Every city has safe neighborhoods and dangerous neighborhoods. We believe you should know which neighborhoods in Chicago are the safest before you move.
Every year, more than 30 million Americans move. Sometimes, it’s for a job, other times it’s to escape the big city. But no matter where you move, you want a neighborhood that’s family friendly, clean, and most importantly, safe.
We’ve analyzed the FBI crime report’s data on violent and property crimes for every single neighborhood in Chicago. Then, we calculated your chances of being the victim of a crime in each one.
What Chicago neighborhoods can you leave your doors unlocked at night? Here’s the list.
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is Illinois’s statewide median.
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How we determined the safest Chicago hoods in 2026
You can ask people which neighborhoods are the safest, or you can look at the unbiased raw data. We choose data.
Instead of relying on speculation and opinion, we used Saturday Night Science to analyze the numbers from the FBI’s most recent crime report for every neighborhood in Chicago.
To be more specific, we analyzed the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report. We then ran an analysis to calculate each neighborhood’s property and violent crimes per capita. We used the following criteria:
- Total Crimes Per Capita
- Violent Crimes Per Capita
- Property Crimes Per Capita
We then ranked each neighborhood with scores from 1 to 77 in each category, where 1 was the safest.
Next, we averaged the rankings for each neighborhood to create a safe neighborhood index.
Finally, we crowned the neighborhood with the lowest safest neighborhood index the “Safest City Neighborhood In Chicago.” We’re lookin’ at you, Archer Heights.
We updated this article for 2026. Skip to the end to see the list of all the neighborhoods in the city, from safest to most dangerous.
The full plate
Detailed list of the safest neighborhoods to live in Chicago for 2026
Click any column to sort. Search by neighborhood name.
| Rank | Neighborhood | Crime Per 100K |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Archer Heights | |
| 2 | Edison Park | |
| 3 | Jefferson Park | |
| 4 | O’hare | |
| 5 | Norwood Park | |
| 6 | Montclare | |
| 7 | Clearing | |
| 8 | Mount Greenwood | |
| 9 | Bridgeport | |
| 10 | Burnside | |
| 11 | West Town | |
| 11 | Lincoln Park | |
| 11 | Lincoln Square | |
| 14 | West Lawn | |
| 15 | Brighton Park | |
| 16 | Loop | |
| 17 | West Ridge | |
| 18 | Albany Park | |
| 19 | East Side | |
| 20 | West Elsdon | |
| 21 | Near West Side | |
| 22 | South Lawndale | |
| 23 | Pottage Park | |
| 23 | Hegewisch | |
| 25 | Forest Glen | |
| 26 | Beverly | |
| 27 | Belmont Cragin | |
| 28 | Garfield Ridge | |
| 29 | Hermosa | |
| 30 | North Center | |
| 31 | Gage Park | |
| 32 | Logan Square | |
| 33 | McKinley Park | |
| 34 | Rogers Park | |
| 34 | Lower West Side | |
| 36 | Armour Square | |
| 37 | Hyde Park | |
| 38 | New City | |
| 39 | Near South Side | |
| 40 | West Pullman | |
| 41 | Pullman | |
| 42 | Calumet Heights | |
| 43 | Morgan Park | |
| 44 | South Chicago | |
| 45 | Lake View | |
| 46 | Austin | |
| 47 | Englewood | |
| 47 | Avalon Park | |
| 49 | Avondale | |
| 50 | Washington Heights | |
| 51 | Fuller Park | |
| 52 | Grand Boulevard | |
| 53 | Auburn Gresham | |
| 54 | Douglas | |
| 55 | Grand Crossing | |
| 56 | Uptown | |
| 57 | North Lawndale | |
| 58 | Riverdale | |
| 58 | North Park | |
| 60 | Ashburn | |
| 61 | Near North Side | |
| 62 | Kenwood | |
| 62 | Humboldt Park | |
| 64 | East Garfield Park | |
| 65 | Oakland | |
| 66 | South Shore | |
| 67 | Dunning | |
| 68 | Irving Park | |
| 69 | Edgewater | |
| 70 | Woodlawn | |
| 71 | West Englewood | |
| 72 | Washington Park | |
| 72 | West Garfield Park | |
| 74 | Chatham | |
| 75 | South Deering | |
| 76 | Chicago Lawn | |
| 77 | Roseland |
Source: FBI UCR. All 77 Chicago neighborhoods.
Summary
Summary: The safest places in Chicago
Looking at the data, you can tell that Archer Heights is as safe as they come, according to science and data.
The safest neighborhoods in Chicago are Archer Heights, Edison Park, Jefferson Park, O’hare, Norwood Park, Montclare, Clearing, Mount Greenwood, Bridgeport, and Burnside.
But as most Illinois residents would agree, almost every place here has its safe and not safe parts. So make sure you’re informed ahead of time.
We ranked the neighborhoods from safest to most dangerous in the chart below. Not sold on Illinois? Take the two-minute Find Your Place quiz and see which state actually fits you.
Questions and answers
Safest Neighborhoods In Chicago FAQs
What is the safest neighborhood in Chicago?
Archer Heights is the safest neighborhood in Chicago for 2026, based on FBI crime data. Edison Park and Jefferson Park are next.
What are the safest neighborhoods in Chicago?
The safest neighborhoods in Chicago are Archer Heights, Edison Park, Jefferson Park, O’hare, Norwood Park, Montclare, Clearing, Mount Greenwood, Bridgeport, and Burnside. We ranked all 77 neighborhoods in the city.
How do you measure neighborhood safety?
Neighborhoods are ranked on violent and property crimes per capita, using FBI crime data mapped to each neighborhood. The lowest combined crime rate wins.
Which neighborhood ranked last for safety?
Roseland posts the highest crime rate of the 77 Chicago neighborhoods we scored. Our separate worst neighborhoods in Chicago ranking digs into that end of the list.
Does a low crime rate guarantee safety?
No. Crime rates are averages across a whole neighborhood, and conditions change block by block and hour by hour. The numbers tell you where the odds are best, not that anywhere is risk-free.
