Berkeley, IL carries a PlainCrime A safety grade with violent crime 77% below the U.S. average
According to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program for 2024, Berkeley, IL shows violent crime at 79.8 per 100,000 residents and property crime at 618.1 per 100,000. Violent crime runs 77% below the U.S. average. PlainCrime assigns grade A from those rates. Figures are voluntary agency submissions joined to population denominators; incomplete coverage can move the number.
A safety grade
79.8/100K violent
618.1/100K property
-77% vs U.S.
The verdict
Berkeley earns an A safety grade: violent crime runs 77% below the U.S. average, placing it safer than most U.S. cities.
A
PlainCrime safety grade
-77%
violent crime vs. U.S. average
78th
percentile of 7,769 U.S. cities
618.1
property crimes per 100K
Based on 4 reported violent incidents in a population of 5,015. At this volume, one additional or one fewer report can shift the rate and letter grade noticeably; small-city crime counts are inherently more volatile year to year than large-city counts, so treat this grade as a data point, not a precise ranking.
What the 2024 FBI UCR record shows for Berkeley, IL
Small-count caution
The violent-crime count is small enough that the derived rate is unstable
Berkeley reported 4 violent offences in 2024 against a population of 5,015. At this volume one additional or one fewer report moves the per-100,000 rate noticeably, so the figure is better read as a data point than as a precise measurement, and year-to-year swings here are expected.
Comparable rate records
Berkeley's closest reported-rate comparisons are in the Illinois cohort
The nearest comparable 2024 records to Berkeley's 79.8 violent-crime rate per 100,000 are Riverside (80.4), Pinckneyville (80.4), Round Lake Heights (78.1), Round Lake (81.8). These are same-year agency submissions that pass the same completeness screen, not a claim that the cities have identical conditions. They make the cohort position above checkable against named records instead of a generic state average.
2020–2024 direction
The reported violent-crime rate ended the window lower
Across 5 comparable reporting years, the rate moved from 159.0 per 100,000 in 2020 to 79.8 in 2024 (-49.9%). The highest observed value was 276.8 in 2023 and the lowest 0.0 in 2021. Years whose submission failed the completeness test are left out of this comparison rather than plotted as change.
Property-offense composition
Burglary and vehicle theft carry more of the property total than they do across the cohort
Larceny-theft is 54.8% of reported property offenses in Berkeley, against a cohort median of 70.3%. The remainder is burglary (11) and motor vehicle theft (3). Composition differences of this size usually track what kinds of places and property are present in a jurisdiction.
Position in the state cohort
Berkeley sits mid-pack among comparable Illinois cities
At 79.8 reported violent offenses per 100,000 residents in 2024, Berkeley ranks 294 of 506 — above 212 of the 505 other Illinois cities whose 2024 submission passes this site’s completeness test. That is -20.8% against the cohort median of 100.7. Cities that did not report, or that reported implausibly low totals, are excluded from this cohort rather than counted as low-crime.
Property counts dominate Berkeley's FBI UCR Table 8 municipal row. Per-100,000 rates use the reporting-year population on that row; cities that fail the completeness test stay out of rate rankings. A citywide figure rarely describes any single neighbourhood inside the municipal boundary.
Based on 4 reported violent incidents in a population of 5,015. At this volume, one additional or one fewer report can shift the rate and letter grade noticeably; small-city crime counts are inherently more volatile year to year than large-city counts, so treat this grade as a data point, not a precise ranking.
Small-city offense counts above are voluntary UCR submissions, not neighbourhood advice. Year-to-year swings can look large when the population base is modest.
Violent rate moved most (2023→2024)
Violent Crime Rate
-71.2%
276.8 → 79.8/100K
Property Crime Rate
+4.2%
593.1 → 618.1/100K
Property offenses lead Berkeley's 2024 record
Offense
Count
Rate /100K
vs US avg
vs IL
Property Crime
31
618.1
1711
1664.8
Larceny-Theft
17
339
-
-
Burglary
11
219.3
-
-
Motor Vehicle Theft
3
59.8
-
-
Arson
1
19.9
-
-
Violent Crime
4
79.8
352
277.5
Aggravated Assault
3
59.8
-
-
Rape
1
19.9
-
-
Murder
0
0
-
-
Robbery
0
0
-
-
Berkeley Crime Trend (2020-2024)
The chart omits 2021 rather than drawing an unsupported zero or partial-coverage dip. The table preserves the year and marks the gap.
Berkeley property crime rate trend
Lead series · fell across 4 comparable years · FBI UCR
Property crime rate (2024)
618.1/100K↑4.2%vs 2023
Berkeley violent crime rate trend
Secondary series · fell · 2020-2024 · FBI UCR
Violent crime rate (2024)
79.8/100K↓71.2%vs 2023
Year
Coverage
Population
Violent Rate
Property Rate
Total Crimes
2020
Comparable
5,030
159
1212.7
69
2021
Insufficient reporting
4,963
-
-
-
2022
Comparable
5,112
39.1
39.1
4
2023
Comparable
5,058
276.8
593.1
44
2024
Comparable
5,015
79.8
618.1
35
How Berkeley sits among IL peers
Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program · split lines are the U.S. national averages
Reporting Agency
Berkeley Police Department NIBRS-participating
Berkeley's crime figures on this page originate from Berkeley Police Department's submission to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting Program.
This agency reports via NIBRS, the incident-based system that captures more detail per offense (multiple crimes per incident, victim/offender data) than the older summary counts.
Similar-Size Cities in Illinois
Crime rates read differently at different scales, so these are the Illinois cities closest to Berkeley in population. Their populations run from 4,929 to 5,258, against 5,015 here. Or use our
side-by-side compare tool
to benchmark two cities directly.
These Illinois cities report the closest violent-crime rates to Berkeley's 79.8/100K (same FBI UCR vintage rules; size peers above are excluded so the two lists stay distinct).
Berkeley has a violent crime rate of 79.8 per 100,000 residents and a property crime rate of 618.1 per 100,000, based on 2024 FBI UCR data.
Is Berkeley, IL safe? ▼
Berkeley receives a safety grade of A (Safe), with a safety score of 87/100. The violent crime rate is 77% below the national average and 71% below the Illinois average.
What is the population of Berkeley, IL? ▼
The reporting population for Berkeley is 5,015 as of 2024.
How many crimes were reported in Berkeley? ▼
In 2024, Berkeley reported 4 violent crimes and 31 property crimes, for a total of 35 reported offenses.
How do Berkeley's reported offenses compare with its population? ▼
In 2024, Berkeley recorded about one reported offense per 143 residents and one reported violent offense per 1254 residents. These ratios count reported offenses, not distinct victims, and are not a person's probability of victimization.
Is crime increasing or decreasing in Berkeley? ▼
From 2023 to 2024, Berkeley's violent crime rate decreased by 71.2%, and the property crime rate increased by 4.2%.
What is the most common crime in Berkeley? ▼
The most common crime type in Berkeley is larceny-theft, accounting for 48.6% of all reported crimes (17 incidents in 2024).
Small-city read: Berkeley is sourced from FBI UCR Table 8 for 2024; rates use that row's population.
Small-city rows use the same per-100,000 formula; a few unreported years can leave gaps in the trend table. Verify the agency's submission on FBI.gov UCR.
Disclaimer (small city): UCR counts here are informational only. They are not a victimization probability. Source: FBI UCR Program.
Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program CIUS Table 8 municipal crime rates · 2024 Berkeley, IL rates use the reporting-year population on the municipal row.