Chicago, IL Crime Map

Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions About Chicago Crime

Is Chicago safe to live in or visit?

Chicago's safety picture is more nuanced than headlines suggest. Across the 86 neighborhoods analyzed for 2026, 77% earned a Grade A or B — meaning the clear majority of the city qualifies as safe by objective crime metrics. Specifically, 43% of neighborhoods (37 out of 86) received an A grade, and another 33.7% (29 neighborhoods) earned a B. Only 15% of neighborhoods — 13 out of 86 — fall into the higher-crime D or F tiers. Areas like Edison Park (A+), Mount Greenwood (A+), Norwood Park (A), and Gold Coast (A) consistently rank among the safest in any major American city. Visitors and prospective residents should research specific neighborhoods rather than treating Chicago as monolithic.

What is Chicago's overall crime grade and what does it mean?

Chicago's city-wide overall crime grade for 2026 is C-, reflecting a moderate safety level when all 86 analyzed neighborhoods are averaged together. This composite grade is pulled downward by a small cluster of high-crime areas: Oakland (F), Washington Park (F+), and Riverdale (F+) represent just 3.5% of neighborhoods but significantly impact the city-wide average. Meanwhile, 8.1% of neighborhoods sit in the C range, and the dominant story — 77% graded A or B — tells a far more encouraging tale. Think of the C- as a weighted average skewed by outliers, not a description of the typical Chicago neighborhood experience.

What are the safest neighborhoods in Chicago in 2026?

Based on 2026 crime data, the top-rated neighborhoods in Chicago are:

• Edison Park — A+: Population of 11,148 with a median household income of $115,078. Consistently one of the lowest-crime areas in the entire city.
• Mount Greenwood — A+: Home to 18,739 residents and a median income of $118,393, making it both safe and prosperous.
• Forest Glen — A: With a median income of $134,062 — the highest among the top ten — and 17,226 residents, Forest Glen combines affluence with strong safety metrics.
• Norwood Park — A: A large community of 44,533 with a median income of $88,238 and an A safety grade.
• Beverly — A: 20,436 residents, median income of $117,969, and a well-established reputation for neighborhood safety.
• Gold Coast — A: One of Chicago's most recognized neighborhoods, earning an A grade with a median income of $118,873.
• Dunning — A: A sizeable neighborhood of 41,141 residents with a median income of $80,412 and solid A-grade safety.
• Garfield Ridge — A: 37,630 residents and an $81,620 median income back up its A safety rating.

Notably, the safest neighborhoods skew toward higher median incomes — the top ten average well above Chicago's city-wide median of $62,097 — reflecting the well-documented relationship between economic stability and lower crime rates.

Which Chicago neighborhoods have the highest crime rates?

The 2026 data identifies three neighborhoods with F grades — the lowest possible rating — accounting for 3.5% of the 86 neighborhoods analyzed: Oakland, Washington Park, and Riverdale. An additional 11.6% of neighborhoods (10 out of 86) received D grades, including Burnside (D-) and the United Center area (D). Combined, D and F neighborhoods represent 15% of Chicago's analyzed areas. These neighborhoods tend to have higher concentrations of both property and violent crime relative to the city average, and residents in adjacent areas should consult the interactive crime map for block-level detail.

How does Chicago's unemployment and poverty rate affect neighborhood safety?

Chicago's unemployment rate of 8.1% and poverty rate of 17.3% are notably higher than national averages, and the neighborhood data reflects this correlation clearly. The five neighborhoods with F or D- grades share economic stress indicators that contrast sharply with the A+ neighborhoods. Edison Park and Mount Greenwood — both A+ rated — carry median household incomes above $115,000, more than 85% higher than Chicago's city-wide median of $62,097. Conversely, lower-income corridors tend to cluster in the D and F grade tiers. This doesn't mean lower-income neighborhoods are uniformly unsafe — West Lawn (A), for instance, has a median income of just $64,296 yet earns a top safety grade — but the broader economic context shapes the crime landscape in meaningful ways.

Is the Gold Coast safe? What about other well-known Chicago neighborhoods?

Yes — Gold Coast earns a Grade A in 2026, making it one of the safest neighborhoods in Chicago. With a population of 15,684 and a median household income of $118,873, it combines low crime with high walkability and strong amenity access. Other well-known neighborhoods worth noting by grade: Beverly (A) is a top-performing South Side community; Norwood Park (A) is a reliable Far Northwest Side choice; and Dunning (A) offers a large residential population with strong safety metrics. If you're evaluating a specific neighborhood not listed here, the interactive Chicago crime map on this page allows you to filter by grade, incident type, and recency.

What percentage of Chicago is actually safe?

By the 2026 neighborhood analysis, 77% of Chicago's 86 analyzed neighborhoods rate as safe — defined as earning a Grade A or B. Breaking that down further: 43% of neighborhoods earned an A (37 neighborhoods) and 33.7% earned a B (29 neighborhoods). Only 3.5% received an F grade (3 neighborhoods) and 11.6% received a D (10 neighborhoods). The remaining 8.1% (7 neighborhoods) sit in the middle C range. This distribution means that if you randomly selected a Chicago neighborhood from the analyzed set, there is a roughly 3-in-4 chance it falls into the safe tier — a statistic that often surprises people conditioned by media narratives about the city.