Intelligence dispatch / AZ-2026-7102
Safest Neighborhoods in Chicago: Crime Data & Map
Compare Chicago neighborhood safety: where violent and property incidents cluster and which areas lie outside the city's homicide core — based on 2025 data.
A Chicago street can feel calm at 8:00 p.m. and less certain a few miles later. That is the point of this search: not the city in the abstract, but the block, the route, the car left overnight.
The record points to a short list. Edison Park and Mount Greenwood lead the file, with Forest Glen, Norwood Park, Beverly, and Garfield Ridge close behind. The city grade sits at C-, but that headline hides a split map: 77% of the 86 neighborhoods reviewed scored A or B.
What matters is simple. These six areas sit outside Chicago’s main violence cluster, and the map stays lighter there. Still, lighter is not the same as risk-free. A calm neighborhood name can still hide a louder corner near a store strip, rail stop, or busy road.
The short read:
- Top two: Edison Park and Mount Greenwood
- Next group: Forest Glen, Norwood Park, Beverly, Garfield Ridge
- Main pattern: low violent-crime rates, fewer repeat hot spots, steadier year-to-year records
- Main warning: property crime, parked cars, and corridor blocks still need a close look
One fact does most of the work. 79% of Chicago homicides were concentrated in 20 of the city’s 77 community areas. These six neighborhoods sit outside that core. That does not settle every street, but it changes the odds.
The map also shows two tiers inside this safer group. On the Far Northwest Side, Edison Park, Norwood Park, and Forest Glen keep a quieter, more spread-out pattern. On the South and Southwest Sides, Mount Greenwood, Beverly, and Garfield Ridge also stay on the calmer end, though some edge blocks show more movement near commercial corridors and traffic routes.
Best plain-English verdict: if safety is the first filter, start with Edison Park and Mount Greenwood. If housing style, commute, or price pushes the search elsewhere, Forest Glen, Norwood Park, Beverly, and Garfield Ridge remain among Chicago’s safer bets.
A few cautions belong in the file:
- Police records usually post with about a seven-day delay
- Incident labels can change after review
- The map shows block-level locations, not exact addresses
- Police area lines do not always match the neighborhood names people use every day
That last point matters. A neighborhood grade is a first screen, not a final answer.
Before a lease, showing, hotel stay, or parking routine, check:
- The exact block
- The route to transit or parking
- Nearby retail strips and major roads
- Recent police reports, not just annual rank
The city file is clear on one thing: Chicago’s trouble is not spread evenly. The safest neighborhoods are not perfect. They are just farther from the city’s main pressure zones, with fewer violent incidents and less tight clustering on the map.
Bottom line: the safest Chicago neighborhoods in this file are Edison Park, Mount Greenwood, Forest Glen, Norwood Park, Beverly, and Garfield Ridge. Start there. Then check the exact block before calling any address safe.
1. Edison Park
Edison Park sits at the top of the file. Among the 86 Chicago neighborhoods under review, it ranks first and carries an A+ safety grade.[1]
Violent Crime Rate
The violent crime rate in Edison Park is about 1.2 per 1,000 residents in the 2025 crime year. That is the lowest violent-crime rate per person in Chicago.[5]
Set against the city, the gap is plain. Chicago's citywide violent crime risk stands at 1 in 230, while Edison Park lands far below that mark.[1]
Property Crime Rate
The main caution here is property crime. The pattern leans toward motor vehicle theft and car break-ins rather than street violence.
The trouble that does appear tends to track near North Side commercial corridors, where parked cars and passing traffic create more chances for theft and break-ins.[5]
Crime Map Pattern
On the map, Edison Park stays quiet. Few incidents form tight clusters, and the reports are spread lightly across the neighborhood.
Chicago Police maps incidents to the block level, not the exact address. Exact locations are redacted, so the map shows the area of a report, not a front door.[2][3]
Trend Stability
This is not a one-year fluke. Edison Park has held this spot with unusual steadiness across the past decade, including through Chicago's 2021 violent crime peak, when many other neighborhoods saw sharp jumps.[5][4]
The city changed around it. By the end of 2025, homicides citywide had fallen 47.7% from 2021, and 79% of Chicago's homicides were concentrated in just 20 of the 77 community areas.[4]
Next up: Mount Greenwood, where the same low-crime profile takes a different shape on the map.
sbb-itb-6d427fc
2. Mount Greenwood
Mount Greenwood holds #2 in the 2026 file and shares Edison Park's A+ safety grade. In this year's ranking, that puts it in rare company: one of only two Chicago neighborhoods to reach that mark.[1]
Violent Crime Rate
Chicago's violent crime risk stands at 1 in 230. Mount Greenwood comes in lower, which helps place it among the city's only two A+ neighborhoods in the 2026 analysis.[1]
Property Crime Rate
Across Chicago, property crime is the more common city story. The citywide risk is 1 in 38, or 43% above the national average.[1] Mount Greenwood sits well below that line, matching the profile of a neighborhood near the top of the safety table.[1]
Crime Map Pattern
On the block map, the pattern stays loose. Reports appear in scattered points, not in dense clusters that keep returning to the same small area.[2][3]
Trend Stability
The record has stayed steady over time. Mount Greenwood has remained near the top of Chicago's safety rankings, and the neighborhood's population stands at 18,739.[1]
Norwood Park comes next. It also scores well, though its crime pattern is less even from block to block.
3. Norwood Park
Norwood Park lands at #6 out of 86 Chicago neighborhoods in the 2026 file, with a Grade A rating.[1] That keeps it near the top of the city list and far above Chicago’s overall Grade C−.[1] The case for that ranking is simple: low recorded risk on both violent crime and property crime.
Violent Crime Rate
Norwood Park stays in Chicago’s lower-crime group, with a Grade A safety mark and a low level of reported violent crime.[1]
Property Crime Rate
The same Grade A result carries into property crime, where the reported pattern stays low as well.[1]
Crime Map Pattern
On the map, Norwood Park does not light up in tight clusters. The pattern is looser, with incidents scattered across the area instead of piling up on a few blocks.[2][3]
Trend Stability
The record stays steady. Norwood Park has held its place among Chicago’s top-tier neighborhoods, and it remains one of the Far Northwest Side’s safer areas alongside Edison Park and Forest Glen.[1] The neighborhood’s population is 44,533.[1]
Forest Glen appears next, with a similar low-crime pattern on the Far Northwest Side.
4. Forest Glen
Forest Glen moves in the same quiet lane as Norwood Park. On Chicago's Far Northwest Side, the pattern stays subdued. The area does not appear among the city's 20 most violent community areas, which keeps it in Chicago's safer tier.[4]
Violent Crime Rate
Reported violent crime stays low in Forest Glen, with few incidents compared with the size of the population.[1] On the map, that same pattern holds. The dots are sparse, with long gaps between them.
Crime Map Pattern
The map makes the most sense one block at a time. The city portal places incidents on blocks, not exact addresses, so each dot marks an approximate spot rather than a front door.[2][3] In Forest Glen, those dots stay scattered instead of piling into one pocket.
Trend Stability
The record stays steady in both views: the 2025 file and the rolling year through Aug. 19, 2026.[3]
5. Beverly
Beverly moves the pattern south, but the tone barely changes. The streets here sit outside Chicago’s highest-violence core, and Beverly remains in the city’s safer tier.
Violent Crime Rate
Beverly is moving with the city’s downward line on homicide. Chicago homicides fell 47.7% from the 2021 peak through 2025, including a 27.5% drop from 2024 to 2025.[4]
Property Crime Rate
Property crime spreads out across Beverly instead of piling up in one small pocket. The map does not show tight hot spots here.[2][3]
Crime Map Pattern
On the block map, Beverly looks scattered rather than concentrated. The dots are spread across the area instead of forming dense clusters.[2][3]
Trend Stability
The newest records through Aug. 19, 2026 still keep Beverly outside Chicago’s highest-violence community areas.[2][3][4] Garfield Ridge comes next with a similar low-crime profile on the Southwest Side.
6. Garfield Ridge
Garfield Ridge stays in the Southwest Side's quieter pattern. The file here does not flare the way it does in Chicago's hardest-hit places.
Violent Crime Rate
Garfield Ridge sits outside the city's highest-violence community areas. It does not carry the tight, repeated homicide burden seen in Chicago's most violent neighborhoods.[4]
Property Crime Rate
Property crime appears across Garfield Ridge instead of piling into one small zone. That keeps the neighborhood away from the city's busiest property-crime areas.[1]
Crime Map Pattern
On the map, the reports look dispersed. Trouble shows up across the area rather than stacking into a few hot spots.[2][3]
Trend Stability
The longer record does not show a sharp spike that holds. Garfield Ridge looks steadier over time.[2]
With all six neighborhoods now on the table, the next section pulls the map and crime record together to show the pattern across the full set.
What the Crime Data and Map Show
The city map draws a hard line. Chicago’s worst violence is packed into a small set of places, while these six neighborhoods sit outside that main pressure zone. Seventy-nine percent of homicides happen in the 20 most violent Community Areas. These neighborhoods are not part of that core.[4]
The table below narrows the picture.
| Neighborhood | Violent Crime Rate | Property Crime Pattern | Map Concentration | Trend Stability |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago Citywide | 28.4% reduction in homicides in 2025[4] | Above national average[1] | Highly concentrated[4] | Improving[4] |
| Edison Park | ~1.2 per 1,000 residents[5] | Low | Minimal clusters | Consistently lowest |
| Mount Greenwood | ~1.3 per 1,000 residents[5] | Low | Minimal clusters | High stability |
| Forest Glen | ~1.4 per 1,000 residents[5] | Low | Dispersed | High stability |
| Norwood Park | ~1.5 per 1,000 residents[5] | Low | Near main roads | Stable |
| Beverly | ~2.0 per 1,000 residents[5] | Moderate | Near commercial corridors | Stable |
| Garfield Ridge | Low[4] | Moderate | Near commercial corridors | Stable |
Citywide, homicides dropped 47.7% from the 2021 peak through 2025.[4] In these six neighborhoods, the map stays quieter. Fewer incidents. Fewer repeat clusters. Less of the dense pattern seen in the city’s hardest-hit sections.[4]
Beverly and Garfield Ridge show more movement around commercial corridors and transit lines. That makes sense on a city map: more stores, more traffic, more contact points. Even so, neither neighborhood comes close to the city’s heaviest concentration of violence.[4]
One caution sits in the file. CPD records show reported incidents only. Locations appear at the block level, not the exact address, and early classifications can shift after review.[2][3]
For block-by-block or ZIP-level checks, Aden's ZIP provides free Chicago city, ZIP, comparison, map, and report pages so the neighborhood picture can be checked against citywide benchmarks.
Sources: City of Chicago Data Portal, CPD Crime Map, Chicago Public Safety DataHub, and OIG Socioeconomic Dashboard - last verified August 20, 2026.[2][3][4][5]
Pros and Cons of These Safer Chicago Neighborhoods
Chicago’s lower-crime neighborhoods do not blur into one quiet map color. Each one solves safety in a different setting. The split usually comes down to commute, housing, and daily feel.
The table below shows the tradeoffs behind the safety rankings.
| Neighborhood | Key Safety Strength | Main Caution | Best For | Tradeoffs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Edison Park | Ranked #1 safest; A+ grade | Residential, low-density, and less walkable | Families and commuters | Far northwest location; fewer walkable amenities |
| Mount Greenwood | Ranked #2 safest; A+ grade | Farther from the Loop and major transit routes | Families looking for a quieter, suburban feel | Longer commute to the Loop |
| Forest Glen | Ranked #3 safest; A grade; highest median income in this group | Mostly residential, with few commercial amenities | Buyers seeking higher-priced housing | Very competitive housing market |
| Norwood Park | Ranked #6 safest; A grade | Larger population can mean more total incidents even when rates stay low | Families and longtime residents | Mostly single-family housing, with limited rentals |
| Beverly | Ranked #7 safest; A grade | Edge blocks near commercial corridors vary more | Architecture enthusiasts, long-term residents, and families | School boundaries do not always line up neatly with neighborhood lines |
| Garfield Ridge | Ranked #10 safest; A grade | Lower median income than the others here | Middle-class families seeking value and safety | Noise and traffic from nearby Midway Airport |
One warning runs through the whole list. A calm street on the map does not mean every block moves the same way.
As the Chicago Public Safety DataHub notes:
"Violence tends to concentrate in a small proportion of blocks. Chicago fits the pattern." - B. Robert Owens and John K. Roman, Chicago Public Safety DataHub [4]
That matters in plain terms. A neighborhood can post a low average and still contain a few blocks where police recorded more trouble. If a move, commute, school run, or late-night walk is on the line, check the exact route and not just the neighborhood name.
Sources: City of Chicago Data Portal [2], CPD Crime Map [3], Chicago Public Safety DataHub [4] - last verified August 20, 2026.
Conclusion
The map and the police record land on the same six names.
Edison Park and Mount Greenwood sit at the front. Forest Glen, Norwood Park, Beverly, and Garfield Ridge stay close behind. On the city map, that forms a plain cluster of safer neighborhoods on the northwest and southwest sides.
That pattern matters because safety in Chicago is not spread evenly across the city. 77% of Chicago's 86 analyzed neighborhoods rate as Grade A or B for safety [1]. The city's C- average is pulled down by a smaller group of places where police recorded far more trouble.
Still, a neighborhood grade only gets the search started. It narrows the field. It does not settle the block. Safety can shift from one street to the next, and it can change with the hour or the season. Before a move or a visit, check the exact address in the Chicago Data Portal and the CPD CLEAR system, which publish block-level incident records [2][3].
For a faster check, Aden's ZIP offers free Chicago city, ZIP, comparison, map, and report pages that bring official crime, Census, and housing records into one place.
Verdict: Edison Park and Mount Greenwood lead, with the other four close behind. Check the exact block before treating any neighborhood as safe.
Where This Came From: City of Chicago Data Portal [2], CPD CLEAR system [3], and Chicago Public Safety DataHub [4] - official datasets usually leave out the most recent seven days of incidents while CPD checks the reports [2][3].
FAQs
How current is the crime data?
Chicago crime records come from the Chicago Police Department open data portal. The file updates on a rolling basis, incident by incident, as new reports enter the system.
Most analysis uses one clean time frame at a time. That usually means a single yearly file - such as the 2025 crimes file - or a trailing 12-month window with a standard 7-day reporting buffer. In plain terms, the newest reports may take about a week to settle into the public record.
Recent reporting in this coverage runs through the end of 2025. Some briefings were updated as recently as June 2026.
Are these neighborhoods safe on every block?
No. Safety does not stay the same from one block to the next, even inside neighborhoods with lower crime on paper.
In Chicago, crime clusters tightly. One street can stay quiet while the next carries more recorded trouble. That makes neighborhood averages a rough signal, not a street-level verdict. For close calls - where to rent, park, walk home, or wait for a train - a neighborhood crime map tells you more than a neighborhood ranking.
What should I check before moving or visiting?
Check Chicago’s official crime map and incident dataset for the dates, crime types, and community area that matter to your search. Before drawing any line through a neighborhood, confirm the reported-incident window and the map’s last update date. In city records, timing matters. A file that ends too early can leave the street looking quieter than it is.
Match the right boundaries before comparing anything. Chicago uses community areas, not ZIP codes. That sounds minor until the map shifts under your feet. ZIP codes are built for mail. Community areas are the city’s own frame, and that frame is the one the crime records follow.
The limits matter too. These records show reported incidents. They do not catch crime that never reached police, and they can blur the difference between one block and the next. A calm-looking area on the map can still hide a noisy corner, a trouble spot near transit, or a strip that changes after dark.
That’s why the map should be treated like an evidence board, not a final verdict. After the records are checked, do a short walk-through at different times of day. Morning, late afternoon, and after dark can tell very different stories.