Oak Lawn is a village of 56,700 in Cook County, about 13 miles southwest of downtown Chicago · Updated November 2026
How common is property crime in Oak Lawn?
Property crime in Oak Lawn runs higher than in most US neighborhoods: a B+, with more property crime than the neighborhoods where 61% of Americans live. Theft makes up 52% of it. Burglary, the crime most likely to reach into a home, grades B, and vehicle theft grades B+.
B+
Property crime CrimeGrade™
Safety score 746 of 1,000More property crime than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
39% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more property crime than Oak Lawn as a whole, and 61% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a property crime safety score of 823, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Oak Lawn scores 746.
Crime is concentrated in a small share of places, so most neighborhoods score high on the 0 to 1,000 scale. That is why a score in the 800s can still mean more property crime than most US neighborhoods.
How to read the map: each area's color compares its property crime with the homes, parked cars and people there, on one national scale, from green for the least to red for the most. Each area gets its own color, so a busy shopping center can show red while the homes beside it stay green. The interactive maps load faster on a strong connection. Compare high speed internet in Oak Lawn, IL at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Oak Lawn, and anyone thinking about buying or renting a home there.
Business and enterprise customers: this free map shows neighborhood areas. CrimeGrade™ business reports map crime at about 66-meter detail and estimate it for one address and type of business. See business reports
What stands out about property crime in Oak Lawn
Burglaries happen on streets and sidewalks far more often than nationally. In Oak Lawn, 20% of reported burglaries happen on streets and sidewalks, against 1% nationally.
Where property crime is lowest and highest in Oak Lawn
Every part of Oak Lawn where people live grades A or B for property crime on the national scale. Property crime grades across Oak Lawn run from A- to B-.
100%
A or B 100%
Share of residents, by the property crime CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Is property crime going up in Oak Lawn?
Reported property crime in Oak Lawn has risen 12% since 2019. Burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts went from about 15 to 17 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 18). Property crime changed little from 2023 to 2024.
Property crime, change since 2019
Oak LawnUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Oak Lawn. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Property, Oak Lawn
Property, US
2016
+10%
+15%
2017
-20%
+12%
2018
-9%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
-16%
-8%
2021
-25%
-10%
2022
+1%
-6%
2023
+3%
-7%
2024
+12%
-15%
Property crime rates and types in Oak Lawn
CrimeGrade™ estimates Oak Lawn has about 22 reported property crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 9% less than the US as a whole and close to Illinois.
All property crime
Burglary
Vehicle theft
Reported crimes a year, per 1,000 residents. Property crime here includes vandalism, which the FBI's property crime rate leaves out.
Theft is the most common property crime in Oak Lawn, about 52% of the total, followed by vandalism and burglary.
Each CrimeGrade™ here compares a property crime with what it affects: homes for burglary and arson, parked cars for vehicle theft, people and parking for theft, homes and businesses for vandalism. Rates count crimes per 1,000 residents.
The Oak Lawn Police Department's 2024 report of vandalism had a month far out of line with the rest, a sign of a data-entry error or a catch-up month, so CrimeGrade™ set it aside and used the other months.
Select a crime's name to see its map above. CrimeGrade™ business reports map each crime at about 66-meter detail.
Where and when property crime happens in Oak Lawn
Oak Lawn has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
Car thefts happen most often in parking lots and garages: 38% of them, against 23% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (36%)
Night (midnight to 6 am)
Car theft
Parking lots and garages (38%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Parking lots and garages (43%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Vandalism
Homes (30%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Shares of the crimes reported to police, 2022 to 2024. Reports with no time recorded are left out of the times.
Property crime in Oak Lawn and nearby cities
Oak Lawn has less property crime than 5 of its 10 nearest cities.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from Oak Lawn. Beside each property crime CrimeGrade™ is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer).
Compared with cities of similar size and density, Oak Lawn has more property crime than 68% of them.
Night lighting, parking lots and walkability in Oak Lawn
Among the traits that tend to go with property crime, two set Oak Lawn apart: it has 0.8 parking-lot spaces per resident, against 2.0 nationally, and a Walk Grade of C- (31 of 100) on BestNeighborhood, against 21 for the US as a whole. Even so, 61% of residents in Oak Lawn live in car-dependent areas, where most errands take a car. Places with little parking-lot space tend to report less theft, and it runs low here.
Lit at nightSatellite images show which neighborhoods are lit at night, a sign of busy streets and businesses. Brightly lit places tend to report more theft and vandalism.100% where people liveUS: 78%Higher than for 92% of US city residents
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.0.8 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Lower than for 83% of US city residents
Walk GradeBestNeighborhood's grade for getting through daily life on foot, traced along real walking routes to shops, schools and parks. Walkable places tend to report more theft.C- (31 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 82% of US city residents
Show all 6
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.8.3 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower than for 70% of US city residents
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more car theft.29% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 67% of US city residents
Transit serviceBuses and trains an hour at the evening rush. Places with busy transit tend to report more theft. BestNeighborhood's Transit Grade for Oak Lawn: D+ (25 of 100).4 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 67% of US city residents
These traits tend to go with more or less crime; none of them causes it on its own. Sources: Census job counts and housing figures, OpenStreetMap and Overture business listings, CrimeGrade™ parking estimates, NASA night-light imagery, US Forest Service tree cover, EPA transit data and BestNeighborhood's Walk Grade.
What property crime costs Oak Lawn
Property crime costs Oak Lawn about $8.9 million a year, or $157 per resident and about $401 per household: the value of what is stolen or damaged, plus the police, courts and prisons that respond.
Cost of property crime per resident, per year
How the cost breaks down
Pain and suffering add little to the cost of property crime, so this is close to its full cost.
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Burglary
$1.7 million
$30
Theft
$3.3 million
$58
Vehicle theft
$1.9 million
$34
Arson
$68,000
$1
Vandalism
$1.9 million
$34
Total
$8.9 million
$157
How CrimeGrade™ works
The property crime CrimeGrade™ covers burglary, theft, car theft, arson and vandalism, from A+ for the least crime to F for the most, on one scale for the whole country.
It weighs each property crime against what it affects: homes for burglary and arson, parked cars for car theft, and the people and parking around stores for theft.
The rates on this page count crimes for every 1,000 people who live here, the way police departments report them.
Comparisons with US neighborhoods use the Census Bureau's block groups, small areas of about 1,400 residents, and count the people who live in each. The figures count crimes reported to police; many crimes, shoplifting above all, never are. Behind the grades, CrimeGrade™ tested 21,607 factors from 125 data families. For business owners, paid CrimeGrade™ location reports estimate crime at a single address for each type of business.
Where the numbers come from
Crime reports that police departments file with the FBI
State crime records and city crime data, where they are published
Published research on what crime costs victims and communities
These are estimates of reported crime for whole areas, not a record of what happened on any one street. CrimeGrade™ updates them once a year and provides them free and without guarantee. Check local sources before you rely on them for a decision.
