'Surprise' or 'No Surprise'? Lakewood, NJ In Top 10 'Safest'

When I moved to Ocean County last year, I looked at a lot of neighborhoods to live in. I'm a family man with 2 amazing children and I set out to find a home in an area low in crime, high on family values, strong on education, close to where I work (Toms River), affordable and low on taxes. I chose Bayville, New Jersey but perhaps the next group of people moving to Ocean County should consider Lakewood? This morning I got wind of a study based on FBI crime data that showed Lakewood Township ranked super low on crime. Here's what I found.

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Advisorsmith used FBI crime stats, last released in September of 2020, to rank over 3,000 U.S. cities. They created a formula to generate the ranking, as they explain. "We created a proprietary crime score, which weights different types of crimes based upon the severity of the crime, with violent crimes weighted more highly." The result...

Lakewood Township, New Jersey is one of "The Safest Cities in America."

The Ocean County town scored the #9 slot in the "midsize" category, which features cities with populations between 100k and 300k. While the company that ranked these towns didn't break down exactly how their formula worked, they broke down the results by "violent crimes per 1k people", "property crimes per 1k people", and an overall "crime score."

Lakewood Township scored very low (which is good) on property crimes.

While the overall crime score was 22.2, good for #9, Lakewood tied for #1 (amongst the top 10 in the midsize category) with a 9.2 property crime score. Among the top 10, Lakewood had the highest violent crimes at 5.6.

So, are YOU surprised Lakewood Township, New Jersey is one of "The Safest Cities in America" according to Advisorsmith's analysis of FBI crime data?

I bet these NJ towns are good on crime! Here are the 25 Best Places To Live in New Jersey

Stacker compiled a list of the best places to live in New Jersey using data from Niche. Niche ranks places to live based on a variety of factors including cost of living, schools, health care, recreation, and weather. Cities, suburbs, and towns were included. Listings and images are from realtor.com.

On the list, there's a robust mix of offerings from great schools and nightlife to high walkability and public parks. Some areas have enjoyed rapid growth thanks to new businesses moving to the area, while others offer glimpses into area history with well-preserved architecture and museums. Keep reading to see if your hometown made the list.