Safety · Amherst

Amherst, NY crime & safety

Amherst's reported crime rate is above New York's. Most reported incidents are property crimes, mainly thefts. 176 violent crimes were reported in 2025.

Crime reported to police, trends and how Amherst compares with the towns next door, from FBI data.

Reported crime, 2025

Amherst at a glance

Violent crime
1.4
per 1,000 residents · New York 3.7
Property crime
21.3
per 1,000 residents · New York 15.7
Incidents reported
2,849
176 violent · 2,673 property
Since 2022
▲ 24%
change in reported property crime
Violent crime per 1,000
Amherst 1.4
New York 3.7
U.S. 3.3
Property crime per 1,000
Amherst 21.3
New York 15.7
U.S. 15.5
Trend

Reported crime per 1,000 residents, 2022–2025

AmherstNew York
0510152025 2022202320242025 Property Violent
Solid lines: property crime · dashed: violent crime.
Show as a table
YearAmherst propertyNew York propertyAmherst violentNew York violent
202217.217.41.64.3
202320.118.71.64
202420.617.213.9
202521.315.71.43.7
What gets reported

2025, by type

Larceny / theft
2,245
Burglary
137
Vehicle theft
291
Aggravated assault
119
Robbery
25
Rape
31
Homicide
1
Arson
9

Offenses reported to police, not convictions.

Who keeps Amherst safe

Local public safety

👮 Amherst Police DepartmentReports its crime counts to the FBI — the figures on this page.
🚨 EmergenciesCall 911. For non-emergency numbers, alerts and preparedness, see the town guide.

Safety & preparedness in Amherst →

Next door

Amherst and its neighbors

Reported crime per 1,000 residents in each town's latest year. * = a count, for towns under 1,000 people.
TownViolentPropertyYear
Amherst1.421.32025
Cheektowaga2.231.82025
Buffalo7.333.82025
North Tonawanda1.510.62025
Tonawanda Town1.318.22025

No town figures in the FBI's data: Pendleton, Cheektowaga, Eggertsville, Tonawanda, Wheatfield, Clarence.

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can't tell you

  • It's reported crime. Only incidents reported to and recorded by police appear here. Many thefts and some assaults are never reported.
  • Small numbers swing. In a town of about 125,800, a handful of incidents moves the rate noticeably from year to year. The trend matters more than any one year.
  • Visitors count too. Towns with a campus, highway, beach or shopping center see incidents involving people who don't live there, which raises the per-resident rate.
  • Gaps are real gaps. A missing year means the department didn't report a full year, not that nothing happened.

Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program, Crime Data Explorer: offenses known to law enforcement by city, 2025, and state and national rates. Counts are crimes reported to police, not convictions. This isn't an official statement of public safety — in an emergency, call 911.

Housing in Amherst → · Living in Amherst →

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Amherst

New York · NY · Erie County
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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/15 · 2025-01-01