Transfer House · Photo: Ander107 · CC BY-SA 3.0Decatur reports more crime per resident than 91% of U.S. towns
On crimes reported to the FBI by Decatur’s police in 2023–2025, it grades D for safety: #321 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 Decatur
1 of the 1 graded towns next door reports less crime
Of the 8 Illinois towns on Decatur’s borders, 1 have a Safety Grade: Mount Zion (A−). Forsyth, Whitmore Township, Harristown, South Wheatland Township, Decatur Township, Long Creek and Long Creek Township have no FBI figures of their own for 2023–2025. Neighbors ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind Decatur’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.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Decatur’s police reported 1,335 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 6.5 per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.1 in the rest of Illinois and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Show as a table
| Year | Decatur | Rest of Illinois | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 7.1 | 3.7 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 6.9 | 3.4 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 6.0 | 3.2 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 6.7 | 2.7 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
For every 1,000 residents, about 26 property crimes reported
And about 7 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
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.
Reported crime is steady
Reported crime per resident was steady from 2023 to 2025: the change is within ordinary year-to-year swings. Per 1,000 residents, 2022–2025, against the rest of Illinois.
Show as a table
| Year | Decatur property | Rest of Illinois property | Decatur violent | Rest of Illinois violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 24.7 | 20.5 | 7.1 | 3.7 |
| 2023 | 25.6 | 19.5 | 6.9 | 3.4 |
| 2024 | 28.7 | 19.8 | 6.0 | 3.2 |
| 2025 | 25.5 | 17.0 | 6.7 | 2.7 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
2,198 crimes reported in 2025
458 violent and 1,740 property, as reported to the FBI by Decatur’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
40 people died in crashes on Decatur’s roads in 2019–2023
Decatur had 34 fatal crashes in five years, in which 40 people died; 5 were pedestrians and 1 was a cyclist.
That is 11.5 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, above the median for Illinois towns of 25,000–100,000 people (5.1, 150 towns).
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.
Decatur and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Decatur | D | 6.5 | 26.6 |
| Forsyth | — | — | — |
| Mount Zion | A− | 0.5 | 5.6 |
| Whitmore Township | — | — | — |
| Harristown | — | — | — |
| South Wheatland Township | — | — | — |
| Decatur Township | — | — | — |
| Long Creek | — | — | — |
| Long Creek Township | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Forsyth, Whitmore Township, Harristown, South Wheatland Township, Decatur Township, Long Creek and Long Creek Township have no FBI figures of their own for 2023–2025.
Illinois towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Decatur | D | 6.5 | 26.6 |
| Arlington Heights | B+ | 0.6 | 8.5 |
| Palatine | B+ | 0.9 | 8.6 |
| Bolingbrook | B | 2.1 | 7.7 |
| Skokie | C− | 1.9 | 26.1 |
| Evanston | C− | 1.4 | 27.4 |
The five graded Illinois towns closest to Decatur’s population (67,884), by grade.
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 Decatur. A citywide rate doesn’t show where incidents happen, and that can differ a lot from one part of the city to another.
- Visitors count too. Incidents involving people who work, shop or visit are counted against Decatur’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (68,221 in 2025); our figure for Decatur is 67,884 (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 Decatur
Is Decatur, IL safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Decatur reports more crime per resident than 91% of U.S. towns, a D Safety Grade and #321 of 339 in Illinois. Its police reported 6.5 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 Decatur?
6.5 violent and 26.6 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 crime going up or down in Decatur?
Reported crime per resident was steady from 2023 to 2025: the change is within ordinary year-to-year swings.
How many homicides were there in Decatur in 2025?
Decatur’s police reported 9 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 13.2 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Decatur safer than Mount Zion?
Mount Zion reports less crime per resident than Decatur: Mount Zion grades A− for safety and Decatur D. Mount Zion’s police reported 0.5 violent and 5.6 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Decatur?
Decatur’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Decatur”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Decatur.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
Please don’t name or describe individuals. In an emergency, call 911.
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.