Sparta Ranks #8 Among America’s Safest Cities Nationwide

SPARTA, NJ — Sparta was one of two Sussex County municipalities that made the list of the top 25 safest cities nationwide, taking the eighth spot countrywide of SafeWise’s “10 Safest Cities in America for 2021.”

The website, which compiles data on crime and safety statistics from coast-to-coast, also reported Vernon Township snagged the 19th spot on the list, among the top 25 safest places in the nation.

New Jersey itself was at the top of SafeWise’s list of all states, for the third year in a row, for total number of safest cities across America, with over a quarter of the entire list comprised of 29 New Jersey towns, the state accruing four more than it had in 2020.

The next state to even come close to New Jersey's number was Massachusetts, with 17 cities.

Mid-Atlantic and New England cities encompassed over 68% of the total listed, SafeWise detailed in its analysis.

SafeWise specifically cited the Sparta Township Police Department for its takedown of burglary suspect, Patrick Ryan of Fairfield, Conn., who broke into about 22 homes in the township and had previously been wanted for 22 burglaries in Sparta and many other towns throughout New Jersey, New York and Connecticut, before Sparta Police nabbed Ryan in January.

As part of its analysis, SafeWise reviewed crime report data from the FBI, tallying that with each city’s population, while excluding locations with populations under 2,500 and a threshold of 17,375. Only places below the threshold and ones that provided the FBI with a full crime report, were additionally included.

Crime rates were calculated by violent and property crimes reported per 1,000 residents.

According to SafeWise’s data, violent crimes within the places in the top 100, are 12.33 times less than the average of all other cities nationwide, with property crimes continuing to drop across the country.

SafeWise noted that cities with smaller populations tend to have lower rates of crime.

Locations with higher household incomes, SafeWise also wrote, are usually safer overall. The average income for the top 100 safest cities on SafeWise’s list was $106,298, with the national average $68,703.

SafeWise detailed Sparta with having a population of 18,532, median income of $126,090, violent crime rate in 2021 of 0.22 and property crime rate of 1.67, climbing 10 spots higher than in 2020.

Vernon Township rose three spots on SafeWise’s list to number 19 in 2021. With a population of 21,912 and median income of $87,707, Vernon has a violent crime rate of 0.14 and property crime rate of 3.70, according to SafeWise.

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