East Garfield Park is a neighborhood of 20,800 residents in Chicago, about 4 miles west of downtown · Updated November 2026
Is East Garfield Park in Chicago safe?
East Garfield Park is among the higher-crime places in the US: an overall CrimeGrade™ of F, with more crime than the neighborhoods where 99% of Americans live. Violent and property crime both grade F here. Chicago as a whole grades F. Every neighborhood in East Garfield Park grades F.
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 East Garfield Park as a whole, and 99% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. East Garfield Park 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 East Garfield Park, Chicago, IL at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in East Garfield Park 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 East Garfield Park
Aggravated assaults are less common than in most F-graded neighborhoods. East Garfield Park has 3.6 aggravated assaults a year per 1,000 residents; for the typical resident of an F-graded US neighborhood, the figure is 7.9.
Robberies and car thefts both run high. In East Garfield Park, each runs at more than triple the US rate: 8.6 robberies and 17.9 car thefts a year per 1,000 residents, against 0.62 and 2.7 nationally.
How East Garfield Park compares within Chicago
Every part of East Garfield Park grades D or F on the national scale.
100%
D or F 100%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
East Garfield Park has less crime than 16 of the 135 neighborhoods in Chicago. It covers much of the Brighton Park, West Town, and Gage Park 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 East Garfield Park
CrimeGrade™ estimates East Garfield Park has about 183 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, more than triple the rate for the US as a whole and about double the rate for 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 is the most common crime in East Garfield Park, 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.
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 East Garfield Park; 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 East Garfield Park compares with nearby neighborhoods
East Garfield Park has more crime than 8 of its 10 nearest neighborhoods. Near West Side and West Town have the least crime nearby.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from East Garfield Park. Beside each overall CrimeGrade™ is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer).
Compared with neighborhoods of similar size and density, East Garfield Park has more crime than 99% of them.
Empty homes, tree cover and walkability in East Garfield Park
Two things set East Garfield Park apart: it has 12.1% of its homes standing empty, against 7.1% nationally, and tree cover over 3% of the land where people live, against 21% nationally. Places like that tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson, and burglary and vandalism run high here.
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson.12.1% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 87% of residents of US city neighborhoods
Tree coverThe share of land under tree canopy where people live. Leafy neighborhoods tend to report less robbery.3% where people liveUS: 21%Lower than for 81% 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.B (62 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 73% of residents of US city neighborhoods
Show all 4
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 East Garfield Park: C+ (45 of 100).35 trips an hourUS: noneHigher 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 East Garfield Park
Crime costs East Garfield Park about $7,756 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 $233 million a year, or $11,237 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 East Garfield Park 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 East Garfield Park, Chicago, IL average a SchoolGrade of F: 17% of students test proficient, against 13% projected for schools like them. Overall, they underperform expectations. See schools in East Garfield Park on SchoolGrade
