Historic West-Side is a neighborhood of 3,800 residents in Springfield · Updated November 2026
Is Historic West-Side in Springfield safe?
Crime in Historic West-Side is high by national standards, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of C. Most US neighborhoods have little crime: 84% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime than Historic West-Side. Violent crime grades C+ and property crime C-. Springfield as a whole grades C. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Historic West-Side run from B- to D-, so check the map below.
C
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 449 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
16% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Historic West-Side as a whole, and 84% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Historic West-Side scores 449.
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 Historic West-Side, Springfield, IL at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Historic West-Side in Springfield, 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 Historic West-Side
Burglaries run high for a C-graded neighborhood. Historic West-Side has 12.2 burglaries a year per 1,000 residents; for the typical resident of a C-graded US neighborhood, the figure is 3.5.
Thefts from cars happen in the morning far more often than nationally. In Springfield as a whole, 48% of reported thefts from cars happen in the morning (6 am to noon), against 23% nationally.
Crime rates and types in Historic West-Side
CrimeGrade™ estimates Historic West-Side has about 76 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, about double the rate for the US as a whole and 38% less than Springfield 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.
The largest share of crime reported in Historic West-Side is assault, about 40% 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.
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 Springfield
The Springfield Police Department polices Historic West-Side; these figures cover Springfield as a whole, 2022 to 2024.
In Springfield as a whole, 66% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (66%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Car theft
Homes (53%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Theft from cars
Homes (49%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Vandalism
Homes (59%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Robbery
Streets and sidewalks (40%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (58%)
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 Historic West-Side compares with nearby neighborhoods
Of the 10 neighborhoods closest to Historic West-Side, 6 have less crime. Sunnyland and Springfield Lake Shore Improvement have the least.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from Historic West-Side. Beside each overall CrimeGrade™ is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer).
Compared with neighborhoods of similar size and density, Historic West-Side has more crime than 79% of them.
Density, shops and walkability in Historic West-Side
Two things set Historic West-Side apart: it has 2% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally, and 1.8 stores and restaurants for every 1,000 residents, against 10.5 nationally. Places like that tend to report less robbery and car theft, yet car theft runs higher here than that would suggest.
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery and car theft.2% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 97% of residents of US city neighborhoods
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft and car theft.1.8 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower than for 95% 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.C (38 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 54% 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 Historic West-Side: C (35 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 95% 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 Historic West-Side
Crime costs Historic West-Side about $1,872 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 55% 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 $7.1 million a year, or $1,861 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 Historic West-Side 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 Historic West-Side, Springfield, IL average a SchoolGrade of D-: 29% of students test proficient, against 20% projected for schools like them. Overall, they don't meet expectations. See schools in Historic West-Side on SchoolGrade
