With a crime rate of 39 per one thousand residentsChicago has one of the highest crime rates in America compared to all communities of all sizes - from the smallest towns to the very largest cities. One's chance of becoming a victim of either violent or property crime here is one in 26. Within Illinoismore than 98% of the communities have a lower crime rate than Chicago.

Importantlywhen you compare Chicago to other communities of similar populationthen Chicago crime rate (violent and property crimes combined) is quite a bit higher than average. Regardless of how Chicago does relative to all communities in America of all sizeswhen NeighborhoodScout compared it to communities of similar population sizeits crime rate per thousand residents stands out as higher than most.

Now let us turn to take a look at how Chicago does for violent crimes specificallyand then how it does for property crimes. This is important because the overall crime rate can be further illuminated by understanding if violent crime or property crimes (or both) are the major contributors to the general rate of crime in Chicago.

For Chicagowe found that the violent crime rate is one of the highest in the nationacross communities of all sizes (both large and small). Violent offenses tracked included rapemurder and non-negligent manslaughterarmed robberyand aggravated assaultincluding assault with a deadly weapon. According to NeighborhoodScout's analysis of FBI reported crime datayour chance of becoming a victim of one of these crimes in Chicago is one in 191.

Significantlybased on the number of murders reported by the FBI and the number of residents living in the cityNeighborhoodScout's analysis shows that Chicago experiences one of the higher murder rates in the nation when compared with cities and towns for all sizes of populationfrom the largest to the smallest.

In additionNeighborhoodScout found that a lot of the crime that takes place in Chicago is property crime. Property crimes that are tracked for this analysis are burglarylarceny over fifty dollarsmotor vehicle theftand arson. In Chicagoyour chance of becoming a victim of a property crime is one in 30which is a rate of 34 per one thousand population.

Importantlywe found that Chicago has one of the highest rates of motor vehicle theft in the nation according to our analysis of FBI crime data. This is compared to communities of all sizesfrom the smallest to the largest. In factyour chance of getting your car stolen if you live in Chicago is one in 120.