The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Palatine, IL
Palatine is a village of 69,400 in Cook County, about 25 miles northwest of downtown Chicago · Updated November 2026
Is Palatine, IL safe?
Yes. Most US neighborhoods have little crime, and Palatine has less than most of them: its overall CrimeGrade™ is A, safer than the neighborhoods where 63% of Americans live. Violent and property crime both grade A here. Its neighborhoods are much alike, from A+ to A-; see the map below.
A
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 887 of 1,000Safer than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
63% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Palatine as a whole, and 37% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Palatine scores 887.
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 Palatine, IL at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Palatine, 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 Palatine
Aggravated assaults and car thefts both run low. In Palatine, each runs at a small fraction of the US rate: 0.43 aggravated assaults and 0.60 car thefts a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.6 and 2.7 nationally.
Thefts from cars happen in parking lots and garages far more often than nationally. In Palatine, 67% of reported thefts from cars happen in parking lots and garages, against 31% nationally.
The safest and least safe parts of Palatine
Every part of Palatine where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across Palatine run from A+ to A-; 86% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
100%
A or B 100%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Within Palatine, the southwest side has the least crime and the northeast side the most.
Is crime going up in Palatine?
Reported crime in Palatine has risen since 2019: violent crime is up 12% and property crime up 99%. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 0.6 to 0.7 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 4.7 to 9.3 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, violent crime fell 44%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
PalatineUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Palatine. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Palatine
Violent, US
Property, Palatine
Property, US
2016
-12%
+4%
+88%
+15%
2017
-1%
+4%
+82%
+12%
2018
-31%
+0%
+16%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
-19%
+4%
+2%
-8%
2021
+87%
+6%
+91%
-10%
2022
+94%
+5%
+98%
-6%
2023
+100%
+2%
+101%
-7%
2024
+12%
-4%
+100%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Palatine
CrimeGrade™ estimates Palatine has about 23 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 38% less than the US as a whole and 46% less than 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 Palatine, about 42% 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 Palatine
Palatine has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Palatine, 45% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (45%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Parking lots and garages (45%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Theft from cars
Parking lots and garages (67%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Vandalism
Parking lots and garages (39%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Aggravated assault
Homes (40%)
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 Palatine compares with nearby cities
Of the 10 cities closest to Palatine, 9 have less crime. Inverness and Long Grove have the least.
Night lighting, empty homes and walkability in Palatine
One thing sets Palatine apart: it has 3.7% of its homes standing empty, against 7.1% nationally. Places like that tend to report less burglary, vandalism and arson, yet burglary and vandalism run higher here than that would suggest.
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
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson.3.7% of homesUS: 7.1%Lower than for 78% 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. 76% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D+ (20 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 61% of US city residents
Show all 6
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery and car theft.31% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 69% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.8.5 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower than for 68% of US city residents
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.36 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 60% 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 Palatine
Crime costs Palatine about $474 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 61% 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 $26 million a year, or $379 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$770,000
$11
Rape
$830,000
$12
Robbery
$190,000
$3
Assault
$5.5 million
$79
Burglary
$1.2 million
$18
Theft
$2.4 million
$34
Vehicle theft
$640,000
$9
Arson
$46,000
$1
Vandalism
$1.9 million
$28
Total
$14 million
$195
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 Palatine 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 Palatine, IL average a SchoolGrade of A: 58% of students test proficient, against 44% projected for schools like them. Overall, they don't meet expectations. See schools in Palatine on SchoolGrade
