Dolton is a village of 21,000 in Cook County, about 18 miles south of downtown Chicago · Updated November 2026
Is Dolton, IL safe?
Crime in Dolton is high, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of F. Most US neighborhoods have far less: 99% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime than Dolton. Property crime grades better than violent crime here, C against F. Its neighborhoods are much alike, from D to F; see the map below.
F
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 0 of 1,000Less safe than nearly all US neighborhoodsi What this means
1% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Dolton as a whole, and 99% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Dolton 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 Dolton, IL at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Dolton, 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 Dolton
Car thefts are less common than the crime level suggests. Crime overall in Dolton runs at about double the US rate, but car thefts run 24% below it: 2.0 a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.7 nationally.
Robberies are less common than in most F-graded cities. Dolton has 0.58 robberies a year per 1,000 residents; for the typical resident of an F-graded US city, the figure is 3.1.
The safest and least safe parts of Dolton
Every part of Dolton grades D or F on the national scale. Grades across Dolton run from D to F; every part of Dolton 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.
Crime rates and types in Dolton
CrimeGrade™ estimates Dolton has about 75 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, about double the rate for the US as a whole and 76% 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.
Assault is the most common crime in Dolton, about 41% of everything reported.
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 Dolton Police Department sent the FBI no 2024 counts of murder, reported rape, robbery, aggravated assault, simple assault, burglary, theft and vehicle theft and no recent year to build on, so CrimeGrade™ made its own estimates. The department reports to the FBI in a format that leaves out vandalism, so CrimeGrade™ makes its own vandalism estimate.
Select a crime's name to see its map above. CrimeGrade™ business reports map each crime at about 66-meter detail.
How Dolton compares with nearby cities
Dolton has more crime than 9 of its 10 nearest cities. Thornton and South Holland have the least crime nearby.
Two things set Dolton apart: it has 15 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole, and 11.0% of its homes standing empty, against 7.1% 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.15 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 93% of US city residents
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
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. 85% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D+ (20 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 60% of US city residents
Show all 6
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson.11.0% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 89% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.6.0 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower than for 87% of US city residents
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery and car theft.32% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 70% of US city residents
BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of Dolton 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 Dolton
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Dolton about $8,093 a year per household, 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 $378 million a year, or $18,007 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$50 million
$2,381
Rape
$880,000
$42
Robbery
$380,000
$18
Assault
$6.0 million
$288
Burglary
$570,000
$27
Theft
$1.4 million
$68
Vehicle theft
$660,000
$31
Arson
$93,000
$4
Vandalism
$3.4 million
$164
Total
$63 million
$3,025
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 Dolton 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 Dolton, IL average a SchoolGrade of F: 20% of students test proficient, against 13% projected for schools like them. Overall, they underperform expectations. See schools in Dolton on SchoolGrade
