The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Elmwood Park, IL
Elmwood Park is a village of 41,600 in Cook County, about 9 miles west of downtown Chicago · Updated November 2026
Is Elmwood Park, IL safe?
With an overall CrimeGrade™ of B, Elmwood Park has moderate crime by national standards. Most US neighborhoods have less: 72% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime. Violent crime grades better than property crime here, A- against C+. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Elmwood Park run from A to D, so check the map or the safest and least safe neighborhoods below.
B
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 673 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
28% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Elmwood Park as a whole, and 72% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Elmwood Park scores 673.
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 Elmwood Park, IL at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Elmwood Park, 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 Elmwood Park
Aggravated assaults are less common than in most B-graded cities. Elmwood Park has 0.82 aggravated assaults a year per 1,000 residents; for the typical resident of a B-graded US city, the figure is 3.1.
Thefts from cars happen on streets and sidewalks far more often than nationally. In Elmwood Park, 76% of reported thefts from cars happen on streets and sidewalks, against 18% nationally.
The safest and most dangerous neighborhoods in Elmwood Park
Most of Elmwood Park grades well: 88% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 5% in areas graded D or F. Grades across Elmwood Park run from A to D; 8% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
88%
A or B 88%C 7%D or F 5%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
1Dunning, northCar thefts run about 40% higher here than in the rest of Elmwood Park.B637
2Ellsworth, centralThefts run about 40% higher here than in the rest of Elmwood Park.B636
3Austin, southeastClose to the rest of Elmwood Park on most crimes.B618
4Montclare & Belmont Cragin, eastSimple assaults run about 80% higher here than in the rest of Elmwood Park.C+533
Neighborhood areas of Elmwood Park, ranked by overall CrimeGrade™; beside each grade is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer). Each one combines several of the smaller areas on the map.
Is crime going up in Elmwood Park?
Since 2019, reported violent crime in Elmwood Park is down 39%, while property crime has held about steady. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 2.7 to 1.6 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts stayed at about 11 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, violent crime rose 38%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
Elmwood ParkUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Elmwood Park. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Elmwood Park
Violent, US
Property, Elmwood Park
Property, US
2016
-37%
+4%
+19%
+15%
2017
-11%
+4%
+10%
+12%
2018
-17%
+0%
-7%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
-21%
+4%
+5%
-8%
2021
-58%
+6%
-13%
-10%
2022
-48%
+5%
+8%
-6%
2023
-56%
+2%
-5%
-7%
2024
-39%
-4%
-3%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Elmwood Park
CrimeGrade™ estimates Elmwood Park has about 37 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, about the same as the US as a whole and close to 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 Elmwood Park, about 32% of everything reported, and it also accounts for 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.
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 Elmwood Park
Elmwood Park has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Elmwood Park, 36% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (36%)
Night (midnight to 6 am)
Car theft
Streets and sidewalks (71%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Streets and sidewalks (76%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Streets and sidewalks (52%)
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 Elmwood Park compares with nearby cities
Elmwood Park has more crime than 6 of its 10 nearest cities. Harwood Heights and Norridge have the least crime nearby.
Density, night lighting and walkability in Elmwood Park
Two things set Elmwood Park apart: it has 82% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally, and 20 buses and trains an hour at the evening rush, where most Americans have none nearby. Places like that tend to report more robbery and car theft, and they run high here.
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery and car theft.82% of residentsUS: 24%Higher 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.C+ (48 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 91% of US city residents
Show all 6
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 Elmwood Park: C (36 of 100).20 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 91% of US city residents
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.0.6 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Lower than for 89% of US city residents
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.20 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 87% of US city residents
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 Elmwood Park
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Elmwood Park about $924 a year per household, 23% 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 $34 million a year, or $815 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$1.8 million
$42
Rape
$610,000
$15
Robbery
$790,000
$19
Assault
$4.3 million
$103
Burglary
$710,000
$17
Theft
$2.3 million
$56
Vehicle theft
$2.3 million
$55
Arson
$74,000
$2
Vandalism
$2.3 million
$55
Total
$15 million
$364
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 Elmwood 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
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 Elmwood Park, IL average a SchoolGrade of D: 32% of students test proficient, against 14% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in Elmwood Park on SchoolGrade
