Do you live in one of the murder capitals of Illinois?
We all watch the news with horror when we hear about a homicide that happens not that far away from us. While a murder just blocks or even a couple of towns away from your house would make anyone uneasy, in the long run, most likely, where you live is relatively safe.
So we wanted to get the facts straight and dug into the FBI crime data in order to identify the places with the most murders and the highest murder rates per capita in Illinois.
What city has the highest murder rate in Illinois? The city with the highest murder rate in Illinois is East St. Louis with 190.3 murders per 100,000 people.
What is the city in Illinois with highest number of murders? The city in Illinois with the highest number of murders is Chicago with 771 murders.
Read on below to see how we crunched the numbers and how your town in Illinois ranked. There were ‘only’ 94 cities in Illinois where a city reported a murder to the FBI, meaning 212 places had no murder.
For more reading on the Prairie State check out:
- Best Places To Live In Illinois
- Cheapest Places To Live In Illinois
- Most Dangerous Cities In Illinois
Article Table Of Contents
The 10 Murder Capitals Of Illinois For 2023
/10
Population: 26,277
Rank Last Year: –
Murders: 50 (2nd Most)
Murders Per 100k: 190.3 (Most)
More on East St. Louis: Data | Cost Of Living | Crime Report
/10
Population: 23,055
Rank Last Year: 1
Murders: 16 (5th Most)
Murders Per 100k: 69.4 (2nd Most)
More on Maywood: Data | Cost Of Living
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Population: 2,693,598
Rank Last Year: 2
Murders: 771 (Most)
Murders Per 100k: 28.6 (7th Most)
More on Chicago: Data | Cost Of Living
/10
Population: 25,863
Rank Last Year: 3
Murders: 8 (12th Most)
Murders Per 100k: 30.9 (4th Most)
More on Kankakee: Data | Cost Of Living
/10
Population: 12,289
Rank Last Year: 5
Murders: 7 (14th Most)
Murders Per 100k: 57.0 (3rd Most)
More on Markham: Data | Cost Of Living
/10
Population: 41,673
Rank Last Year: 44
Murders: 9 (10th Most)
Murders Per 100k: 21.6 (10th Most)
More on Urbana: Data | Cost Of Living
/10
Population: 30,208
Rank Last Year: 6
Murders: 8 (12th Most)
Murders Per 100k: 26.5 (8th Most)
More on Danville: Data | Cost Of Living
/10
Population: 148,155
Rank Last Year: –
Murders: 25 (3rd Most)
Murders Per 100k: 16.9 (19th Most)
More on Joliet: Data | Cost Of Living | Crime Report
/10
Population: 70,175
Rank Last Year: 7
Murders: 13 (7th Most)
Murders Per 100k: 18.5 (16th Most)
More on Decatur: Data | Cost Of Living
/10
Population: 13,025
Rank Last Year: 8
Murders: 4 (22nd Most)
Murders Per 100k: 30.7 (5th Most)
More on Riverdale: Data | Cost Of Living
Methodology: How we calculated the murder capitals of Illinois
While there are surveys and public polls on what cities in a state are the most dangerous, we didn’t want to rely on speculation and opinion. Instead, we looked at the hard numbers from the FBI’s last year of reporting. Specifically, we analyzed the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report which summarizes the number of murders that may happen in each city per year.
We only looked every single city in Illinois for which FBI data was available for the most recent FBI Crime In The United States. That left us with 94 cities to rank.
Finally, we averaged the two scores into an index:
- The raw number of murders in each city
- The murders per person
We felt as if a small place with 2,500 people and two murders makes it a lot more dangerous than a city of 25,000 people with three murders. Any ties went to the larger city.
This article is an opinion based on facts. It is our tenth time ranking the most places with the most murders per capita in Illinois and is updated for 2023.
Summary: The Places With The Most Murders In Illinois For 2023
If you’re looking at the places in Illinois with the most murders, and where residents have the highest chances of being killed themselves, this is an accurate list. Again, these statistics are an indication of where crimes occur, not a statement about the effectiveness of the law enforcement in the areas they serve.
For more Illinois reading, check out:
- Best Places To Raise A Family In Illinois
- Fastest Growing Cities In Illinois
- Safest Places In Illinois
- Best Cities For Singles In Illinois
- Worst Places To Live In Illinois