Photo: Wuhazet - Henryk Żychowski · CC BY 3.0Elmwood Park records less violent crime per head than 60% of U.S. towns
All told, Elmwood Park grades B for safety (#195 of 339 graded towns in Illinois): close to the middle of U.S. towns, on crimes its police reported from 2023 to 2025. Both towns on its borders with figures record more crime per resident. Add to that, recorded violent crimes ran at 1.3 per 1,000 residents a year and property crime at 11.2, against 3.1 and 18.8 in the rest of 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 Elmwood Park
Elmwood Park reports less crime than every graded town next door
Of the 3 Illinois towns on Elmwood Park’s borders, 2 have a Safety Grade: River Grove (B−), Chicago (D). Leyden Township has no FBI figures of its own for 2023–2025. Neighbors ↓
Among Illinois towns, closer to the middle
Illinois’ cities and towns report less crime than most states’, so Elmwood Park’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 42% of the 339 Illinois towns we grade, against 55% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind Elmwood Park’s grade
Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Violent crime holds Elmwood Park’s grade up; property crime pulls it down. Its property rate (11.2) 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.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Elmwood Park | Rest of Illinois | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1.4 | 3.8 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 1.2 | 3.4 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 1.7 | 3.2 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 0.9 | 2.7 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Elmwood Park’s police reported 89 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 1.3 per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.1 in the rest of Illinois and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Crime in Elmwood Park 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 1 violent crime, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
Reported crime is steady
Show as a table
| Year | Elmwood Park property | Rest of Illinois property | Elmwood Park violent | Rest of Illinois violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 12.1 | 20.5 | 1.4 | 3.8 |
| 2023 | 10.6 | 19.6 | 1.2 | 3.4 |
| 2024 | 11.1 | 19.9 | 1.7 | 3.2 |
| 2025 | 11.9 | 17.1 | 0.9 | 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, 2022–2025, against the rest of Illinois.
303 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.
22 violent and 281 property, as reported to the FBI by Elmwood Park’s police.
Three people died in crashes on Elmwood Park’s roads in 2019–2023
Elmwood Park had 2 fatal crashes in five years, in which three people died; 1 was a pedestrian.
That is fewer than 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 Elmwood Park’s size would see about 8 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Elmwood Park’s own rate (2.5) 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.
Elmwood Park and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elmwood Park | B | 1.3 | 11.2 |
| River Grove | B− | 1.3 | 13.4 |
| Chicago | D | 5.2 | 32.8 |
| Leyden Township | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Leyden Township has no FBI figures of its own for 2023–2025.
Illinois towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elmwood Park | B | 1.3 | 11.2 |
| Lisle | A | 0.6 | 4.7 |
| Rolling Meadows | B− | 0.9 | 13.9 |
| Collinsville | C+ | 2.2 | 15.4 |
| Loves Park | C+ | 3.2 | 12.2 |
| Melrose Park | C | 2.7 | 15.3 |
The five graded Illinois towns closest to Elmwood Park’s population (23,675), 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 Elmwood Park. 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 Elmwood Park’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (23,520 in 2025); our figure for Elmwood Park is 23,675 (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 Elmwood Park
Is Elmwood Park, IL safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Elmwood Park reports less crime per resident than 55% of U.S. towns, a B Safety Grade and #195 of 339 in Illinois. Its police reported 1.3 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 Elmwood Park?
1.3 violent and 11.2 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 Elmwood Park safer than River Grove?
River Grove reports more crime per resident than Elmwood Park: River Grove grades B− for safety and Elmwood Park B. River Grove’s police reported 1.3 violent and 13.4 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Elmwood Park?
Elmwood Park’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Elmwood Park”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
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Neighbors looking out for each other in Elmwood Park.
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.