Photo: Farragutful · CC BY-SA 4.0More crimes per resident are recorded in Rock Island than in 89% of U.S. towns
The Safety Grade comes out at D, drawn from crimes Rock Island’s police reported through 2023 to 2025: #315 of 339 graded towns in Illinois. Add to that, in a usual year, 5.7 violent crimes and 25.6 incidents of property crime are logged per 1,000 inhabitants; in the rest of Illinois, 3.1 and 18.8. Violent crime here is higher than in 91% of U.S. towns; property crime, higher than in 86%.
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 Rock Island
1 of the 2 graded towns next door reports less crime
Of the 6 Illinois towns on Rock Island’s borders, 2 have a Safety Grade: Milan (C−), Moline (D). Moline Township, Rock Island Township, South Rock Island Township and South Moline 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 Rock Island’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.
Crime in Rock Island 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 6 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Rock Island | Rest of Illinois | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 5.6 | 3.7 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 5.5 | 3.4 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 5.4 | 3.2 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 6.1 | 2.7 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Rock Island’s police reported 612 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 5.7 per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.1 in the rest of Illinois and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Reported crime is steady
Show as a table
| Year | Rock Island property | Rest of Illinois property | Rock Island violent | Rest of Illinois violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 25.9 | 20.5 | 5.6 | 3.7 |
| 2023 | 25.3 | 19.5 | 5.5 | 3.4 |
| 2024 | 27.1 | 19.8 | 5.4 | 3.2 |
| 2025 | 24.4 | 17.1 | 6.1 | 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.
1,106 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.
220 violent and 886 property, as reported to the FBI by Rock Island’s police.
Nine people died in crashes on Rock Island’s roads in 2019–2023
Rock Island had 8 fatal crashes in five years, in which nine people died; 1 was a cyclist.
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 Rock Island’s size would see about 9 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Rock Island’s own rate (5.0) 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.
Rock Island and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rock Island | D | 5.7 | 25.6 |
| Milan | C− | 3.0 | 23.7 |
| Moline | D | 4.1 | 31.3 |
| Moline Township | — | — | — |
| Rock Island Township | — | — | — |
| South Rock Island Township | — | — | — |
| South Moline Township | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Moline Township, Rock Island Township, South Rock Island Township and South Moline Township have no FBI figures of their own for 2023–2025.
Illinois towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rock Island | D | 5.7 | 25.6 |
| Hanover Park | A− | 1.3 | 4.5 |
| Carpentersville | B+ | 1.1 | 6.8 |
| Northbrook | B+ | 0.2 | 10.8 |
| Streamwood | B+ | 1.3 | 6.8 |
| Addison | B | 1.3 | 8.2 |
The five graded Illinois towns closest to Rock Island’s population (36,225), 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 Rock Island. 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 Rock Island’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (36,292 in 2025); our figure for Rock Island is 36,225 (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 Rock Island
Is Rock Island, IL safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Rock Island reports more crime per resident than 89% of U.S. towns, a D Safety Grade and #315 of 339 in Illinois. Its police reported 5.7 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 Rock Island?
5.7 violent and 25.6 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.
How many homicides were there in Rock Island in 2025?
Rock Island’s police reported 2 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 5.5 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Rock Island safer than Milan?
Milan reports less crime per resident than Rock Island: Milan grades C− for safety and Rock Island D. Milan’s police reported 3.0 violent and 23.7 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Rock Island?
Rock Island’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Rock Island”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
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Please don’t name or describe individuals. In an emergency, call 911.
Neighbors looking out for each other in Rock Island.
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.