Photo: David Wilson from Oak Park, Illinois, USA · CC BY 2.0Park Forest reports more crime per resident than 64% of U.S. towns
On crimes reported to the FBI by Park Forest’s police in 2023–2025, it grades C+ for safety: #246 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 Park Forest
Park Forest reports less crime than every graded town next door
Of the 6 Illinois towns on Park Forest’s borders, 4 have a Safety Grade: University Park (C), Richton Park (C), Olympia Fields (D), Chicago Heights (D−). Matteson and Monee 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 Park Forest’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 (13.6) 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
Park Forest’s police reported 178 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.
Show as a table
| Year | Park Forest | Rest of Illinois | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 3.1 | 3.7 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 3.0 | 3.4 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 2.8 | 3.2 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 2.8 | 2.7 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
For every 1,000 residents, about 12 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.
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 | Park Forest property | Rest of Illinois property | Park Forest violent | Rest of Illinois violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 13.7 | 20.5 | 3.1 | 3.7 |
| 2023 | 14.3 | 19.5 | 3.0 | 3.4 |
| 2024 | 15.1 | 19.8 | 2.8 | 3.2 |
| 2025 | 11.6 | 17.1 | 2.8 | 2.7 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
301 crimes reported in 2025
59 violent and 242 property, as reported to the FBI by Park Forest’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
10 people died in crashes on Park Forest’s roads in 2019–2023
Park Forest had 9 fatal crashes in five years, in which 10 people died; 2 were pedestrians.
That is 9.5 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, above the median for Illinois towns of 5,000–25,000 people (6.8, 412 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.
Park Forest and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Park Forest | C+ | 2.9 | 13.6 |
| University Park | C | 3.4 | 17.1 |
| Matteson | — | — | — |
| Richton Park | C | 2.9 | 19.7 |
| Monee Township | — | — | — |
| Chicago Heights | D− | 12.6 | 29.2 |
| Olympia Fields | D | 1.9 | 43.7 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Matteson and Monee Township have no FBI figures of their own for 2023–2025.
Illinois towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Park Forest | C+ | 2.9 | 13.6 |
| Libertyville | A− | 0.6 | 4.7 |
| Frankfort | A− | 0.3 | 6.4 |
| Grayslake | A− | 0.6 | 6.8 |
| Geneva | B+ | 0.9 | 7.2 |
| South Holland | C− | 3.2 | 20.5 |
The five graded Illinois towns closest to Park Forest’s population (21,079), 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 Park Forest. 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 Park Forest’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (20,869 in 2025); our figure for Park Forest is 21,079 (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 Park Forest
Is Park Forest, IL safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Park Forest reports more crime per resident than 64% of U.S. towns, a C+ Safety Grade and #246 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 Park Forest?
2.9 violent and 13.6 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 Park Forest?
Reported crime per resident was steady from 2023 to 2025: the change is within ordinary year-to-year swings.
Is Park Forest safer than University Park?
University Park reports more crime per resident than Park Forest: University Park grades C for safety and Park Forest C+. University Park’s police reported 3.4 violent and 17.1 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Park Forest?
Park Forest’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Park Forest”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Park Forest.
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.