Edgewater is a neighborhood of 49,100 residents in Chicago, about 7 miles north of downtown · Updated November 2026
Is Edgewater in Chicago safe?
Crime in Edgewater is high by national standards, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of C-. Most US neighborhoods have little crime: 88% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime than Edgewater. Violent crime grades better than property crime here, B against F. Chicago as a whole grades F. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Edgewater run from A+ to F, so check the map below.
C-
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 327 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
12% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Edgewater as a whole, and 88% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Edgewater scores 327.
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 Edgewater, Chicago, IL at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Edgewater 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 Edgewater
Aggravated assault is a strength. Edgewater grades B for violent crime, but aggravated assault grades A+, better than in the neighborhoods where 80% of Americans live.
Thefts from cars happen on streets and sidewalks far more often than nationally. In Chicago as a whole, 69% of reported thefts from cars happen on streets and sidewalks, against 18% nationally.
How Edgewater compares within Chicago
Safety changes a lot from one part of Edgewater to the next: 24% of residents live in areas graded A or B, while 53% live in areas graded D or F. Grades across Edgewater run from A+ to F; 7% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
24%23%53%
A or B 24%C 23%D or F 53%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Edgewater has less crime than 82 of the 135 neighborhoods in Chicago. It covers much of the Lake View, Lincoln Park, and Edgewater areas and the West Ridge, Rogers Park, and Logan Square 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 Edgewater
CrimeGrade™ estimates Edgewater has about 49 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 31% more than the US as a whole and 43% less than 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.
Theft makes up about 35% of crime reported in Edgewater. Assault is less common but costs more, because each one does 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 Edgewater; these figures cover Chicago as a whole, 2022 to 2024.
In Chicago as a whole, 68% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% 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 Edgewater compares with nearby neighborhoods
Of the 10 neighborhoods closest to Edgewater, 6 have less crime. Lincoln Square and Ravenswood Gardens have the least.
Two things set Edgewater apart: it has a Walk Grade of A (90 of 100) on BestNeighborhood, against 21 for the US as a whole, and 99% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally. Places like that tend to report more theft and assault, and they run high here.
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. 96% of residents here live in walkable areas.A (90 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 91% 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.99% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 90% of residents of US city neighborhoods
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.11 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 88% 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 Edgewater: C+ (46 of 100).41 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 84% 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 Edgewater
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Edgewater about $866 a year per household, 28% less 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 $51 million a year, or $1,047 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 Edgewater 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. Edgewater is the other kind of example: few people work in, shop in or visit it, so its crime per resident looks lower than its CrimeGrade™ suggests.
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 Edgewater, Chicago, IL average a SchoolGrade of D+: 33% of students test proficient, against 30% projected for schools like them. Overall, they underperform expectations. See schools in Edgewater on SchoolGrade
