Newton, IL is higher-crime than most U.S. cities, and earns a B PlainCrime safety grade, where violent crime runs 17% below the U.S. average
According to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program for 2024, Newton, IL shows violent crime at 292.5 per 100,000 residents and property crime at 1,279.7 per 100,000. Violent crime runs 17% below the U.S. average. PlainCrime assigns grade B from those rates. Figures are voluntary agency submissions joined to population denominators; incomplete coverage can move the number.
B safety grade
292.5/100K violent
1279.7/100K property
-17% vs U.S.
What the 2024 FBI UCR record shows for Newton, IL
Small-count caution
The violent-crime count is small enough that the derived rate is unstable
Newton reported 8 violent offences in 2024 against a population of 2,735. 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
Newton's closest reported-rate comparisons are in the Illinois cohort
The nearest comparable 2024 records to Newton's 292.5 violent-crime rate per 100,000 are Alsip (289.8), Chicago Ridge (285.5), Robinson (301.4), University Park (301.7). 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.
Position in the state cohort
Newton reported a higher violent-crime rate than most comparable Illinois cities
At 292.5 reported violent offenses per 100,000 residents in 2024, Newton ranks 92 of 506 — above 414 of the 505 other Illinois cities whose 2024 submission passes this site’s completeness test. That is +193.5% against the cohort median of 99.7. Cities that did not report, or that reported implausibly low totals, are excluded from this cohort rather than counted as low-crime.
Property-offense composition
Larceny-theft dominates the property total more than it does across the cohort
Larceny-theft is 91.4% of reported property offenses in Newton, against a cohort median of 70.2%. The remainder is burglary (3) and motor vehicle theft (0). Composition differences of this size usually track what kinds of places and property are present in a jurisdiction.
Offense mix
Violent offenses make up an unusually large share of the reported mix
Violent offenses are 18.6% of the 43 Part I offenses reported in Newton for 2024, against a median of 11.2% across comparable Illinois cities — a gap of 7.4 points. Offense mix is shaped by which agencies report and how incidents are classified as well as by the underlying offenses, so it describes the reported record rather than a settled difference in conditions.
2020–2024 direction
The reported violent-crime rate ended the window higher
Across 5 comparable reporting years, the rate moved from 279.8 per 100,000 in 2020 to 292.5 in 2024 (+4.5%). The highest observed value was 508.4 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 counts dominate Newton'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 8 reported violent incidents in a population of 2,735. 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.
Newton's 2024 municipal footprint
Across 2.1 Census sq mi, Newton logged 16.7 property and 3.8 violent offenses per square mile in 2024.
Newton's 2024 book concentrates in larceny-theft (74% of 43 offenses; mix index 5,803).
Violent offenses are 19% of the municipal total; property offenses still dominate the count.
Density uses Census Gazetteer land area (2.1 sq mi); mix index is HHI x 10,000 on the offense-type shares above. Distinct from the per-100K rates in the hero.
Violent rate moved most (2023→2024)
Violent Crime Rate
-42.5%
508.4 → 292.5/100K
Property Crime Rate
+35.5%
944.1 → 1279.7/100K
Property offenses lead Newton's 2024 record
Offense
Count
Rate /100K
vs US avg
vs IL
Property Crime
35
1279.7
1711
1664.8
Larceny-Theft
32
1170
-
-
Burglary
3
109.7
-
-
Motor Vehicle Theft
0
0
-
-
Arson
0
0
-
-
Violent Crime
8
292.5
352
277.5
Aggravated Assault
6
219.4
-
-
Rape
2
73.1
-
-
Murder
0
0
-
-
Robbery
0
0
-
-
Newton 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.
Newton property crime rate trend
Lead series · rose across 4 comparable years · FBI UCR
Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program · split lines are the U.S. national averagesRead the chart as a list
Newton: 293 violent, 1280 property per 100,000 (grade B)
Diamond: 0 violent, 37 property per 100,000 (grade A+)
Pawnee: 0 violent, 111 property per 100,000 (grade A+)
Havana: 754 violent, 1185 property per 100,000 (grade F)
Knoxville: 72 violent, 574 property per 100,000 (grade A)
Hamilton: 0 violent, 299 property per 100,000 (grade A+)
Oakbrook Terrace: 225 violent, 2657 property per 100,000 (grade C)
Trenton: 38 violent, 228 property per 100,000 (grade A+)
Christopher: 114 violent, 3280 property per 100,000 (grade B)
Newton Police Department
Reporting agency for Newton NIBRS-participating
Newton Police Department filed the 2024 UCR row behind Newton's 43 reported offenses (4-year span 2020-2024, with internal gaps).
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 Newton in population. Their populations run from 2,622 to 2,790, against 2,735 here. Or use our
side-by-side compare tool
to benchmark two cities directly.
In 2024, Newton reported 8 violent crimes and 35 property crimes, for a total of 43 reported offenses.
Is crime increasing or decreasing in Newton?
From 2023 to 2024, Newton's violent crime rate decreased by 42.5%, and the property crime rate increased by 35.5%.
What is the most common crime in Newton?
The most common crime type in Newton is larceny-theft, accounting for 74.4% of all reported crimes (32 incidents in 2024).
Small-city read: Newton 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 Newton, IL rates use the reporting-year population on the municipal row.