Photo: jrmyers · CC BY-SA 3.0Charleston has more violent crime per resident than 72% of U.S. towns
Year on year, 2.9 violent crimes and 15.5 incidents of property crime occur per 1,000 residents, compared with 3.1 and 18.8 in the rest of Illinois. On the record of crimes Charleston’s police reported from 2023 to 2025, it takes C for safety: #259 of 339 graded towns in Illinois.
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. “Rest of IL” is every other Illinois city and town in the FBI’s tables; the U.S. figure is the FBI’s national estimate as published, averaged over the three years. The FBI publishes no national homicide or robbery rate in our data, so those compare with all U.S. cities and towns in its tables.
What stands out about safety in Charleston
Charleston reports less crime than every graded town next door
Of the 1 Illinois towns on Charleston’s borders, 1 have a Safety Grade: Mattoon (C). Neighbors ↓
A college town
Charleston is home to Eastern Illinois University, with 7,499 students taking classes on campus (federal college data), and 26% of residents are enrolled in college (Census). Students who live in town count as residents, so they are part of the per-resident rate. How to read it ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind Charleston’s grade
Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Both violent and property crime are higher than in most U.S. towns; property crime is the closer of the two to typical. Its violent rate (2.9) is below the FBI’s national estimate (3.6) but higher than in most individual towns: the national figure is weighted by people, and the grade counts towns. Its property rate (15.5) is below the FBI’s national estimate (17.6) but higher than in most individual towns: the national figure is weighted by people, and the grade counts towns.
Crime in Charleston per 1,000 residents
Violent crime per 1,000 residents, 2025
Property crime per 1,000 residents, 2025
Crimes reported to police in 2025 per resident; one person can be the victim of more than one, and some reports involve visitors.
And about 3 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Charleston | Rest of Illinois | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 2.7 | 3.4 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 3.6 | 3.2 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 2.5 | 2.7 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Charleston’s police reported 151 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 2.9 per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.1 in the rest of Illinois and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Reported crime is steady
Show as a table
| Year | Charleston property | Rest of Illinois property | Charleston violent | Rest of Illinois violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 12.4 | 19.5 | 2.7 | 3.4 |
| 2024 | 17.9 | 19.8 | 3.6 | 3.2 |
| 2025 | 16.0 | 17.1 | 2.5 | 2.7 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
Reported crime per resident was steady from 2023 to 2025: the change is within ordinary year-to-year swings. Per 1,000 residents, 2023–2025, against the rest of Illinois.
321 crimes reported in 2025
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
44 violent and 277 property, as reported to the FBI by Charleston’s police.
Four people died in crashes on Charleston’s roads in 2019–2023
Charleston had 4 fatal crashes in five years, in which four people died.
That is about what is typical for Illinois towns of 5,000–25,000 people: at their median rate (6.8 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Charleston’s size would see about 6 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Charleston’s own rate (4.7) is context, not a ranking.
Deaths are counted where the crash happened, not where the people lived: a highway through town adds through-traffic deaths, and residents’ own risk on roads elsewhere isn’t here. Town rates sit below state and U.S. rates because a third of fatal crashes happen outside any town. Road safety is described here and is not part of the Safety Grade. Source: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 2019–2023.
Charleston and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Charleston | C | 2.9 | 15.5 |
| Mattoon | C | 4.5 | 10.9 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Illinois towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Charleston | C | 2.9 | 15.5 |
| Hinsdale | A | 0.3 | 4.5 |
| Morton | B+ | 1.2 | 7.7 |
| Bourbonnais | B | 1.8 | 6.3 |
| Jacksonville | C | 2.6 | 19.8 |
| Marion | C− | 3.7 | 22.9 |
The five graded Illinois towns closest to Charleston’s population (17,466), by grade.
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- It’s reported crime. Only incidents reported to and recorded by police appear here. Many crimes are never reported to police.
- One number for all of Charleston. A town-wide rate doesn’t show where incidents happen, and that can differ a lot from one part of town to another.
- Visitors count too. Incidents involving people who work, shop or visit are counted against Charleston’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (17,307 in 2025); our figure for Charleston is 17,466 (2025 Census estimate).
- Gaps are real gaps. A missing year means the department didn’t report a full year, not that nothing happened.
How the grade is calculated, for every town: How TownRatings grades safety →
Questions about safety in Charleston
Is Charleston, IL safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Charleston reports more crime per resident than 68% of U.S. towns, a C Safety Grade and #259 of 339 in Illinois. Its police reported 2.9 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.1 in the rest of Illinois and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Charleston?
2.9 violent and 15.5 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Illinois reports 3.1 and 18.8; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is Charleston safer than Mattoon?
Mattoon reports more crime per resident than Charleston: Mattoon grades C for safety and Charleston C. Mattoon’s police reported 4.5 violent and 10.9 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Charleston?
Charleston’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Charleston”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
Please don’t name or describe individuals. In an emergency, call 911.
Neighbors looking out for each other in Charleston.
Crime: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program, Crime Data Explorer: offenses known to law enforcement by city, 2025, and state and national rates. Counts are crimes reported to police, not convictions. The Safety Grade is our own summary of that data, not an official rating. Road deaths: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 2019–2023. This isn’t an official statement of public safety. In an emergency, call 911.