Rockford Gets Very Poor Grades On Illinois Safe Cities List

When you look at headlines like "Rockford’s violent crime, shootings, assaults continue to climb," it really shouldn't come as a surprise that Rockford's position on the Illinois' Safest Cities list is pretty far down.

Here's What The Study Looked At To Make Their Rankings

The home safety and security experts at SafeWise.com explain:

We use FBI crime statistics data to rank cities in each state and across the country. To add extra insight and depth to that assessment, we include demographic information and the results of our proprietary State of Safety research study.

The "safest" cities rankings are intended to highlight cities with low crime rates and ignite conversation and action around how to make all cities and communities safer.

Before We Get To Rockford's Ranking, Which Cities Are The Safest/Least Safest In Illinois?

Campton Hills takes the title as Illinois' safest city, followed closely by Hawthorn Woods (population 7,663), and then Inverness (population 7,339) to round out the top 3. The least safe Illinois city on the SafeWise list is Sauk Village at #265, while Mount Vernon is #264, and Danville (boyhood home of Dick Van Dyke) comes in at #263

Rockford Is Rated Way Down The List, But So Is A Lot Of Northern Illinois And Chicago

Overall, Rockford is at the #248 position on the rankings list. The rest of our region doesn't have much to brag about either, unfortunately (although Roscoe landed in the top 50 at #38). Here are some of our regional numbers:

• Belvidere: 116
• Rochelle: 127
• Elgin: 131
• Rockton: 157
• South Beloit: 171
• Loves Park: 173
• Dixon: 176
• Freeport: 194
• DeKalb: 238
• Chicago: 242