Photo: DFHoulihan · CC BY-SA 4.0River Forest reports less violent crime than most U.S. towns, but more property crime
Overall, River Forest grades C+ for safety (#225 of 339 graded towns in Illinois): close to the middle 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 River Forest
River Forest reports less crime than every graded town next door
Of the 4 Illinois towns on River Forest’s borders, 2 have a Safety Grade: Melrose Park (C), Forest Park (D). Proviso Township and Maywood have no FBI figures of their own for 2023–2025. Neighbors ↓
A college town
River Forest is home to Dominican University, with 2,726 students taking classes on campus (federal college data), and 12% 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 ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind River Forest’s grade
Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Violent crime holds River Forest’s grade up; property crime pulls it down.
Violent crime, by year and by type
River Forest’s police reported 32 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 0.9 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 | River Forest | Rest of Illinois | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 0.5 | 3.7 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 0.8 | 3.4 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 0.9 | 3.2 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 1.1 | 2.7 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
For every 1,000 residents, about 16 property crimes reported
And about 1 violent crime, 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 | River Forest property | Rest of Illinois property | River Forest violent | Rest of Illinois violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 14.9 | 20.5 | 0.5 | 3.7 |
| 2023 | 14.3 | 19.5 | 0.8 | 3.4 |
| 2024 | 24.7 | 19.8 | 0.9 | 3.2 |
| 2025 | 15.8 | 17.1 | 1.1 | 2.7 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
200 crimes reported in 2025
13 violent and 187 property, as reported to the FBI by River 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.
Seven people died in crashes on River Forest’s roads in 2019–2023
River Forest had 4 fatal crashes in five years, in which seven people died; 1 was a cyclist.
That is about what 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 River Forest’s size would see about 4 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so River Forest’s own rate (11.7) 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.
River Forest and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| River Forest | C+ | 0.9 | 18.2 |
| Proviso Township | — | — | — |
| Maywood | — | — | — |
| Melrose Park | C | 2.7 | 15.3 |
| Forest Park | D | 3.8 | 29.6 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Proviso Township and Maywood have no FBI figures of their own for 2023–2025.
Illinois towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| River Forest | C+ | 0.9 | 18.2 |
| Manhattan | A+ | 0.4 | 2.1 |
| Troy | A | 0.4 | 4.2 |
| Burr Ridge | A− | 0.6 | 7.7 |
| Roscoe | B+ | 1.2 | 5.9 |
| Centralia | D | 7.0 | 26.0 |
The five graded Illinois towns closest to River Forest’s population (11,393), 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 River 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 River Forest’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (11,833 in 2025); our figure for River Forest is 11,393 (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 River Forest
Is River Forest, IL safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, River Forest reports more crime per resident than 58% of U.S. towns, a C+ Safety Grade and #225 of 339 in Illinois. Its police reported 0.9 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 River Forest?
0.9 violent and 18.2 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 crime going up or down in River Forest?
Reported crime per resident was steady from 2023 to 2025: the change is within ordinary year-to-year swings.
Is River Forest safer than Melrose Park?
Melrose Park reports more crime per resident than River Forest: Melrose Park grades C for safety and River Forest C+. Melrose Park’s police reported 2.7 violent and 15.3 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices River Forest?
River Forest’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “River Forest”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in River 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.