The 10 Most Dangerous Cities In Illinois For 2022


We used data and science to identify the most dangerous cities in the Prairie State for 2022.

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We have proof that there's a lot of 'noise' in Illinois in terms of its most dangerous cities.

Gone are the days that parents can let their children run wild until the street lights come on. Heck, parents shouldn't let their kids out of their sight in our most dangerous cities in Illinois for 2022. How does one navigate these dangerous cities when trying to make an informed decision on what city you should call home? We did the work for you. In order to compile our list, we looked at violent crimes and property crimes in cities with a minimum population of 5,000. Folks, the cities that made our list have robberies happening in broad daylight, car jackings, and daily shootings. There are neighborhoods in these cities that you shouldn't drive thru at all and there are areas that you definitely shouldn't be in after dark.

We're not saying that there aren't little pockets of goodness in these cities. The neighborhoods and shopping centers in these Illinois cities are not ALL bad. For example, Chicago isn't nearly as bad as certain people would have you believe. We do recommend that you spend some time studying them before you make a move. If you choose one of these cities, you're going to have to be aware of your surroundings at all times: there are a ton of 'wolves in sheep's clothing' out there.

It's not entirely Illinois' fault. They are the sixth largest state in terms of population. As with most situations, there's bound to be problems with that many people. On a positive note, there are people out there coming together to combat the problems that these Illinois' cities are facing. And, thankfully, some of the programs are actually winning. To see where these Illinois cities with all the problems are located, take a look below at our most dangerous cities in Illinois for 2022.

The Most Dangerous Cities In Illinois For 2022

  1. Rockford
  2. Danville
  3. Mount Vernon
  4. Centralia
  5. Granite City
  6. Cahokia
  7. Peoria
  8. Springfield
  9. Decatur
  10. Marion

What are the circumstances that make these Illinois cities this way? Maybe not enough jobs, low wages, people just don't want to work, prisons, drugs, gangs, close to larger cities that push their problems onto surrounding cities?

We're not entirely sure. But one thing we are sure about is our number one most dangerous city in Illinois is Rockford.

The Illinois cities on our most dangerous list could definitely use some TLC. If you're looking to be that diamond in the rough, or you're just curious to see if your city made the list, take a look at our list below. And if you don't see your city there, head to the bottom.

Learn more about the safest places in Illinois.

If you're looking for something more national, check out the most dangerous cities in America or the most dangerous states in America.

For more Illinois reading, check out:

The 10 Most Dangerous Places To Live In Illinois For 2022

Rockford is the most populous city to make this list and the 4th biggest in Illinois. Having the second highest violent crime rate in the state is the big reason Rockford features on this list. With a robbery and five aggravated assaults happening just about every day, it's safe to say that you're not paranoid looking over your shoulder in Rockford.

Overall, residents of Rockford face a 1 in 68 chance of being the victim of a violent crime each year. If you're stressing about the high crime rates in Rockford, you can try to mellow out in Anderson Japanese Gardens - just be sure to tell someone where you're going before you head over.

Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 144,795
Rank Last Year: 8 (Up 7)
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 1,451 (Second most dangerous)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 2,834 (Most dangerous)
More on Rockford:  | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Rockford, IL

While Mount Vernon takes the cake for most dangerous city statewide overall, there's nowhere more violent in Illinois than Danville. Danville averaged a murder each month in 2020, giving the city the seventh highest murder rate in the state. With all that live-action violence going on every day, it's no wonder that the Vermilion County War Museum is one of Danville's biggest attractions.

It's not like Danville doesn't have its fair share of property crime either -- each year, residents face a 1 in 63 chance of having their stuff damaged or stolen.

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 30,208
Rank Last Year: 3 (Up 1)
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 1,671 (Most dangerous)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 1,579 (Third most dangerous)
More on Danville:  | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Danville, IL

Source: Public domain

We're making a stop on our tour of the most dangerous places to live in Illinois in Mount Vernon, a city in Jefferson County. Last year, Mount Vernon was also the most dangerous, so King City's stay at the top spot is predictable, but a bit disturbing.

How'd things turn so bad so quick? Well, Mount Vernon has the fourth highest violent crime rate in the state, with residents facing a crazy high 1 in 85 chance of being attacked or killed in 2020.

Property crime also isn't so great in Mount Vernon, which has the fifth highest rate of burglaries in Illinois. Looks like the local police have their work cut out for them.

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 14,670
Rank Last Year: 1 (Down 2)
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 1,165 (Fourth most dangerous)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 1,124 (13th most dangerous)
More on Mount Vernon:  | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Mount Vernon, IL

Located 60 miles east of St. Louis, Centralia ranks as the fourth most dangerous places to live in Illinois for 2022. If you're hanging out in Foundation Park, you might want to bring a buddy and get home before dark, because Centralia is the third most violent place in Illinois.

Centralia also has the unfortunate distinction of having the third highest rape cases per capita in the state. You're not even safe at home in Centralia, seeing as the city also has the second highest rate of burglaries in Illinois.

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 12,123
Rank Last Year: 2 (Down 2)
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 1,311 (Third most dangerous)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 1,113 (15th most dangerous)
More on Centralia:  | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Centralia, IL

Granite City has an industrial past. It gets its name from a manufacturing tradition that goes back to the late 1800s, when the company's main employer was a company that made kitchen utensils that looked like granite.

Located in west-central Illinois, Granite City sits just across the Mississippi River from Missouri. In this regard, it acts as a kind of cross-border suburb to St. Louis.

It's a good thing it sits so close to the river. The water could come in handy in a community with the number 4 highest rate of arsons in the state. This is part of an overall crime problem for the community, with Granite City representing the number 5 most dangerous spot in Illinois.

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 27,982
Rank Last Year: 30 (Up 25)
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 779 (16th most dangerous)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 1,247 (Sixth most dangerous)
More on Granite City:  | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Granite City, IL

We make our next stop in consideration of Illinois's most dangerous locales in the town of Cahokia, a village located just south of St. Louis. Cahokia is the 2highest least violent place on our list, so you don't have to worry much about getting attacked at a local park.

At the same time, you probably want to invest in some good home security if you're living in Cahokia, because the village experienced the third highest burglary rate in Illinois for 2020, with a burglary happening every other day on average.

This is Cahokia's first time on the top ten most dangerous in Illinois list, so if it can get its property crime rate down to its violent crime levels, the village should have no problem getting back off this list next year.

Overall SnackAbility

3
/10

Population: 13,738
Rank Last Year: 9 (Up 3)
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 684 (21st most dangerous)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 1,746 (Second most dangerous)
More on Cahokia:  | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Cahokia, IL

Coming in as the seventh most dangerous place in Illinois is Peoria. Peoria is known for having one of the most scenic roads in the country, Grand View Drive, but with 430 car thefts occurring in 2020, we wonder how many people that got to experience it in 2020 were driving cars they actually owned.

Peoria also ranked as the sixth most violent place in Illinois, with 14 murders taking place and residents facing a 1 in 101 chance of being attacked in 2020.

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 109,924
Rank Last Year: 6 (Down 1)
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 986 (Sixth most dangerous)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 1,052 (17th most dangerous)
More on Peoria:  | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Peoria, IL

I'm going to go out on a limb here and posit that the Springfield the Simpsons live in isn't in Illinois, based on the fact that the Simpson's hometown only has one bumbling criminal at work. I'm also going to guess that Abraham Lincoln would be pretty disappointed with the state of affairs in Springfield these days.

Both violent crime and property crime rates in Springfield are in the top ten statewide, with 1,230 instances of theft, burglary, and vandalism, and 1,078 attacks and murders.

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 113,912
Rank Last Year: 7 (Down 1)
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 946 (Eighth most dangerous)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 1,079 (16th most dangerous)
More on Springfield:  | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Springfield, IL

Decatur is located in the center of Illinois. When you hear about the state, your mind might automatically turn to Chicago, the biggest city in the Midwest and the home of infamous criminals like Al Capone.

Well, that's a long way from here. Decatur sits in the middle of farm country. No wonder it serves as the headquarters of agriculture giant Archer Daniels Midland. But while farms make up much of the surrounding landscape, Decatur suffers from a taste of the Chicago-style crime. While violence is reasonably under wraps, high burglary rates contribute to making this the number 9 most dangerous spot in Illinois.

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 70,175
Rank Last Year: 32 (Up 23)
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 696 (20th most dangerous)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 1,205 (Eighth most dangerous)
More on Decatur:  | Cost Of Living | Crime Report

Decatur, IL

Source: Public domain

A former mayor once called Marion "the hub of the universe." Uh, hardly. But among the cornfields of southern Illinois, it serves as a key urban outpost.

So, not the hub of the universe. But the hub of a car-theft ring? Maybe. In a population of just 17,551 residents, Marion suffered 80 stolen cars during a year. For rural Illinois, that's a crime wave.

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 17,551
Rank Last Year: -
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 774 (17th most dangerous)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 1,150 (12th most dangerous)
More on Marion:  | Cost Of Living

Marion, IL

Source: Public domain

Methodology: How we determined the most dangerous cities in Illinois for 2022?

Every year the FBI release two crime datasets, a preliminary dataset limited to the biggest cities in the country, followed by a more detailed release at the end of the year.

For our analysis, we focused on the JUST released 2020 data, specifically the 2020 Crime In The United States Report. We will update the results when data becomes available in September 2022.

So what criteria did we use? Have a look:

  • Violent Crimes Per Capita
  • Property Crimes Per Capita

In order to make the analysis as apples to apples as possible, we only considered Illinois cities over 5,000 in population. That left us with 259 cities in Illinois.

We then ranked each city from 1 to 259 for the two criteria with a #1 ranking being the most dangerous for the particular criteria.

Next, we averaged the two rankings into one "Dangerous Index".

Finally, we ranked every city on the "Dangerous Index" with the lowest index being the most dangerous in Illinois -- Rockford. Any ties went to the smaller city. You can download the data here.

Most Dangerous Places To Live In Illinois FAQs

Is Illinois a dangerous state?

No, Illinois is not a dangerous state as it ranks as the #24 safest state in the United States based on our analysis of the latest FBI Crime Data. The violent crime rate in illinois ranks 18th highest in the United States -- 9.83% worse than US average violent crime rate. The property crime rate in the Prairie State ranks 38th highest in the United States -- 20.37% better than US average property crime rate. The latest reporting year from the FBI was 2020.

Is Chicago, IL a dangerous city?

No, Chicago is not a dangerous city. Chicago ranks as the #44 safest out of 320 major cities over 100,000 people in the United States based on our analysis of the latest FBI Crime Data. Keep in mind that are always safe and dangerous parts of any city, so even though Chicago might be considered safe you still need to be aware of where you are. For example, Edison Park is the safest in Chicago, while West Garfield Park is considered dangerous by many based on recent crime stats.

Compared to other big cities, the violent crime rate in Chicago ranks 39th highest in America -- 79.79% worse than US average violent crime rate. The property crime rate in the ranks 316th highest in the United States -- 72.98% better than US average property crime rate. Note the latest reporting year from the FBI was 2020 and that no city in America is 'dangerous'. Despite the uptick in murders, it's nothing like you'd see in Tijuana or Caracas where the murder rate is 2x any American city.

Graphing The Most Dangerous And Safest Places In Illinois

Most Dangerous Cities In Illinois Graph

Click To Enlarge

Summary: Locking It All Up In Illinois

So what is the most dangerous city in Illinois? After analyzing 259 cities in Illinois, Rockford takes the top spot as the most dangerous city in Illinois based on the most recently reported FBI data -- 2020.

The latest FBI crime data shows that Rockford ranks as the most dangerous city in Illinois for 2022.

We want to point out again that there's still safes places in Rockford and that this isn't a comment on the people that live there. So please don't beat us up.

What are the circumstances that make these Illinois cities this way? Maybe not enough jobs, low wages, people just don't want to work, prisons, drugs, gangs, close to larger cities that push their problems onto surrounding cities?

We're not entirely sure. But one thing we are sure about is our number one most dangerous city in Illinois is Rockford.

The Illinois cities on our most dangerous list could definitely use some TLC. If you're looking to be that diamond in the rough, or you're just curious to see if your city made the list, take a look at our list below. And if you don't see your city there, head to the bottom.

Learn more about the safest places in Illinois.

If you're looking for something more national, check out the most dangerous cities in America or the most dangerous states in America.

Here are the safest cities in Illinois:

  1. Lindenhurst (Pop. 14,174)
  2. Edwardsville (Pop. 25,327)
  3. Cary (Pop. 18,036)
  4. Mascoutah (Pop. 8,045)
  5. Bartlett (Pop. 40,577)
  6. Buffalo Grove (Pop. 40,380)
  7. Hawthorn Woods (Pop. 8,770)
  8. Gilberts (Pop. 8,218)
  9. Campton Hills (Pop. 11,092)
  10. Spring Grove (Pop. 5,698)

For more Illinois reading, check out:

Crime By City In Illinois

Rank City Population Violent Crimes Per Capita Property Crimes Per Capita
1 Rockford 144,795 1,451 2,834
2 Danville 30,208 1,671 1,579
3 Mount Vernon 14,670 1,165 1,124
4 Centralia 12,123 1,311 1,113
5 Granite City 27,982 779 1,247
6 Cahokia 13,738 684 1,746
7 Peoria 109,924 986 1,052
8 Springfield 113,912 946 1,079
9 Decatur 70,175 696 1,205
10 Marion 17,551 774 1,150
11 Markham 12,289 602 1,367
12 Alton 26,027 829 979
13 North Riverside 6,402 843 905
14 Harrisburg 8,459 626 1,123
15 Robbins 5,448 789 862
16 Paris 8,225 559 1,191
17 Chicago 2,693,598 986 717
18 Riverdale 13,025 667 967
19 Matteson 19,494 949 723
20 Murphysboro 7,345 612 980
21 Maywood 23,055 941 724
22 Carbondale 24,933 725 814
23 Calumet City 35,779 441 1,341
24 Kankakee 25,863 943 641
25 Metropolis 5,881 561 935
26 Chicago Heights 29,207 701 742
27 Lansing 27,297 424 1,168
28 Rock Island 36,981 575 773
29 Bellwood 18,629 794 633
30 Salem 6,921 375 1,184
31 Zion 23,387 620 701
32 Galesburg 29,985 480 927
33 Champaign 89,785 921 537
34 Moline 41,128 496 765
35 Hazel Crest 13,515 325 1,235
36 Carlinville 5,434 533 607
37 Rock Falls 8,670 369 772
38 Eureka 5,276 511 568
39 East Moline 20,573 442 612
40 Beardstown 5,372 409 558
41 Bartonville 6,075 444 510
42 Posen 5,844 308 770
43 South Holland 21,218 278 815
44 Quincy 39,860 494 469
45 Broadview 7,585 355 646
46 Cicero 80,420 404 540
47 Peoria Heights 5,748 504 452
48 DeKalb 42,710 590 426
49 Oak Park 52,435 369 589
50 Herrin 12,704 362 606

How Is Your Town In ?

This article is an opinion based on facts and is meant as infotainment. It is our ninth time ranking the most dangerous places to live in Illinois and is updated for 2022.

About Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar has been in the real estate business for almost ten years now. He originally worked for Movoto Real Estate as the director of marketing before founding HomeSnacks.

He believes the key to finding the right place to live comes down to looking at the data, reading about things to do, and, most importantly, checking it out yourself before you move.

If you've been looking for a place to live in the past several years, you've probably stumbled upon his writing already.

You can find out more about him on LinkedIn or his website.