Lake Station is a city of 13,000 in Lake County, about 30 miles southeast of downtown Chicago · Updated November 2026
Is Lake Station, IN safe?
Lake Station is among the higher-crime places in the US: an overall CrimeGrade™ of F, with more crime than the neighborhoods where 98% of Americans live. Property crime grades better than violent crime here, B+ against F. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Lake Station run from C to F, so check the map below.
F
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 0 of 1,000Less safe than nearly all US neighborhoodsi What this means
2% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Lake Station as a whole, and 98% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Lake Station 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 Lake Station, IN at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Lake Station, 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 Lake Station
Aggravated assaults are less common than in most F-graded cities. Lake Station has 1.3 aggravated assaults a year per 1,000 residents; for the typical resident of an F-graded US city, the figure is 7.6.
The safest and least safe parts of Lake Station
High crime is widespread across Lake Station: 96% of residents live in areas graded D or F, and the rest in areas graded C. Grades across Lake Station run from C to F; every part of Lake Station has more crime than the typical US neighborhood.
96%
C 4%D or F 96%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Crime rates and types in Lake Station
CrimeGrade™ estimates Lake Station has about 43 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 14% more than the US as a whole and 35% more than Indiana.
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 Lake Station, about 38% 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 Lake Station Police Department sent the FBI no usable 2024 counts of aggravated assault, burglary, theft and vehicle theft, so CrimeGrade™ built the figures from the department's own reports for recent years, brought up to 2024. The department sent the FBI no 2024 count of simple assault and no recent year to build on, so CrimeGrade™ made its own estimate. 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 Lake Station compares with nearby cities
Lake Station has more crime than 8 of its 9 nearest cities. Wheeler and Ogden Dunes have the least crime nearby.
One thing sets Lake Station apart: it has 13 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole. Places like that tend to report less theft and robbery; here theft sits near the national middle.
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.13 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 95% of US city residents
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 Lake Station: F (0 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 84% 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. 82% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D (18 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 51% of US city residents
Show all 6
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.7.4 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower than for 78% of US city residents
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.2.6 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher than for 76% 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 72% 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 Lake Station
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Lake Station about $6,563 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 $197 million a year, or $15,152 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$27 million
$2,071
Rape
$190,000
$15
Robbery
$140,000
$11
Assault
$1.9 million
$146
Burglary
$240,000
$19
Theft
$830,000
$64
Vehicle theft
$450,000
$35
Arson
$25,000
$2
Vandalism
$710,000
$55
Total
$31 million
$2,418
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 Lake Station 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 Lake Station, IN average a SchoolGrade of F: 20% of students test proficient, against 21% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in Lake Station on SchoolGrade
