West Chicago, IL carries a PlainCrime A safety grade with violent crime 48% below the U.S. average
According to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program for 2024, West Chicago, IL shows violent crime at 184.2 per 100,000 residents and property crime at 612.8 per 100,000. Violent crime runs 48% 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
184.2/100K violent
612.8/100K property
-48% vs U.S.
What the 2024 FBI UCR record shows for West Chicago, IL
Comparable rate records
West Chicago's closest reported-rate comparisons are in the Illinois cohort
The nearest comparable 2024 records to West Chicago's 184.2 violent-crime rate per 100,000 are Homewood (186.1), Bolingbrook (182.0), Ottawa (186.9), La Grange (187.4). 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 higher
Across 4 comparable reporting years, the rate moved from 134.5 per 100,000 in 2020 to 184.2 in 2024 (+37.0%). The highest observed value was 184.2 in 2024 and the lowest 4.0 in 2022. Years whose submission failed the completeness test are left out of this comparison rather than plotted as change.
Offense mix
Violent offenses make up an unusually large share of the reported mix
Violent offenses are 23.1% of the 199 Part I offenses reported in West Chicago for 2024, against a median of 11.2% across comparable Illinois cities — a gap of 11.9 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.
Position in the state cohort
West Chicago sits mid-pack among comparable Illinois cities
At 184.2 reported violent offenses per 100,000 residents in 2024, West Chicago ranks 161 of 506 — above 345 of the 505 other Illinois cities whose 2024 submission passes this site’s completeness test. That is +84.9% 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 counts dominate West Chicago'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.
Mid-size municipal totals above are reported offenses, not safety advice for any single block. Reporting completeness still varies by year and agency.
West Chicago's 2024 municipal footprint
Across 15.4 Census sq mi, West Chicago logged 9.9 property and 3 violent offenses per square mile in 2024.
West Chicago leans on larceny-theft at 57% of reported offenses, with a moderate mix index of 3,759.
Violent offenses are 23% of the municipal total; property offenses still dominate the count.
Density uses Census Gazetteer land area (15.4 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
+58.7%
116.1 → 184.2/100K
Property Crime Rate
-5.5%
648.7 → 612.8/100K
Property offenses lead West Chicago's 2024 record
Offense
Count
Rate /100K
vs US avg
vs IL
Property Crime
153
612.8
1711
1664.8
Larceny-Theft
114
456.6
-
-
Burglary
27
108.1
-
-
Motor Vehicle Theft
12
48.1
-
-
Arson
2
8
-
-
Violent Crime
46
184.2
352
277.5
Aggravated Assault
28
112.1
-
-
Rape
15
60.1
-
-
Murder
2
8
-
-
Robbery
1
4
-
-
West Chicago 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.
West Chicago property crime rate trend
Lead series · fell across 4 comparable years · FBI UCR
Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program · split lines are the U.S. national averages
West Chicago Police Department
Reporting agency for West Chicago NIBRS-participating
West Chicago Police Department filed the 2024 UCR row behind West Chicago's 199 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 West Chicago in population. Their populations run from 24,339 to 25,802, against 24,968 here. Or use our
side-by-side compare tool
to benchmark two cities directly.
West Chicago at 184.2/100K violent and 612.8/100K property - matched below outside Illinois (≥10k pop, latest UCR vintage; not the in-state lists above).
In 2024, West Chicago reported 46 violent crimes and 153 property crimes, for a total of 199 reported offenses.
Is crime increasing or decreasing in West Chicago?
From 2023 to 2024, West Chicago's violent crime rate increased by 58.7%, and the property crime rate decreased by 5.5%.
What is the most common crime in West Chicago?
The most common crime type in West Chicago is larceny-theft, accounting for 57.3% of all reported crimes (114 incidents in 2024).
Mid-size read: West Chicago figures are FBI UCR CIUS Table 8 (vintage 2024), population-adjusted per 100,000.
Denominators are the reporting-year population on the municipal row. Incomplete years are dropped from rankings. Confirm at FBI Crime Data Explorer and Census.gov QuickFacts.
Disclaimer (mid-size municipal): figures are informational, not advice. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program is the source. Consult a professional before decisions.
Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program CIUS Table 8 municipal crime rates · 2024 West Chicago, IL rates use the reporting-year population on the municipal row.