Most Dangerous Cities in Illinois (2025)
The FBI-reporting cities in Illinois with the lowest Crime Index scores for 2025. Scores run 0–100 (higher = safer) and are built from FBI Crime Data Explorer reports.
Showing the 14 most dangerous of 29 cities
Not the same cities shown on the safest cities in Illinois list. See the full ranked list →
- 1PeoriaF5,216per 100k10.8homicide
- 2SpringfieldF5,099per 100k9.8homicide
- 3RockfordE3,428per 100k7.5homicide
- 4DecaturD3,286per 100k13.2homicide
- 5ChampaignC2,455per 100k7.5homicide
- 6Oak ParkC3,227per 100k3.8homicide
- 7WaukeganC1,926per 100k2.3homicide
- 8BloomingtonC1,613per 100k5.0homicide
- 9JolietC1,498per 100k1.3homicide
- 10NormalC1,930per 100k0.0homicide
- 11SkokieC2,709per 100k0.0homicide
- 12EvanstonB2,500per 100k0.0homicide
- 13AuroraB1,302per 100k3.3homicide
- 14CiceroB1,209per 100k0.0homicide
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 2025. See the full methodology →