NJ’s 25 Safest Towns for Trick-or-Treating in 2026, Ranked

I didn't plan on writing another safest towns list this year. But when I noticed Halloween falls on a Saturday this time around, I started thinking about what that really means. More kids out. Out earlier. Out longer. And a whole lot of them crossing the street at dusk dressed head to toe in black.

That got me wondering. If I were picking one town in New Jersey to take a pillowcase door to door, which one would actually be the safest?

Get our free mobile app

Most safest town lists only look at crime, and I get why. But on Halloween night, I'm honestly less worried about someone swiping a candy bucket than I am about a driver who doesn't see a 6-year-old ninja stepping off the curb. So I wanted traffic in the mix too.

Here's what I did. I started with HomeSnacks' list of New Jersey's 100 safest towns for 2026, based on the FBI's 2024 crime data. Then I pulled three years of fatal crash reports from the New Jersey State Police (2022, 2023, and 2024) to see where pedestrians are most at risk, and matched those numbers up with county population figures. As a sanity check, I compared my results to SafeWise's 2026 safest cities in New Jersey, and five of their top 10 also ended up on my list.

YOU'LL ALSO LIKE: 

The Best NJ Towns To Raise a Family That People Can Actually Afford

25 NJ Towns That Look Like a Different State Come Fall

The 25 NJ Towns Where You're Most Likely To Hit a Deer

What the numbers at the bottom of each slide mean

You'll see three numbers under every town. Here's how I'd read them:

• Violent crime is the number of violent crimes (assaults, robberies and so on) per 100,000 residents. For context, the typical New Jersey town comes in around 71. A lot of the towns on this list are at zero.
• Property crime is thefts, burglaries and car thefts per 100,000 residents. The typical NJ town sits around 881, so anything in the low hundreds is really good.
• County pedestrian rate is the average number of pedestrians killed each year per 100,000 people living in that town's county. Statewide it's about 2.1. Lower is better.

Now, the stuff that surprised me. One New Jersey county completely dominates, with 11 of the 25 spots, and only one Jersey Shore town made the cut.

Alright, let's count it down, starting at No. 25.