Illinois’s 50 Safest Cities of 2020

The SafeWise Team is pleased to release the sixth annual Safest Cities report. Here are the 50 Safest Cities in Illinois for 2020. See if your city made the list.

Illinois residents are less concerned about their safety this year than last, despite having experienced more violent crime than the national average. But if you live in one of the state’s safest cities, your odds of falling victim to violent crime are less than two in 1,000.

See the full list of Illinois’s 50 safest cities of 2020.

Our 2020 State of Safety study revealed that 47% of Illinois residents are highly concerned about safety and security on a daily basis. That’s six percentage points below the state’s level of concern last year and just one point above the national average.

View the complete 2020 State of Safety report.

Statewide, Illinois has a slightly higher violent crime rate than the national average. The violent crime rate in the Prairie State is 4.0 incidents out of 1,000 people, compared to 3.7 nationwide.

Illinois does better when it comes to property crime, though. Your odds of falling victim to property crime in the state are 19.3 out of 1,000, which is nearly three points below the national rate of 22.0.

Violent Crime in Illinois: Fear vs. Reality

In Illinois, being robbed on the street is the most concerning violent crime. It was also named as the violent crime that people felt was the most likely to occur.

• 40% of survey participants named robbery as their biggest fear, versus 38% nationwide.
• 30% also said they thought robbery was the crime most likely to actually happen, compared to 27% across the US.
• Robbery was the third most common violent crime among the safest cities, with both aggravated assault and rape being reported more often.
• Among the safest cities, robbery made up 16% of all violent crimes, and it was 28% of the violent crimes reported across the state.
• Aggravated assault accounted for 52% of the violent crime reported by the safest cities and 59% statewide.
• Being physically assaulted by a stranger was the second most worrisome crime in Illinois.
• 16% reported that they, or someone they know, has had a personal experience with violent crime in the past year. The national average is 12%.

Property Crime in Illinois: Fear vs. Reality

A home break-in is the top property crime concern in the Prairie State. Respondents are most worried about a break-in when they’re at home, but they feel a break-in is more likely to happen when they’re away.

• 58% expressed high concern about someone breaking in when they’re at home, which matches national concern.
• 42% think a break-in when they’re not at home is the most likely property crime that could happen to them. That’s four percentage points more than the national average of 38%.
• Burglary made up 14% of all property crime among the safest cities and 16% statewide.
• 25% of Illinois respondents have a home security system, which is on par with the national average of 24%.
• 15% reported using security bars or doors to protect their property, versus 9% nationally.
• Even though break-ins are the top property crime concern, 35% use no form of protection or security. That’s six percentage points above the national average of 29%.
• Larceny-theft was the most common property crime, accounting for 81% of all incidents in the safest cities and 76% statewide.
• 53% of respondents named property being stolen as a top concern (making it the fourth biggest concern), and 39% think it’s likely to happen.
• 23% have experienced property crime some time in the past 12 months, which is below the national average of 26%.

A Closer Look at Illinois’s Safest Cities of 2020

For the purposes of this report, the terms “dangerous” and “safest” refer explicitly to crime rates as calculated from FBI crime data—no other characterization of any community is implied or intended.

• Campton Hills is number one for the second year in a row, with 18 total crimes reported (one violent crime and 17 property).
• 68% of the cities improved their rank year over year.
• Six cities climbed more than 100 places: Sandwich, Lake Villa, Clarendon Hills, Charleston, Chester, and Hampshire.
• 24% of the cities dropped in rank year over year.
• Justice and Lakemoor both joined the safest cities list for the first time this year.
• All cities are below national (3.7) and state (4.0) violent crime rates.
• Every safest city reported fewer than 2.0 incidents per 1,000 and 34 (68%) had less than 1.0 per 1,000.
• All of the cities reported fewer than 50 total violent crimes and 80% had fewer than 20.
• All cities came in below both state (19.3) and national (22.0) property crime rates.
• Every safest city limited property crime to fewer than 10 incidents per 1,000.
• Sandwich had the lowest property crime rate at 1.2, which helped it climb 111 spots this year to round out the top five.

The 50 Safest Cities in Illinois

How We Determined the Safest Cities

Learn how we identified the safest cities on our methodology page.

How to Make a Safe Home Anywhere

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 your home security options, check out SafeWise’s picks for Best Home Security Systems.

Didn’t Find Your City in the Top 50?

We calculated crime rates for every city in the state that met our population threshold, which is based on the median population of the state. See how the remaining cities ranked in the list below.

NOTE: If you don’t see your city on the list, it means that it was below the population threshold or didn’t submit a complete crime report to the FBI in 2018.

Sources:

FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, “2018 Crime in the United States”
SafeWise, “2020 State of Safety”
US Census Bureau, “American Fact Finder”