Reported crime per resident in Pontoon Beach rose 33% from 2023 to 2025
Overall, Pontoon Beach grades C for safety (#258 of 339 graded towns in Illinois): more crime per resident than 67% of U.S. towns, on crimes its police reported to the FBI in 2023–2025.
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 Pontoon Beach
3 of the 4 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 8 Illinois towns on Pontoon Beach’s borders, 4 have a Safety Grade: Edwardsville (A−), Glen Carbon (B), Collinsville (C+), Granite City (D). Mitchell is an unincorporated community (a census-designated place) with no police department of its own. Nameoki Township, Madison and Chouteau Township have no FBI figures of their own for 2023–2025. Neighbors ↓
Reported crime is rising
Crime reported per resident rose 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 Pontoon Beach’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 (3.0) 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 (14.7) 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.
Reported crime is rising
Reported crime per resident rose from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings. Per 1,000 residents, 2023–2025, against the rest of Illinois.
Show as a table
| Year | Pontoon Beach property | Rest of Illinois property | Pontoon Beach violent | Rest of Illinois violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 12.7 | 19.5 | 1.7 | 3.4 |
| 2024 | 16.9 | 19.8 | 2.6 | 3.2 |
| 2025 | 14.4 | 17.1 | 4.8 | 2.7 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
For every 1,000 residents, about 14 property crimes reported
And about 5 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
Pontoon Beach’s police reported 53 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 3.0 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 | Pontoon Beach | Rest of Illinois | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 1.7 | 3.4 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 2.6 | 3.2 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 4.8 | 2.7 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
112 crimes reported in 2025
28 violent and 84 property, as reported to the FBI by Pontoon Beach’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
Five people died in crashes on Pontoon Beach’s roads in 2019–2023
Pontoon Beach had 5 fatal crashes in five years, in which five people died; 1 was a pedestrian. Most of these deaths (3 of 5) were on an Interstate passing through, so they say more about through-traffic than about the town’s own streets.
That is more 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 Pontoon Beach’s size would see about 2 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Pontoon Beach’s own rate (16.6) 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.
Pontoon Beach and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pontoon Beach | C | 3.0 | 14.7 |
| Granite City | D | 6.5 | 24.3 |
| Collinsville | C+ | 2.2 | 15.4 |
| Mitchell | — | — | — |
| Nameoki Township | — | — | — |
| Edwardsville | A− | 0.3 | 6.1 |
| Glen Carbon | B | 0.7 | 12.5 |
| Madison | — | — | — |
| Chouteau Township | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Mitchell is an unincorporated community (a census-designated place) with no police department of its own. Nameoki Township, Madison and Chouteau Township have no FBI figures of their own for 2023–2025.
Illinois towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pontoon Beach | C | 3.0 | 14.7 |
| Willow Springs | A | 0.2 | 3.8 |
| Mount Zion | A− | 0.5 | 5.6 |
| Coal City | A− | 0.7 | 4.4 |
| Chillicothe | C+ | 2.0 | 14.1 |
| Bartonville | C− | 4.0 | 17.6 |
The five graded Illinois towns closest to Pontoon Beach’s population (5,887), 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 Pontoon Beach. 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 Pontoon Beach’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (5,842 in 2025); our figure for Pontoon Beach is 5,887 (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 Pontoon Beach
Is Pontoon Beach, IL safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Pontoon Beach reports more crime per resident than 67% of U.S. towns, a C Safety Grade and #258 of 339 in Illinois. Its police reported 3.0 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 Pontoon Beach?
3.0 violent and 14.7 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 Pontoon Beach?
Reported crime per resident rose from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings.
Is Pontoon Beach safer than Granite City?
Granite City reports more crime per resident than Pontoon Beach: Granite City grades D for safety and Pontoon Beach C. Granite City’s police reported 6.5 violent and 24.3 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Pontoon Beach?
Pontoon Beach’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Pontoon Beach”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Pontoon Beach.
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.