What Are The Safest Neighborhoods In Chicago
Undeniably, the entire city of Chicago has been struggling with high crime for years. When you start analyzing by neighborhood though, you need to pull in all the necessary data. According to documented crime statistics, the violent crime in Chicago is exceptionally concentrated to a fairly small number of communities, most of which suffer from high poverty rates.
For renters and potential buyers, finding a neighborhood that is safe for you and your family is always top priority. While you can certainly ask residents which communities are the safest, the most accurate answer comes from the raw data.
In order to determine the safest neighborhoods in Chicago, we researched FBI crime reports. More specifically, violent crime, property crime, and total crimes per capita. Those with the lowest average rankings made our list of the 10 safest neighborhoods in the city of Chicago:
Lets explore each of these neighborhoods in detail, their characteristics, crime rates, and livability.
How Dangerous Is Chicago
Chicagos crime rate, especially its violent crime rate, is considerably higher than the national average. The reason for such high numbers in Chicago remains unclear, but is likely due to the fact that the city is home to over 117,000 gang members belonging to a staggering 55 major gangs.
The city first saw a major increase in crime back in the late 1960s and the murder rate peaked in 1974. While Chicago saw a decline in crime in the 2000s, murders rose again in 2016. Murder, rape, and robbery are common violent crimes throughout the city. So, as of 2020, how dangerous is Chicago?
Unfortunately, systemic problems like lack of housing, food security, and joblessness has plagued minority communities in Chicago for decades. With the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020 and racial unrest, these already heightened issues were made exponentially worse. On May 31, 2020, in the wake of George Floyds murder 18 people were murdered, resulting in the single most violent day in Chicago in sixty years.
The following table analyzes the year to date crime complaints in the city of Chicago, reported by the Chicago Police Department. For perspective, the 2019 statistics are also displayed. Keep in mind that this data was recorded before the end of 2020.
| Crime |
Note:The 2020 data is as of October 2020.
Most Dangerous Parts Of Chicago: How To Stay Safe In A Red Zone
Chicago is well known for its crime no one has tried to argue that Chicago is a safe place to live. In fact, Chicago is one of NeighborhoodScouts’ top 100 most dangerous cities in the United States . However, not every part of Chicago is as dangerous as the numbers may claim. Some parts of Chicago are relatively safe, such as Printers Row.
However, some areas in Chicago are incredibly dangerous. The most dangerous neighborhood in Chicago has a violent crime rate that is 943 percent higher than the national average, making it a severely dangerous neighborhood to live in. That being said, how can a person stay safe while living in one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in Chicago? And what are the most dangerous neighborhoods in Chicago?
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Chicago Murder Map And Neighborhood Totals
Theres been a lot of media coverage of all the shootings and murders in Chicago lately but all too often these claims are made without presenting much in the way of data. So I always base my annual review of crime in Chicago on the numbers from the Chicago crime data portal so that we know what were dealing with. First, I updated my time series through the end of June Chicago murders by month along with a 12 month moving average line in red. It does confirm that the number of murders in the city was on the decline up until the pandemic hit and then things turned around for the worse hitting a record high for the 20 years we have good history for. For the 12 month period ending in June there were 783 murders in Chicago vs. 592 the last time I checked. That record is largely driven by the surge that occurred in July 2020.
As I always point out the data is highly seasonal with a surge during the warmer months and a decline during the winter. I guess the bitter cold has some benefits.
The number of people getting murdered in Chicago each month started picking up right when the pandemic hit
Chicago Murder Rate By Neighborhood
Of course the murders are not distributed evenly around Chicago as everyone knows. There are some real hotspots. Since everyone wants to know where all the murders are happening I aggregate the data by community area and calculate a murder rate per 100,000 population since more people create more opportunities for people to kill each other and we need to normalize for that. The one thing I cant normalize for is the fact that certain areas of the city have a lot of people passing through every day that dont actually live in the area. So that creates more opportunity for crime but without an increase in population.
The table below sorts the community areas by their murder rate. Depending on your screen or browser you may have to click on the table to enlarge it. The good news is that 12 areas had no murders, which is roughly the number weve seen in previous years. The usual high income areas are at the lower end of the spectrum and the lower income areas are at the higher end.
Unfortunately, my neighborhood West Town saw a doubling in their murder rate over the last year. Also, several of last years community areas with no murders did have a few this year: Kenwood, Hermosa, Clearing, North Park. But on the flip side several communities dropped down significantly with no murders: Edison Park, Montclare, and West Elsdon had a big improvement.
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Violent Crime Rates In Chicago
The violent crime rate in Chicago is 164% higher than the national average, while the property crime rate is 45% higher than the national average. As per the national average crime rate, there are 382.9 crimes per 100,000 people.
These are violent crimes, including murder, robbery, assault, rape, and shooting. Chicago has alarming annual crime rates:
- 21 murders take place on average per 100,000 people
- 67 rapes take place on average per 100,000 people
- 259 robberies take place on average per 100,000 people
- 566 cases of assault are reported on average per 100,000 people
As per this data, the murder rate in Chicago is four times higher than the national average. Similarly, other violent crimes are also more common in Chicago than in the rest of the country. Therefore, it is thought to be a dangerous city.
Install A Home Security System
Home security systems are one of the best ways to protect your home from burglary and home invasion. Burglary is extremely common in Chicago, especially in the more dangerous neighborhoods. In dangerous neighborhoods, home security systems can be the difference between being a common target for burglary and one of the few homes that arent targeted.
According to studies, home security systems will deter 60 percent of burglars. If an alarm is triggered, 90 percent of burglars will choose to run rather than face the aftermaths of an alarm.
One of the best home security systems for Chicago homeowners and apartment owners is Cove Security. Cove Security offers DIY systems that can be installed inside the house in less than 10 minutes. The inexpensive systems also come with professional monitoring and remote monitoring to ensure that someone always has an eye on your home.
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Other Places To Avoid In Chicago Illinois
Read:
Apart from the areas listed above which are the worst neighborhoods in Chicago according to statistics, there are other areas you should avoid as much as possible. These are:
- Burnside
- Wicker park
- West loop
These areas are not just safe they are also excellent for families as well. If you are looking for family-friendly areas in Chicago, you can make your pick from any of these neighborhoods.
Most Dangerous Neighborhoods In Chicago Il
Here are the most dangerous neighborhoods in Chicago for 2021. The rankings are calculated based on the number of violent crimes per 100,000 people for each neighborhood, compared to the Chicago violent crime average. Violent crimes include murder, rape, robbery and assault. The most dangerous areas in Chicago is based on data from the local law enforcement agency and when not available, also includes estimates based on demographic data.
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Most Common Property Crimes:
Motor vehicle theft is at the top of this list. Keep an eye on your car when parked outside, always lock your car, and never leave any valuables inside it. Because there are so many thefts, the police have set up a special task force to deal with this situation.
The second property crime is theft, and its quite common in Chicago as there are more than 566 cases of theft on an average per 100,000 people every year. Always keep your belongings safe and secure and never leave cash or valuables unattended outdoors.
Residents living in the most dangerous areas who install a home security system can mitigate the highest crime rates.
Safest Neighborhoods In Chicago
Being a big city, Chicago is a mix of safe and dangerous places. While some regions have a high violent crime rate, others are safer for residents and visitors.
If you plan to move to Chicago or are in the city for vacation, you should know which areas to steer clear of to ensure your safety, avoiding areas that have higher violent crime rates.
In this list, we discuss the most dangerous neighborhoods in Chicago and the safest places in the city.
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Population: 11,871
Violent crimes per 100,000 people 3,290
Washington Park was ranked in the 3rd worst neighborhood in Chicago last year, this year it’s in the 6th position. Washington Park is located on the south side of Chicago. The neighborhood spams the before 372b acre park to Cottage Grove avenue to the Dan Ryan Expressway and 63rd street. The DuSable Museum of African American history is located there. The neighborhood has seen its fair share of racial turbulence.
Is Chicago Metro Il Safe
The C- grade means the rate of crime is slightly higher than the average US metro area. Chicago Metro is in the 33rd percentile for safety, meaning 67% of metro areas are safer and 33% of metro areas are more dangerous. This analysis applies to the Chicago metro area’s proper boundaries only. See the table on nearby places below for nearby metro areas.
The rate of crime in the Chicago metro area is 34.64 per 1,000 residents during a standard year. People who live in the Chicago metro area generally consider the northwest part of the metro area to be the safest.
Your chance of being a victim of crime in the Chicago metro area may be as high as 1 in 15 in the east neighborhoods, or as low as 1 in 55 in the northwest part of the metro area. See the section on interpreting the crime map, however, because comparing rates for crime or any other crime is not as intuitive as it may seem.
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The Right Answer On Defunding
It has become common to blame falling police budgets for last years increase in murders. The National Fraternal Order of Police, the former N.Y.P.D. commissioner Bill Bratton and Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas have been among those making that connection.
Yet the available evidence a comparison of changes in murder with changes in the operational budgets for police departments in 105 big cities suggests that budgetary changes were not a cause of last years murder increase.
Most of the cities increased their police budgets last year, with the budgets decreasing in just 37 of the 105. Places that reduced their police budget were about as likely to see a rise in murder as places that increased it. Murder was up in 31 of the 37 cities that lowered their police budgets , while it was up in 54 of the 68 cities of cities that raised their police budgets.
It may seem as if the cuts in police budgets were in response to the defund movement. But the changes in budgets last year were relatively normal for times of economic distress. During the Great Recession, for example, between 19 percent and 47 percent of these 105 agencies reduced their budgets each year, according to census data compiled by PoliceScorecard.org.
Over 80 percent of readers correctly answered that there was no relationship, the highest accuracy rate for readers of any question in the quiz.
Map Of Chicago Murders
Of course its not enough to simply know which community areas have the highest murder rates. You also need to know where exactly these murders are occurring since these crimes are often concentrated in particular areas. Thats why Im providing the interactive map below with all of the murders from the 12 month period plotted on top of the community area boundaries. You can click on the balloons and get a few details about each murder. You can also pan, zoom, and share the map. And if you want a bigger version just click on the expansion icon in the upper right corner of the map.
I find the map to be the most useful tool in understanding crime because, as you zoom in, you can get a much better sense of the frequency of these crimes in various parts of the city block by block if you want to.
#ChicagoCrime #ChicagoMurder
Gary Lucido is the President of Lucid Realty, the Chicago areas full service real estate brokerage that offers home buyer rebates and discount commissions. If you want to keep up to date on the Chicago real estate market or get an insiders view of the seamy underbelly of the real estate industry you can Subscribe to Getting Real by Email using the form below. Please be sure to verify your email address when you receive the verification notice.
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Why Overall Crime Fell While Murder Increased
The rise in murder rate for 2020 is expected to be around 25 percent, the largest increase in U.S. history, in records dating to 1960. That equates to roughly 20,000 murders last year.
And yet overall crime went down, a fact that only 28 percent of readers knew. The F.B.I. will release its official figures in September, but the preliminary data from over 12,000 law enforcement agencies suggests it was probably one of the largest declines on record.
Property crime was down 7.9 percent in 2020 relative to 2019, according to this data. The national murder trend usually gets the headlines for good reason but property crime makes up around 85 percent of all major crimes reported by the F.B.I. Murder made up 0.2 percent of all major crimes reported by the F.B.I. in 2019, and even a historically large increase in murder would barely move the needle in terms of overall crime.
Its not altogether surprising that overall crime would drop in 2020 it has fallen in 26 of the last 28 years, including each of the last 17 years. Since most crime is property crime, and since property crime can flourish when people need to be out and about a shoplifter needs stores to be open, for example nationwide quarantines and reduced mobility last year most likely contributed to reduced property crime pretty much everywhere.