The safest places to live in Illinois are not only small cities like Willow Springs and Northfield but also much more populated ones like Wheaton and Hoffman Estates—proving that bigger cities are not inherently unsafe. What’s more, based on the FBI’s 2015 crime report, more than a dozen of the Prairie State’s fifty safest cities are in Cook County—the second-most populated county in the United States.1
The average violent crime rate among the cities—large and small—on our list was 86% lower than the national average. Inverness, Gilberts, Spring Grove, and Palos Heights cited no violent crimes at all, and the state’s fifty safest cities reported one murder, sixty-seven robberies, and fewer than 300 aggravated assaults.
Property crime rates were also exceptionally low among these safe communities. No city cited more than nine property crimes per 1,000 residents—with the average rate being about six crimes per 1,000 people. That’s 77% lower than the United States average.
Looking at specific crimes, only twenty-seven arsons and 152 motor vehicle thefts were reported. Bartlett, with a population over 40,000, cited a mere ten burglaries, and nearly half of the cities on our list reported even fewer.
We were impressed to find that quite a few of the state’s safest cities—including Manhattan, Spring Grove, and Lakemoor—moved up our list considerably over last year. Equally notable is Palos Heights, which ranked as the eighty-sixth-safest city in the state in 2016 and now ranks seventeenth.
Open communication may be one factor helping Palos Heights become a safer place to live, work, and play. The Palos Heights Police Department’s online crime blotter and Neighborhood Watch reports keep citizens informed about crime, while its Facebook page helps encourage discussion about potential community problems.
To learn more about personal safety and home security, take a look at our Illinois Safety Directory. Created with your protection in mind, it includes burglary prevention tips, a color-coded map of the most and least burglarized counties in the state, and the five best home security systems in Illinois. It’s also an excellent resource for general safety programs and initiatives.
How We Chose the Safest Cities in Illinois
To identify the safest cities in Illinois, we reviewed the 2015 FBI Crime Report statistics and population data. We eliminated all cities with fewer than 5,000 residents as well as any cities that failed to submit a complete crime report to the FBI.
From there, we evaluated the remaining cities. We narrowed the list down based on the number of reported violent crimes (aggravated assault, murder, rape, and robbery) and property crimes (burglary, arson, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft) in each city. To level the playing field, we calculated the likelihood of these crimes occurring out of 1,000 people in each city.
Learn more about how we rank our Safest Cities reports.
1. InvernessPrevious Rank: Not ranked Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.00 |
2. WaterlooPrevious Rank: Not ranked Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.10 |
3. Winfield ↑Previous Rank: 10 Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.31 |
4. Western Springs ↑Previous Rank: 7 Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.07 |
5. Gilberts ↑Previous Rank: 8 Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.00 |
6. Campton Hills ↓Previous Rank: 3 Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.35 |
7. Hawthorn Woods ↓Previous Rank: 2 Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.13 |
8. Manhattan ↑Previous Rank: 26 Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.82 |
9. Willow Springs ↑Previous Rank: 15 Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.35 |
10. Channahon ↑Previous Rank: 11 Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.32 |
11. Spring Grove ↑Previous Rank: 32 Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.00 |
12. Lindenhurst ↓Previous Rank: 9 Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.21 |
13. Lakemoor ↑Previous Rank: 22 Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.17 |
14. Lake in the Hills ↓Previous Rank: 13 Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.66 |
15. Mascoutah ↓Previous Rank: 12 Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.38 |
16. Bartlett ↔Previous Rank: 16 Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.62 |
17. Palos Heights ↑Previous Rank: 86 Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.00 |
18. Buffalo Grove ↑Previous Rank: 25 Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.05 |
19. La Grange Park ↔Previous Rank: 19 Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.22 |
20. Clarendon Hills ↓Previous Rank: 1 Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.11 |
21. Palos Hills ↑Previous Rank: 29 Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.45 |
22. Hampshire ↓Previous Rank: 6 Violent Crimes per 1,000: 1.32 |
23. Mount Zion ↓Previous Rank: 17 Violent Crimes per 1,000: 1.36 |
24. Homer Glen ↔Previous Rank: 24 Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.21 |
25. Northfield ↑Previous Rank: 147 Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.18 |
26. Deerfield ↑Previous Rank: 28 Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.38 |
27. Charleston ↓Previous Rank: 18 Violent Crimes per 1,000: 2.79 |
28. Cary ↑Previous Rank: 31 Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.61 |
29. Pinckneyville ↓Previous Rank: 4 Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.36 |
30. MonticelloPrevious Rank: Not ranked Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.73 |
31. Lincolnshire ↓Previous Rank: 20 Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.14 |
32. WaucondaPrevious Rank: Not ranked Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.43 |
33. Winnetka ↔Previous Rank: 33 Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.16 |
34. Mahomet ↓Previous Rank: 21 Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.98 |
35. Roselle ↑Previous Rank: 72 Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.69 |
36. Lake Forest ↓Previous Rank: 30 Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.21 |
37. Wheaton ↓Previous Rank: 27 Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.43 |
38. Prospect Heights ↑Previous Rank: 69 Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.85 |
39. Hanover Park ↑Previous Rank: 53 Violent Crimes per 1,000: 1.19 |
40. GreenvillePrevious Rank: Not ranked Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.29 |
41. Morton ↑Previous Rank: 60 Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.48 |
42. Highwood ↓Previous Rank: 23 Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.74 |
43. Frankfort ↓Previous Rank: 36 Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.38 |
44. Troy ↑Previous Rank: 92 Violent Crimes per 1,000: 1.50 |
45. Burr Ridge ↑Previous Rank: 51 Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.19 |
46. Huntley ↓Previous Rank: 38 Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.23 |
47. Chatham ↓Previous Rank: 41 Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.97 |
48. Hoffman Estates ↑Previous Rank: 81 Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.74 |
49. Lake Villa ↓Previous Rank: 40 Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.90 |
50. Glencoe ↑Previous Rank: 71 Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.11 |
Didn’t see your city rank in the top 50?
Check the remaining cities below, and take a look at the most recent FBI crime data here.
| 51. Arlington Heights | 52. Plainfield | 53. Lisle |
| 54. Palatine | 55. Island Lake | 56. La Grange |
| 57. Washington | 58. Eureka | 59. Rolling Meadows |
| 60. Lockport | 61. Mundelein | 62. Lake Bluff |
| 63. Taylorville | 64. Worth | 65. Mount Prospect |
| 66. Warrenville | 67. Wilmington | 68. Yorkville |
| 69. Hinsdale | 70. Geneva | 71. Columbia |
| 72. Glen Carbon | 73. Round Lake | 74. Highland Park |
| 75. Marengo | 76. Glen Ellyn | 77. Lemont |
| 78. Elmhurst | 79. Roscoe | 80. Northbrook |
| 81. Staunton | 82. Justice | 83. Carol Stream |
| 84. Hickory Hills | 85. Oak Forest | 86. Morton Grove |
| 87. Libertyville | 88. Carterville | 89. Flossmoor |
| 90. New Lenox | 91. Maryville | 92. Glenview |
| 93. Highland | 94. Des Plaines | 95. Plano |
| 96. Wheeling | 97. McHenry | 98. Winthrop Harbor |
| 99. Woodridge | 100. Naperville |
How safe is your home?
Wherever you live, feeling safe in your home can bring greater peace of mind and happiness. Whether your city made our list or not, we recommend adding extra security to your home with monitored security services provided by the nation’s leading home security providers.
To learn more about the home security options available to you, check out SafeWise’s picks for Best Home Security Systems of 2018 or select the city nearest you in the drop down menu below.
Riverside
Jacksonville
Salem
Markham
Waterloo
Charleston
Hillside
Washington
Plano
Aurora
Springfield
Romeoville
Belleville
Lansing
Lincoln
Justice
Columbia
If you would like to contact a SafeWise Safest Cities Analyst, please email safestcities@safewise.com.
1. US Department of Commerce, “US Census Bureau Releases Population Estimates for Nation’s Cities and Counties”
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