Illinois’s crime situation is a mixed bag: its property crime rate is a touch below the national rate, while the state’s violent crime rate is about 10% higher than national levels. The statewide violent crime rate is no doubt elevated by high crime in Chicago, Illinois’s largest city, which is plagued by violent crime nearly three times the national rate.
In contrast, many Illinois communities achieved remarkably low crime rates in 2018, with each of the state’s 5 safest cities experiencing about a quarter of the statewide average of violent crime, or less. Let’s take a closer look at them.
Campton Hills is Illinois’s safest community. The Kane County village is 54 miles west of Chicago, yet still considered part of the large city’s expansive metropolitan area. With just 1 recorded violent crime and 17 property crimes in 2018, Campton Hills is in a class of its own compared to other Illinois communities.
Illinois’ 2nd safest municipality is Channahon, a village of 12.8K that straddles Will and Grundy counties. Like #1 Campton Hills, Channahon logged less than 10 violent crimes in 2018, while its property crime rate is less-than-a-quarter of national levels.
#3 Palatine is a northwestern suburb of Chicago located in Cook County. The village’s remarkable violent crime rate of 0.41 per 1,000 is even lower than that of the prior entry, yet its slightly higher rate of property crime (despite being just 25% of the national rate) drops it a bit.
Palos Hills is Illinois’ 4th safest municipality. The Cook County city recorded a violent crime rate of around 1 offense per 1000 people in 2018, which is just 25% of the Illinois rate. Palos Hills’ property crime rate is impressive as well, at 4.84 per 1K.
Filling out Illinois’ top 5 is Hanover Park, a village in Cook and Dupage counties that recorded violent and property crime rates only slightly higher than those of #4 Palos Hills.
Illinois’s Safest Cities
IL City Population Violent
crimeProperty
crimeLaw enforcement
employeesTotal crimes Crime rate per 1,000 Violent crimes per 1,000 Property crimes per 1,000 Law enforcement per 1,000
1 Campton Hills 11305 1 17 5 18 1.59 0.09 1.50 0.44
2 Channahon 12837 9 58 25 67 5.22 0.70 4.52 1.95
3 Palatine 68648 28 358 128 386 5.62 0.41 5.22 1.86
4 Palos Hills 17338 18 84 34 102 5.88 1.04 4.84 1.96
5 Hanover Park 37971 43 194 81 237 6.24 1.13 5.11 2.13
6 South Elgin 22627 24 97 35 121 5.35 1.06 4.29 1.55
7 Deerfield 19049 4 137 53 141 7.40 0.21 7.19 2.78
8 Shorewood 17482 14 101 33 115 6.58 0.80 5.78 1.89
9 Lindenhurst 14450 13 58 15 71 4.91 0.90 4.01 1.04
10 Hinsdale 17831 2 98 24 100 5.61 0.11 5.50 1.35
11 Plano 11692 9 72 24 81 6.93 0.77 6.16 2.05
12 Highland Park 29764 24 198 69 222 7.46 0.81 6.65 2.32
13 Round Lake 18454 18 108 30 126 6.83 0.98 5.85 1.63
14 Warrenville 13280 13 108 39 121 9.11 0.98 8.13 2.94
15 Lockport 25510 17 177 44 194 7.60 0.67 6.94 1.72
16 St. Charles 32764 45 232 62 277 8.45 1.37 7.08 1.89
17 Morton 16302 18 103 23 121 7.42 1.10 6.32 1.41
18 Chatham 12770 18 82 20 100 7.83 1.41 6.42 1.57
19 Waterloo 10408 13 73 18 86 8.26 1.25 7.01 1.73
20 Arlington Heights 75688 28 628 130 656 8.67 0.37 8.30 1.72
21 Elmhurst 47025 23 445 106 468 9.95 0.49 9.46 2.25
22 Pekin 32541 136 156 59 292 8.97 4.18 4.79 1.81
23 Plainfield 44525 54 328 71 382 8.58 1.21 7.37 1.59
24 Bolingbrook 75451 112 592 129 704 9.33 1.48 7.85 1.71
25 Vernon Hills 26429 15 295 67 310 11.73 0.57 11.16 2.54
26 Burbank 28771 60 242 57 302 10.50 2.09 8.41 1.98
27 McHenry 26893 48 288 76 336 12.49 1.78 10.71 2.83
28 Carol Stream 40019 33 411 87 444 11.09 0.82 10.27 2.17
29 West Chicago 27174 34 245 50 279 10.27 1.25 9.02 1.84
30 La Grange 15583 15 153 31 168 10.78 0.96 9.82 1.99
31 Addison 36791 61 464 130 525 14.27 1.66 12.61 3.53
32 Villa Park 21806 27 232 49 259 11.88 1.24 10.64 2.25
33 Mount Prospect 53888 32 558 102 590 10.95 0.59 10.35 1.89
34 Morton Grove 23123 10 285 58 295 12.76 0.43 12.33 2.51
35 Rolling Meadows 23970 15 284 57 299 12.47 0.63 11.85 2.38
36 Roscoe 10466 10 93 15 103 9.84 0.96 8.89 1.43
37 Glendale Heights 34030 18 397 71 415 12.20 0.53 11.67 2.09
38 Bourbonnais 18388 33 154 26 187 10.17 1.79 8.38 1.41
39 Lake Zurich 19930 5 259 48 264 13.25 0.25 13.00 2.41
40 Western Springs 13554 2 154 24 156 11.51 0.15 11.36 1.77
41 Melrose Park 25164 85 316 85 401 15.94 3.38 12.56 3.38
42 Elk Grove Village 32723 23 485 103 508 15.52 0.70 14.82 3.15
43 Oak Forest 27644 37 304 53 341 12.34 1.34 11.00 1.92
44 Des Plaines 58155 39 725 116 764 13.14 0.67 12.47 1.99
45 Crest Hill 21221 42 203 32 245 11.55 1.98 9.57 1.51
46 Northbrook 33424 6 512 91 518 15.50 0.18 15.32 2.72
47 Downers Grove 49626 49 563 78 612 12.33 0.99 11.34 1.57
48 Tinley Park 56638 23 694 89 717 12.66 0.41 12.25 1.57
49 Bensenville 18324 20 272 41 292 15.94 1.09 14.84 2.24
50 Burr Ridge 10852 3 190 30 193 17.78 0.28 17.51 2.76
51 Ottawa 18096 15 310 49 325 17.96 0.83 17.13 2.71
52 Carpentersville 38220 34 496 60 530 13.87 0.89 12.98 1.57
53 Batavia 26614 34 369 47 403 15.14 1.28 13.86 1.77
54 Swansea 13506 14 192 23 206 15.25 1.04 14.22 1.70
55 Schiller Park 11617 17 219 35 236 20.32 1.46 18.85 3.01
56 Mokena 20507 11 295 33 306 14.92 0.54 14.39 1.61
57 Elgin 113060 235 1713 233 1948 17.23 2.08 15.15 2.06
58 Orland Park 59064 20 1015 124 1035 17.52 0.34 17.18 2.10
59 Morris 14798 16 238 29 254 17.16 1.08 16.08 1.96
60 Lyons 10563 11 115 10 126 11.93 1.04 10.89 0.95
61 Joliet 148553 486 2312 340 2798 18.84 3.27 15.56 2.29
62 Macomb 18124 56 228 28 284 15.67 3.09 12.58 1.54
63 Crystal Lake 40345 38 648 73 686 17.00 0.94 16.06 1.81
64 Bloomington 78097 339 1193 163 1532 19.62 4.34 15.28 2.09
65 River Forest 11125 14 233 29 247 22.20 1.26 20.94 2.61
66 O’Fallon 29354 81 543 69 624 21.26 2.76 18.50 2.35
67 Mattoon 17794 99 281 42 380 21.36 5.56 15.79 2.36
68 Niles 29433 34 605 69 639 21.71 1.16 20.56 2.34
69 Evanston 74780 140 1702 215 1842 24.63 1.87 22.76 2.88
70 Pontiac 11795 40 172 18 212 17.97 3.39 14.58 1.53
71 Summit 11310 40 241 33 281 24.85 3.54 21.31 2.92
72 Fox Lake 10535 17 256 32 273 25.91 1.61 24.30 3.04
73 Bloomingdale 22008 32 488 55 520 23.63 1.45 22.17 2.50
74 Alsip 19050 24 427 44 451 23.67 1.26 22.41 2.31
75 Lombard 43794 52 856 77 908 20.73 1.19 19.55 1.76
76 Normal 54525 119 985 91 1104 20.25 2.18 18.07 1.67
77 Freeport 23887 49 572 65 621 26.00 2.05 23.95 2.72
78 Round Lake Beach 27534 34 509 42 543 19.72 1.23 18.49 1.53
79 Oak Park 52313 115 1243 131 1358 25.96 2.20 23.76 2.50
80 Chicago Ridge 14167 18 358 35 376 26.54 1.27 25.27 2.47
81 Rock Island 37985 99 986 108 1085 28.56 2.61 25.96 2.84
82 Cicero 82310 314 1770 179 2084 25.32 3.81 21.50 2.17
83 Effingham 12624 43 340 39 383 30.34 3.41 26.93 3.09
84 Rantoul 12741 35 349 38 384 30.14 2.75 27.39 2.98
85 Midlothian 14607 26 330 28 356 24.37 1.78 22.59 1.92
86 Streator 13038 31 302 25 333 25.54 2.38 23.16 1.92
87 Chicago 2719151 27357 86513 14086 113870 41.88 10.06 31.82 5.18
88 Machesney Park 22627 57 416 26 473 20.90 2.52 18.39 1.15
89 Carbondale 25816 111 760 76 871 33.74 4.30 29.44 2.94
90 Moline 42051 228 1050 100 1278 30.39 5.42 24.97 2.38
91 East Peoria 22640 114 584 51 698 30.83 5.04 25.80 2.25
92 Gurnee 30698 44 1085 96 1129 36.78 1.43 35.34 3.13
93 Jacksonville 18320 65 519 43 584 31.88 3.55 28.33 2.35
94 Granite City 28593 219 729 68 948 33.15 7.66 25.50 2.38
95 Champaign 88326 602 1998 149 2600 29.44 6.82 22.62 1.69
96 Herrin 12930 35 376 25 411 31.79 2.71 29.08 1.93
97 Decatur 71625 358 2050 154 2408 33.62 5.00 28.62 2.15
98 DeKalb 43064 228 1105 78 1333 30.95 5.29 25.66 1.81
99 Alton 26563 171 994 78 1165 43.86 6.44 37.42 2.94
100 Quincy 40249 252 1288 88 1540 38.26 6.26 32.00 2.19
101 Kankakee 26032 230 871 69 1101 42.29 8.84 33.46 2.65
102 Homewood 19056 46 786 46 832 43.66 2.41 41.25 2.41
103 Cahokia 14004 75 604 34 679 48.49 5.36 43.13 2.43
104 Rockford 146198 2027 5368 339 7395 50.58 13.86 36.72 2.32
105 Peoria 112595 860 4509 226 5369 47.68 7.64 40.05 2.01
106 Centralia 12372 157 499 30 656 53.02 12.69 40.33 2.42
107 Springfield 114623 955 5487 268 6442 56.20 8.33 47.87 2.34
108 Danville 31203 559 1508 73 2067 66.24 17.91 48.33 2.34
Methodology
To identify the safest cities, we reviewed the most recent FBI Uniform Crime Report statistics. We eliminated any cities that failed to submit a complete crime report to the FBI and cities with populations under 10,000. This left 3,381 cities (out of a total of 9,251).
There are two broad classifications of crimes: violent crimes and non-violent crimes. According to the FBI, “Violent crime is composed of four offenses: murder and non-negligent manslaughter, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault. Violent crimes are defined in the UCR Program as those offenses that involve force or threat of force. Property crime includes the offenses of burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson. The object of the theft-type offenses is the taking of money or property, but there is no force or threat of force against the victims. ”
We computed the total number of crimes reported by each city by adding violent crimes and property crimes. We then created a crime rate as the number of crimes per 1,000 population. Then we transformed the total crime rate variable so that the skewness was reduced and normalized.
Data from 2,831 law enforcement agencies was then collected to determine police adequacy (TotalCrimes / Number of police employees). We consider that the smaller the police adequacy statistic is, the safer the city is. This variable was also transformed and normalized.
Finally, the two variables were combined to create a safety score for each city.
