Photo: Johnnie Tran · CC BY-SA 3.0DeKalb reports more crime per resident than 82% of U.S. towns
On crimes reported to the FBI by DeKalb’s police in 2023–2025, it grades C− for safety: #296 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 DeKalb
2 of the 2 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 2 Illinois towns on DeKalb’s borders, 2 have a Safety Grade: Cortland (A−), Sycamore (B+). Neighbors ↓
A college town
DeKalb is home to Northern Illinois University, with 13,307 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 ↓
Reported crime is falling
Crime reported per resident fell from 2023 to 2025 by more than ordinary year-to-year swings, on the grade’s own score. Trend ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind DeKalb’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; violent crime is the closer of the two to typical.
Reported crime is falling
Reported crime per resident fell from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings. Per 1,000 residents, 2022–2025, against the rest of Illinois.
Show as a table
| Year | DeKalb property | Rest of Illinois property | DeKalb violent | Rest of Illinois violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 25.8 | 20.5 | 5.5 | 3.7 |
| 2023 | 25.0 | 19.5 | 4.3 | 3.4 |
| 2024 | 25.1 | 19.8 | 3.9 | 3.2 |
| 2025 | 21.9 | 17.1 | 2.7 | 2.7 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
For every 1,000 residents, about 22 property crimes reported
And about 3 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.
Violent crime, by year and by type
DeKalb’s police reported 438 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 3.6 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 | DeKalb | Rest of Illinois | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 5.5 | 3.7 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 4.3 | 3.4 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 3.9 | 3.2 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
996 crimes reported in 2025
108 violent and 888 property, as reported to the FBI by DeKalb’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
Eight people died in crashes on DeKalb’s roads in 2019–2023
DeKalb had 8 fatal crashes in five years, in which eight people died; 3 were pedestrians.
That is about what is typical for Illinois towns of 25,000–100,000 people: at their median rate (5.1 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of DeKalb’s size would see about 10 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so DeKalb’s own rate (4.0) 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.
DeKalb and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Illinois towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| DeKalb | C− | 3.6 | 24.0 |
| Bartlett | A | 0.4 | 3.4 |
| Oswego | A− | 0.6 | 5.3 |
| Romeoville | B | 1.4 | 9.5 |
| Belleville | C− | 4.8 | 17.2 |
| Urbana | D | 4.9 | 25.6 |
The five graded Illinois towns closest to DeKalb’s population (40,467), 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 DeKalb. 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 DeKalb’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (40,558 in 2025); our figure for DeKalb is 40,467 (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 DeKalb
Is DeKalb, IL safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, DeKalb reports more crime per resident than 82% of U.S. towns, a C− Safety Grade and #296 of 339 in Illinois. Its police reported 3.6 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 DeKalb?
3.6 violent and 24.0 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 DeKalb?
Reported crime per resident fell from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings.
How many homicides were there in DeKalb in 2025?
DeKalb’s police reported 1 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 2.5 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is DeKalb safer than Sycamore?
Sycamore reports less crime per resident than DeKalb: Sycamore grades B+ for safety and DeKalb C−. Sycamore’s police reported 0.9 violent and 9.5 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices DeKalb?
DeKalb’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “DeKalb”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in DeKalb.
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.