • Walk confidently and with a purpose and you should be good. Look timid or unsure and you make yourself a target.
  • If you’re out alone and it’s late at night, Grab an Uber, Lyft or cab instead of the subway. Late at night, there will be less people on the platform and you will be waiting longer.
  • Do not engage with strangers on the street. Just keep walking and say nothing if someone approaches you.
  • Never let your drink out of your sight at bars.
  • Don’t wear headphones/listen to music or stare at your phone while walking. You should always have situational awareness at all times.
  • If someone is making you feel uncomfortable, step into a shop, drug store, bodega etc. People will tend to leave you alone if you’re inside a shop.
  • Buy and carry pepper spray in your pocket.
  • Don’t be polite if someone is making you feel uncomfortable. Cross the street, go to the other side of the train platform or get in another subway car.
  • Project confidence, stand up straight, walk decisively, keep your eyes up and constantly scanning.
  • Trust your intuition, if something feels off, it probably is. Get away from the situation.
  • Plan your routes in advance so you don’t get lost and end up in a sketchy part of town.
  • While waiting for the train, don’t get too close to the edge of the platform. Stay in the middle. There have been instances of people being pushed on to the tracks.

Final Thoughts

After analyzing the crime statistics and talking to the residents of the city, we have come to the conclusion that the Bronx is a moderately safe place to visit. It’s crime stats are not alarming and many residents agree that Bronx is a fairly safe place to visit.

The only problem areas are the south Bronx and the central Bronx. You should be able to mitigate your chances of being a crime while visiting The Bronx, if you follow the safety tips above and avoid going into those area.

Other Cities You Might Be Interested In:

Albuquerque, Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Baltimore, Barstow, The Bronx, Compton, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Corpus Christi, El Paso, Fort Worth, Gary, Harlem, Houston, Indianapolis, Inglewood, Las Vegas, Long Beach, Memphis, Milwaukee, Nashville, Oakland, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Reno, Sacramento, San Antonio, San Bernardino, San Jose, Seattle, Slab City, St. Louis, Stockton

Mariska Lee

Mariska is a recovering attorney who gave up her professional job to discover new perspectives of life while traveling in a 2009 Ford Transit. She has been living the van life for 3 years and has not looked back since.

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