Chicago Lawn is a neighborhood of 54,100 residents in Chicago, about 8 miles southwest of downtown · Updated November 2026
Is Chicago Lawn in Chicago safe?
Chicago Lawn is among the higher-crime places in the US: an overall CrimeGrade™ of F, with more crime than the neighborhoods where 98% of Americans live. Violent and property crime both grade F here. Chicago as a whole grades F. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Chicago Lawn run from D+ to F, so check the map below.
F
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 0 of 1,000Less safe than nearly all US neighborhoodsi What this means
2% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Chicago Lawn as a whole, and 98% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Chicago Lawn scores 0.
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 crime than most US neighborhoods.
How to read the map: each area's color compares its crime with the people, homes and cars there, on one national scale, from green for the least crime 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 Chicago Lawn, Chicago, IL at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Chicago Lawn in Chicago, 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 in Chicago Lawn
Aggravated assaults are less common than the crime level suggests. Crime overall in Chicago Lawn runs at more than double the US rate, but aggravated assaults run 37% below it: 1.7 a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.6 nationally.
Robberies and simple assaults both run high. In Chicago Lawn, each runs at more than triple the US rate: 3.8 robberies and 36.5 simple assaults a year per 1,000 residents, against 0.62 and 9.7 nationally.
How Chicago Lawn compares within Chicago
Every part of Chicago Lawn grades D or F on the national scale. Grades across Chicago Lawn run from D+ to F; every part of Chicago Lawn has more crime than the typical US neighborhood.
100%
D or F 100%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Chicago Lawn has less crime than 37 of the 135 neighborhoods in Chicago. It covers much of the Chicago Lawn, Beverly, and West Englewood areas.
Is crime going up in Chicago?
Reported property crime in Chicago as a whole has risen 12% since 2019. Burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts went from about 30 to 34 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 18). Property crime changed little from 2023 to 2024.
Property crime, change since 2019
ChicagoUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police departments that serve Chicago. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Property, Chicago
Property, US
2016
+6%
+15%
2017
+8%
+12%
2018
+7%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
-28%
-8%
2021
-26%
-10%
2022
+3%
-6%
2023
+11%
-7%
2024
+12%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Chicago Lawn
CrimeGrade™ estimates Chicago Lawn has about 93 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, more than double the rate for the US as a whole and close to Chicago as a whole.
Overall crime
Violent crime
Property crime
Reported crimes a year, per 1,000 residents. These figures include simple assaults and vandalism, which the FBI's violent and property crime rates leave out.
Assault makes up about 41% of crime reported in Chicago Lawn. Murder is less common but costs more, because each one does far more harm.
Each CrimeGrade™ compares a crime with what it affects: people for assaults and robbery, homes for burglary, parked cars for vehicle theft. Rates count crimes per 1,000 residents.
Select a crime's name to see its map above. CrimeGrade™ business reports map each crime at about 66-meter detail.
Where and when crime happens in Chicago
The Chicago Police Department polices Chicago Lawn; these figures cover Chicago as a whole, 2022 to 2024.
In Chicago as a whole, 68% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often on streets and sidewalks: 69% of them, against 18% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (68%)
Night (midnight to 6 am)
Car theft
Streets and sidewalks (75%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Streets and sidewalks (69%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Streets and sidewalks (48%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Robbery
Streets and sidewalks (65%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Streets and sidewalks (51%)
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.
How Chicago Lawn compares with nearby neighborhoods
Chicago Lawn has more crime than 8 of its 10 nearest neighborhoods. West Lawn and West Elsdon have the least crime nearby.
Two things set Chicago Lawn apart: it has 7 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole, and 97% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally. Places with few jobs tend to report less theft and robbery, yet theft and robbery run higher here than that would suggest.
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.7 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 95% of residents of US city neighborhoods
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery and car theft.97% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 85% of residents of US city neighborhoods
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 and assault. 61% of residents here live in walkable areas.B+ (67 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 76% of residents of US city neighborhoods
Show all 4
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft and car theft.4.7 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower than for 81% of residents of US city neighborhoods
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 crime costs Chicago Lawn
Crime costs Chicago Lawn about $4,345 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, more than triple the US figure of $1,205.
Cost of crime per resident, per year
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, which comes almost entirely from violent crime, the full cost comes to about $260 million a year, or $4,814 per resident.
How CrimeGrade™ works
A CrimeGrade™ shows how much crime an area has compared with the rest of the country, from A+ for the least crime to F for the most. Every neighborhood in the US is graded on the same scale, so a B in Chicago Lawn means the same as a B anywhere else.
CrimeGrade™ starts from the crimes people report to police and measures each kind of crime against what it affects: people for assaults, homes for burglaries, parked cars for car thefts.
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
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.
Schools in Chicago Lawn, Chicago, IL average a SchoolGrade of F: 22% of students test proficient, against 8% projected for schools like them. Overall, they don't meet expectations. See schools in Chicago Lawn on SchoolGrade
