Crime Rate in Chicago (2024)
Chicago is covered at the neighborhood level: its police department publishes incident data by community area, so instead of a single city-wide score we rank all 77 community areas by reported crime, from Chicago's own open data.
Volume, not a per-person rate. Chicago community-area populations are drawn from the Census ACS 5-year most-recent-year estimate (dataset 7umk-8dtw), joined to the official 77 community areas by name. Because population is reliably known for every area, each zone's index/grade is a real severity-weighted per-100,000-residents rate (city-local calibration — the safety scale is relative to Chicago's own community areas, not the national scale) — see /crime-rate/methodology.
Safest & most dangerous neighborhoods
Reported crime in Chicago varies sharply by community area. Top 5 each — see the full rankings for all 77.
Protecting yourself in Chicago
Worried about the numbers above? Compare local providers, estimate costs, and explore the right kind of coverage.
Security guards in Chicago
Unarmed and armed guards for property, retail and events.
Mobile patrol in Chicago
Marked-vehicle patrols and alarm response for a site or neighborhood.
Video surveillance (CCTV) in Chicago
Camera systems and remote monitoring to deter and record.
Residential security in Chicago
Protection for homes, gated communities and HOAs.
Business & corporate security in Chicago
Guards, access control and risk plans for companies.
Event security in Chicago
Crowd, access and asset control for events.
Licensed security companies in Chicago
Verify licensing and credentials before you hire.
Security cost calculator
Estimate what private security costs for your home or business.
Security guard prices
Reference hourly rates by service and coverage.
Security by industry
Tailored guidance for hotels, retail, warehouses, healthcare and more.
Security guides for Chicago
Illinois Security Guard & Company License: Requirements & How to Verify (2026)
Hiring security in Illinois? Here's who regulates it, what a company and its guards must be licensed to hold, how armed guards are permitted, and how to verify a license yourself in minutes.
Read guide
How Much Does a Security Guard Cost? (2026 US Pricing Guide)
Unarmed guards typically run $20–$35 an hour and armed guards $35–$75 — but the number on your quote is built from local wages, insurance, and coverage hours, and it varies by 50% across states. Here's how security pricing actually works in 2026, state by state, and how to avoid overpaying.
Read guide
How to Hire a Security Guard Company: A Step-by-Step Guide (2026)
Hiring security is easy to get wrong — the cheapest bid is often the riskiest. This step-by-step guide walks you through vetting a licensed company the right way, from license checks and state-by-state training standards to the questions that separate pros from pretenders.
Read guide
How to Verify a Security Company's License (State-by-State, 2026)
There is no federal security license in the US — every state runs its own registry, and a legitimate company must be in it. Here's exactly how to check, with a state-by-state table of licensing agencies, credentials, insurance minimums, and official lookups.
Read guideFrequently asked questions
Why isn't there a single crime rate for Chicago?
What is the safest neighborhood in Chicago?
What is the most dangerous neighborhood in Chicago?
No area has zero risk
A high Crime Index score means lower reported crime relative to other US cities — it is not a guarantee of safety. Reported crime is not the same as actual crime. Research on the gap between crime that occurs and crime that gets reported to police — often called the "dark figure" of crime — estimates that roughly 40% of violent crime and about a third of property crime go unreported each year. Every index built on official statistics, including this one, necessarily undercounts real crime. That gap is exactly why homicide — the offense with the smallest dark figure — anchors the calculation instead of a more commonly reported but less reliable category like theft.
Scores on this page reflect FBI-reported data for 2024. See the full methodology →