The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in DeKalb, IL
DeKalb is a city of 41,500 in DeKalb County, about 60 miles west of downtown Chicago · Updated November 2026
Is DeKalb, IL safe?
Crime in DeKalb is moderate, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of B+. Most US neighborhoods have little crime: 70% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime than DeKalb. Violent crime grades B and property crime B+. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within DeKalb run from A to D+, so check the map below.
B+
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 697 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
30% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than DeKalb as a whole, and 70% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. DeKalb scores 697.
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 DeKalb, IL at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in DeKalb, 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 DeKalb
Robberies are less common than the crime level suggests. Crime overall in DeKalb runs 76% above the US rate, but robberies run 47% below it: 0.33 a year per 1,000 residents, against 0.62 nationally.
Reported rapes run high for a B-graded city. DeKalb has 1.5 reported rapes a year per 1,000 residents; for the typical resident of a B-graded US city, the figure is 0.42.
The safest and least safe parts of DeKalb
Most of DeKalb grades well: 78% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 10% in areas graded D or F. Grades across DeKalb run from A to D+; 11% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
78%12%10%
A or B 78%C 12%D or F 10%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Within DeKalb, the southwest side has the least crime and the center the most.
Is crime going up in DeKalb?
Reported crime in DeKalb has fallen since 2019: violent crime is down 31% and property crime down 16%. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 5.7 to 3.9 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 30 to 25 (US: 18). Neither changed much from 2023 to 2024.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
DeKalbUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves DeKalb. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, DeKalb
Violent, US
Property, DeKalb
Property, US
2016
-9%
+4%
+12%
+15%
2017
-22%
+4%
+3%
+12%
2018
-6%
+0%
-14%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
+10%
+4%
+11%
-8%
2021
+12%
+6%
-16%
-10%
2022
-3%
+5%
-13%
-6%
2023
-25%
+2%
-16%
-7%
2024
-31%
-4%
-16%
-15%
Crime rates and types in DeKalb
CrimeGrade™ estimates DeKalb has about 65 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 76% more than the US as a whole and 54% more than Illinois.
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.
The largest share of crime reported in DeKalb is assault, about 44% of the total. It also makes up the largest share of what crime costs here.
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.
The DeKalb Police Department's 2024 count of vehicle theft fell far below its usual level, a sign of a reporting break, so CrimeGrade™ used the department's earlier years instead.
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 DeKalb
DeKalb has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In DeKalb, 49% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often in parking lots and garages: 52% of them, against 31% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (49%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Car theft
Parking lots and garages (34%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Theft from cars
Parking lots and garages (52%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Vandalism
Homes (43%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Robbery
Homes (39%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (65%)
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 DeKalb compares with nearby cities
DeKalb has the most crime of its 4 nearest cities.
Two things set DeKalb apart: it has 3.2 parking-lot spaces per resident, against 2.0 nationally, and 34% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally. Places like that tend to report more theft, and it runs high here.
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.3.2 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher than for 88% of US city residents
Transit serviceBuses and trains an hour at the evening rush. Places with busy transit tend to report more theft and robbery. BestNeighborhood's Transit Grade for DeKalb: C- (31 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 84% 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 and assault. 77% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D+ (21 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 64% of US city residents
Show all 6
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery and car theft.34% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 72% of US city residents
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson.6.6% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 59% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.10.8 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 57% of US city residents
BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of DeKalb on shops, parks, home prices, getting around and more.
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 DeKalb
Crime costs DeKalb about $1,584 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 31% more than 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 $59 million a year, or $1,417 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$750,000
$18
Rape
$3.7 million
$90
Robbery
$420,000
$10
Assault
$11 million
$253
Burglary
$1.3 million
$30
Theft
$4.4 million
$106
Vehicle theft
$1.2 million
$30
Arson
$38,000
$1
Vandalism
$2.5 million
$61
Total
$25 million
$600
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 DeKalb 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
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.
Schools in DeKalb, IL average a SchoolGrade of C-: 37% of students test proficient, against 23% projected for schools like them. Overall, they don't meet expectations. See schools in DeKalb on SchoolGrade
