If you're considering a move to Illinois, we've done the groundwork for you. We've sifted through FBI crime data, examining 284 cities with populations exceeding 5,000, to compile a comprehensive list of the safest places in Illinois for 2026.
As a whole, Illinois ranks as the 26th safest states in the nation. While it's true that some cities in the Land of Lincoln face challenges predominantly related to petty crimes, the state as a whole boasts a remarkable commitment to safety.
Whether you're a single professional looking for a secure suburb outside of Chicago, an enthusiast of small-town charm seeking a peaceful retreat, or want to live where safety is a top priority, Illinois offers many options. Cities like Naperville beckon with their low crime rates and exceptional quality of life. For those who thrive on the vibrant energy of a big city, Arlington Heights provides a haven amidst the urban hustle and bustle.
So, if you want to discover more about the safest locales in Illinois, grab a deep-dish pizza and join us as we explore the most secure places to call home in the Prairie State.
0 violent / 137 property per 100k
Located in
Lake County, Illinois
Hawthorn Woods is an affluent village in Lake County and it is our safest city in Illinois.
You won't hear guns a-poppin' and see fists flying unless maybe there's a scuffle over a putt on one of their pristine Arnold Palmer golf courses. Wow, fancy and safe!
This Chicago burb offers a city vibe with a laid back suburban feel. There is a sense of community in Hawthorn Woods and education is a top priority.
So grab the fam, pack the grocery getter, and get a-movin' soon so you don't miss out on any of their safe, family friendly activities scheduled for 2026.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
9 violent / 46 property per 100k
Located in
Kane County, Illinois
Campton Hills is not the Compton 2Pac sings about, it is actually quite the opposite: it's safe. Located in Northern Illinois, it is one of Chi-towns far West burbs and it comes in as our number one safest city in Illinois.
Campton Hills' gold star qualities like the non-existent number of crimes per 100,000 residents speaks volumes. With a little over 11,000 residents, the superb quality of life in this little village in Kane County is the reason that it basically maintained its spot from last year. Campton Hills is the kind of place where packages from Amazon won't get stolen from your front porch when you're not home.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
0 violent / 232 property per 100k
Located in
Piatt County, Illinois
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
9 violent / 158 property per 100k
Located in
Kane County, Illinois
Rounding out this list of safest cities in Illinois is Pingree Grove. Don't let the #10 ranking fool ya.Pingree Grove experienced about one crime a week in the last year of available. I just hope the cops aren't getting bored there.
The residents of Pingree Grove certainly aren't getting bored anyway. Who could be bored when you can ride your horse, with minimal risk of banditry, at Pingree Grove Forest Preserve?
In what I think constitutes a pattern, Pingree Grove is the fourth Kane County city on this list, and a neighbor of #5 Gilberts. So to sum things up, move to Cook or Kane County if you're heading to Illinois and safety is a top priority.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
8 violent / 273 property per 100k
Located in
Cook County, Illinois
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
8 violent / 333 property per 100k
Located in
Will County, Illinois
Data | Cost of living | Movers
16 violent / 277 property per 100k
Located in
Will County, Illinois
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
0 violent / 390 property per 100k
Located in
Cook County, Illinois
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
0 violent / 434 property per 100k
Located in
DuPage County, Illinois
In DuPage County, Clarendon Hills stands out as the ninth safest city, maintaining its low crime rates since its incorporation in 1923. Inspired by Riverside's park-like design, the village has 0 murder cases, just 0 violent crimes, and a mere 37 property crimes reported despite its 8,520 population. The community's dedication to safety is evident with exceptional per capita crime rates: violent crime at 0/100k people and property crime at 434/100k people.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
14 violent / 402 property per 100k
Located in
Cook County, Illinois
Inverness is a suburban village located just northwest of Chicago.
It's hard to find a place less violent or more different than the Windy City, considering Inverness recorded exactly 1 violent crimes in 2024. No murders, assaults, rapes, or robberies -- basically, the way life should be.
On top of that, Inverness had the 30th safest lowest property crime rate in Illinois. In other words, there's a better chance of a stray golfball from the Inverness Golf Club breaking your window than a burglar. However, it's a pretty expensive place to live based on our cost of living index and home prices. So safety comes at a bit of a price.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is Illinois's statewide median. Lower is safer.
Illinois statewide median: 125
Illinois statewide median: 1,029
Illinois statewide median: 0
On the map
Where the safety is in Illinois
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How we calculated the safest cities in Illinois for 2026
While there are surveys and public polls on what cities in Illinois are the safest, we wanted to rely on something other than speculation and opinion. Instead, we looked at the hard numbers from the FBI's most recent crime report in Illinois.
Specifically, we used Saturday Night Science to analyze the FBI's Uniform Crime Report, which summarizes the number of property and violent crimes in each city annually. We used two criteria:
- Violent crimes per capita (murders, assaults, rapes, armed robberies)
- Property crimes per capita (thefts, burglaries, motor vehicle thefts)
For example, there were 13 crimes committed in Hawthorn Woods, with a reported population of 9,470. That means the number of crimes per capita is 0.0014, which translates into a 1 in 728 chance of being the victim of a crime.
We only looked at Illinois cities that have populations of more than 5,000. This filter left us with 284 of the biggest cities in Illinois to rank.
We ranked each city for each criterion from 1 to 284 where 1 in any particular category is the safest.
Next, we averaged each place's two criteria to create a Safety Index. We crowned the place with the lowest overall Safety Score, "The Safest Place In Illinois," with any ties going to the bigger city.
The safest city in Illinois, based on our criteria, is Hawthorn Woods. The most dangerous city in Illinois? Danville, where residents had a 1 in 13 chance of being the victim of a crime.
This article has been update for 2026. This report marks our eleventh time ranking the safest places to live in Illinois. All the data comes from the FBI's Crime In The USA 2024 report.
Summary
Summary: The Safest Cities In The Prairie State
Looking at the data, you can tell that Hawthorn Woods is as safe as they come in Illinois, according to science and data.
But as most Illinois residents would agree, almost every place here has its safe and not safe parts. So just make sure you're informed ahead of time.
The safest places in Illinois are .
For more reading, check out:
The full plate
Where Are The Safest Cities In Illinois For 2026?
Click any column to sort. All 284 ranked Illinois cities.
| Rank | City | Population | Violent / 100k | Property / 100k | Murders / 100k | Murders |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hawthorn Woods, IL | 9,470 | 0 | 137 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | Campton Hills, IL | 10,768 | 9 | 46 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | Monticello, IL | 6,041 | 0 | 231 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | Pingree Grove, IL | 11,395 | 8 | 157 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | Western Springs, IL | 13,191 | 7 | 272 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | Minooka, IL | 12,919 | 7 | 332 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | Homer Glen, IL | 24,560 | 16 | 276 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | Willow Springs, IL | 5,639 | 0 | 390 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | Clarendon Hills, IL | 8,520 | 0 | 434 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | Inverness, IL | 7,211 | 13 | 402 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | Sandwich, IL | 7,212 | 27 | 277 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | Lindenhurst, IL | 14,327 | 34 | 153 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | Gilberts, IL | 8,909 | 33 | 213 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | Spring Grove, IL | 5,523 | 18 | 398 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | Troy, IL | 11,297 | 8 | 460 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | Manhattan, IL | 10,912 | 36 | 192 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | Sugar Grove, IL | 9,194 | 32 | 326 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | Cary, IL | 18,035 | 11 | 476 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | Bartlett, IL | 39,656 | 27 | 390 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | Chester, IL | 6,706 | 44 | 268 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | Hampshire, IL | 8,239 | 36 | 351 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | Huntley, IL | 28,439 | 28 | 428 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | La Salle, IL | 9,389 | 53 | 149 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | Wonder Lake, IL | 5,248 | 19 | 495 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 | Mascoutah, IL | 8,977 | 44 | 345 | 0 | 0 |
| 26 | Spring Valley, IL | 5,403 | 18 | 592 | 0 | 0 |
| 27 | Winfield, IL | 10,137 | 59 | 345 | 0 | 0 |
| 28 | Lisle, IL | 23,074 | 43 | 455 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | Maryville, IL | 8,336 | 59 | 287 | 0 | 0 |
| 30 | Lemont, IL | 17,507 | 34 | 542 | 5 | 1 |
| 31 | Glencoe, IL | 8,487 | 23 | 600 | 0 | 0 |
| 32 | Antioch, IL | 14,907 | 40 | 529 | 0 | 0 |
| 33 | Lake Forest, IL | 19,357 | 20 | 625 | 0 | 0 |
| 34 | Oswego, IL | 37,893 | 34 | 551 | 0 | 0 |
| 35 | Hinsdale, IL | 17,272 | 46 | 492 | 0 | 0 |
| 36 | Stickney, IL | 6,711 | 14 | 715 | 0 | 0 |
| 37 | Elburn, IL | 6,680 | 44 | 538 | 0 | 0 |
| 38 | Braidwood, IL | 6,168 | 64 | 389 | 0 | 0 |
| 39 | La Grange Park, IL | 12,874 | 23 | 675 | 0 | 0 |
| 40 | Mount Zion, IL | 5,833 | 51 | 514 | 0 | 0 |
| 41 | Wheaton, IL | 52,649 | 49 | 541 | 0 | 0 |
| 42 | Round Lake Park, IL | 7,744 | 90 | 90 | 0 | 0 |
| 43 | Buffalo Grove, IL | 42,283 | 21 | 716 | 0 | 0 |
| 44 | Northfield, IL | 5,477 | 18 | 766 | 0 | 0 |
| 45 | Warrenville, IL | 15,530 | 25 | 714 | 6 | 1 |
| 46 | Yorkville, IL | 25,788 | 73 | 387 | 0 | 0 |
| 47 | Edwardsville, IL | 26,663 | 30 | 682 | 0 | 0 |
| 48 | Frankfort, IL | 21,108 | 33 | 667 | 0 | 0 |
| 49 | Palos Hills, IL | 17,532 | 68 | 410 | 0 | 0 |
| 50 | Itasca, IL | 9,288 | 21 | 775 | 0 | 0 |
| 51 | Glen Ellyn, IL | 28,175 | 49 | 578 | 0 | 0 |
| 52 | Geneva, IL | 21,056 | 61 | 522 | 9 | 2 |
| 53 | Lake In The Hills, IL | 28,573 | 69 | 437 | 0 | 0 |
| 54 | Island Lake, IL | 7,978 | 62 | 526 | 0 | 0 |
| 55 | Channahon, IL | 14,366 | 76 | 494 | 0 | 0 |
| 56 | Westchester, IL | 15,856 | 56 | 624 | 0 | 0 |
| 57 | Swansea, IL | 14,515 | 41 | 744 | 0 | 0 |
| 58 | Oak Forest, IL | 25,823 | 89 | 437 | 0 | 0 |
| 59 | Burr Ridge, IL | 10,971 | 27 | 865 | 0 | 0 |
| 60 | Mundelein, IL | 31,876 | 47 | 724 | 6 | 2 |
| 61 | Coal City, IL | 5,813 | 103 | 361 | 0 | 0 |
| 62 | Plano, IL | 12,942 | 69 | 571 | 7 | 1 |
| 63 | Plainfield, IL | 48,311 | 57 | 683 | 0 | 0 |
| 64 | Lake Bluff, IL | 5,509 | 36 | 834 | 0 | 0 |
| 65 | Lockport, IL | 26,668 | 67 | 592 | 0 | 0 |
| 66 | Libertyville, IL | 20,257 | 83 | 533 | 0 | 0 |
| 67 | Highland Park, IL | 30,311 | 49 | 811 | 6 | 2 |
| 68 | Grayslake, IL | 24,339 | 65 | 640 | 0 | 0 |
| 69 | Deerfield, IL | 18,795 | 26 | 1,010 | 0 | 0 |
| 70 | Round Lake, IL | 18,344 | 81 | 599 | 0 | 0 |
| 71 | Berkeley, IL | 5,015 | 79 | 618 | 0 | 0 |
| 72 | Du Quoin, IL | 5,653 | 123 | 389 | 0 | 0 |
| 73 | Mendota, IL | 6,893 | 130 | 377 | 0 | 0 |
| 74 | Chatham, IL | 14,562 | 103 | 494 | 0 | 0 |
| 75 | Woodstock, IL | 25,731 | 93 | 544 | 0 | 0 |
| 76 | Darien, IL | 21,599 | 41 | 916 | 0 | 0 |
| 77 | Hanover Park, IL | 35,779 | 125 | 416 | 0 | 0 |
| 78 | Woodridge, IL | 33,387 | 59 | 817 | 8 | 3 |
| 79 | Arlington Heights, IL | 73,545 | 50 | 879 | 0 | 0 |
| 80 | Elmhurst, IL | 45,206 | 59 | 822 | 0 | 0 |
| 81 | Carol Stream, IL | 38,703 | 69 | 710 | 2 | 1 |
| 82 | Winnetka, IL | 12,159 | 82 | 657 | 0 | 0 |
| 83 | Lake Villa, IL | 8,592 | 116 | 488 | 0 | 0 |
| 84 | Orland Park, IL | 56,593 | 28 | 1,097 | 1 | 1 |
| 85 | Northbrook, IL | 33,610 | 17 | 1,207 | 0 | 0 |
| 86 | Sycamore, IL | 18,718 | 42 | 1,009 | 5 | 1 |
| 87 | Wilmette, IL | 26,685 | 22 | 1,187 | 0 | 0 |
| 88 | Palos Heights, IL | 11,353 | 61 | 863 | 0 | 0 |
| 89 | New Lenox, IL | 28,315 | 52 | 925 | 0 | 0 |
| 90 | Mchenry, IL | 28,563 | 94 | 619 | 7 | 2 |
| 91 | Rockton, IL | 7,741 | 64 | 826 | 0 | 0 |
| 92 | Manteno, IL | 9,173 | 174 | 337 | 0 | 0 |
| 93 | Mount Carmel, IL | 6,676 | 134 | 464 | 0 | 0 |
| 94 | Brookfield, IL | 18,330 | 92 | 643 | 0 | 0 |
| 95 | Belvidere, IL | 25,302 | 150 | 438 | 0 | 0 |
| 96 | Riverside, IL | 8,710 | 80 | 780 | 0 | 0 |
| 97 | Wheeling, IL | 37,251 | 61 | 907 | 2 | 1 |
| 98 | Lincolnshire, IL | 7,901 | 63 | 898 | 0 | 0 |
| 99 | Batavia, IL | 26,208 | 91 | 751 | 0 | 0 |
| 100 | Westmont, IL | 23,785 | 54 | 1,051 | 0 | 0 |
Breaking Down Crime In The Safest And Most Dangerous Cities In Illinois
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