Crystal Lake is a city of 52,300 in McHenry County, about 45 miles northwest of downtown Chicago · Updated November 2026
How common is violent crime in Crystal Lake?
Crystal Lake earns an A for violent crime, safer than the neighborhoods where 64% of Americans live. Assaults make up 96% of it, and most of those are simple assaults, which involve no weapon and no serious injury.
A
Violent crime CrimeGrade™
Safety score 905 of 1,000Less violent crime than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
64% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more violent crime than Crystal Lake as a whole, and 36% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a violent crime safety score of 860, a CrimeGrade™ of A. Crystal Lake scores 905.
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 violent crime than most US neighborhoods.
How to read the map: each area's color compares its violent crime with the people who spend time there, on one national scale, from green for the least to red for the most. Each area gets its own color, so a busy downtown or nightlife strip can show red while the homes around it stay green. The interactive maps load faster on a solid connection. Compare high speed internet in Crystal Lake, IL at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Crystal Lake, 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 about violent crime in Crystal Lake
One weak spot: reported rape. It grades B+ in Crystal Lake, worse than in the neighborhoods where 71% of Americans live, against A for violent crime as a whole.
Aggravated assaults are uncommon. Crystal Lake has aggravated assaults at a small fraction of the US rate: 0.46 a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.6 nationally.
Where violent crime is lowest and highest in Crystal Lake
Every part of Crystal Lake where people live grades A or B for violent crime on the national scale. Violent crime grades across Crystal Lake run from A+ to A-.
100%
A or B 100%
Share of residents, by the violent crime CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
1Prairie Ridge, northSimple assaults run about 30% lower here than in the rest of Crystal Lake.A+926
2North Shore, westSimple assaults run about 20% lower here than in the rest of Crystal Lake.A921
3Four Colonies, southwestClose to the rest of Crystal Lake on most crimes.A918
4Downtown, centralSimple assaults run about 60% higher here than in the rest of Crystal Lake.A875
5Coventry, southSimple assaults run about 40% higher here than in the rest of Crystal Lake.A874
Neighborhood areas of Crystal Lake, ranked by violent crime 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 violent crime going up in Crystal Lake?
Reported violent crime in Crystal Lake peaked in 2022 and has fallen 35% since, back near its 2019 level. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 1.1 to 1.0 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7). Violent crime changed little from 2023 to 2024.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Crystal LakeUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Crystal Lake. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Crystal Lake
Violent, US
2016
-3%
+4%
2017
+17%
+4%
2018
-15%
+0%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
-19%
+4%
2021
+9%
+6%
2022
+41%
+5%
2023
-16%
+2%
2024
-9%
-4%
Violent crime rates and types in Crystal Lake
CrimeGrade™ estimates Crystal Lake has about 11 reported violent crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 19% less than the US as a whole and 36% less than Illinois.
All violent crime
Assaults
Robbery
Reported crimes a year, per 1,000 residents. Violent crime here includes simple assaults, which the FBI's violent crime rate leaves out.
Assault is the most common violent crime in Crystal Lake, about 96% of the total.
Each CrimeGrade™ here compares a violent crime with the people who spend time in an area, not only the people who live there. 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 violent crime happens in Crystal Lake
Crystal Lake has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Crystal Lake, 58% of aggravated assaults happen at a home, against 53% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
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.
Violent crime in Crystal Lake and nearby cities
Crystal Lake has the most violent crime of its 8 nearest cities.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from Crystal Lake. Beside each violent crime CrimeGrade™ is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer).
Compared with cities of similar size and density, Crystal Lake is safer than 63% of them.
Among the traits that tend to go with violent crime, one sets Crystal Lake apart: it has 4% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally. Places like that tend to report less robbery.
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery.4% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 77% 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 assault. 90% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D- (12 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 70% of US city residents
Transit serviceBuses and trains an hour at the evening rush. Places with busy transit tend to report more robbery. BestNeighborhood's Transit Grade for Crystal Lake: F (5 of 100).2 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 53% of US city residents
Show all 4
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more robbery.41 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 52% 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 violent crime costs Crystal Lake
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, violent crime costs Crystal Lake about $16 million a year, or $315 per resident. The costs that reach a bill, such as medical care, lost work and the justice system, come to about $6.0 million, or $114 per resident.
Billed cost of violent crime per resident, per year
How the cost breaks down
Pain and suffering are about 64% of that full cost.
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$220,000
$4
Rape
$1.2 million
$24
Robbery
$60,000
$1
Assault
$4.5 million
$85
Total
$6.0 million
$114
How CrimeGrade™ works
The violent crime CrimeGrade™ covers murder, rape, robbery and assault, from A+ for the least crime to F for the most, on one scale for the whole country.
It weighs each violent crime against the people who spend time in an area, so a busy downtown is graded on its workers and visitors as well as its residents.
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.
