Photo: Alexbaumgarner · CC BY-SA 3.0Rockford reports more crime per resident than 96% of U.S. towns
On crimes reported to the FBI by Rockford’s police in 2023–2025, it grades D− for safety: #332 of 339 graded towns in Illinois, and #279 of 325 U.S. cities over 100,000.
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 Rockford
3 of the 3 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 5 Illinois towns on Rockford’s borders, 3 have a Safety Grade: Loves Park (C+), Machesney Park (C+), Cherry Valley (D). Owen Township and Harlem Township have no FBI figures of their own for 2023–2025. Neighbors ↓
Homicides: above U.S. cities overall
Rockford’s police reported 11 homicides to the FBI in 2025. Over 2023–2025 that is 10.7 per 100,000 residents a year, 1.7 times the rest of Illinois (6.4) and 1.9 times all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables (5.7). Violent crime ↓
Robberies: about the same as the rest of Illinois
104 robberies per 100,000 residents a year over 2023–2025 (123 reported in 2025), about the same as the rest of Illinois (108) and above all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables (79.4). Violent crime ↓
Against other big cities
Among the 325 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, Rockford reports less crime per resident than 14% (#279). Places like it ↓
Reported crime is falling
Crime reported per resident fell 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 Rockford’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.
For every 1,000 residents, about 25 property crimes reported
And about 9 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.
Homicides and robberies
Rockford’s police reported 11 homicides, 123 robberies and 1,324 violent crimes in all to the FBI in 2025. By year, against the rest of Illinois and all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables.
Show as a table
| Year | Rockford | Rest of Illinois | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 10.9 | 10.5 | 7.7 |
| 2023 | 11.7 | 7.6 | 6.8 |
| 2024 | 13.1 | 6.7 | 5.7 |
| 2025 | 7.5 | 5.0 | 4.6 |
Homicides per 100,000 residents
Show as a table
| Year | Rockford | Rest of Illinois | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 138 | 141 | 95.5 |
| 2023 | 123 | 139 | 90.6 |
| 2024 | 107 | 114 | 81.9 |
| 2025 | 83.6 | 74.1 | 66.0 |
Robberies per 100,000 residents
Reported crime is falling
Reported crime per resident fell from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings. Per 1,000 residents, 2022–2025, against the rest of Illinois.
Show as a table
| Year | Rockford property | Rest of Illinois property | Rockford violent | Rest of Illinois violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 26.4 | 20.4 | 14.3 | 3.5 |
| 2023 | 26.9 | 19.4 | 11.5 | 3.3 |
| 2024 | 25.2 | 19.8 | 10.8 | 3.1 |
| 2025 | 25.0 | 17.0 | 9.0 | 2.6 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
5,005 crimes reported in 2025
1,324 violent and 3,681 property, as reported to the FBI by Rockford’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
89 people died in crashes on Rockford’s roads in 2019–2023
Rockford had 86 fatal crashes in five years, in which 89 people died; 25 were pedestrians and 4 were cyclists. 1 died in crash on an Interstate.
That is 12.1 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, above the median for Illinois towns of 100,000+ people (6.1, 28 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.
Rockford and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rockford | D− | 10.4 | 25.7 |
| Loves Park | C+ | 3.2 | 12.2 |
| Owen Township | — | — | — |
| Machesney Park | C+ | 2.5 | 14.7 |
| Harlem Township | — | — | — |
| Cherry Valley | D | 4.0 | 44.4 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Owen Township and Harlem Township have no FBI figures of their own for 2023–2025.
Illinois towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rockford | D− | 10.4 | 25.7 |
| Naperville | B+ | 0.7 | 7.7 |
| Elgin | B− | 2.4 | 9.7 |
| Aurora | C+ | 2.7 | 11.4 |
| Joliet | C | 3.7 | 11.3 |
| Springfield | D− | 8.6 | 46.0 |
The five graded Illinois towns closest to Rockford’s population (147,384), 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 Rockford. A citywide rate doesn’t show where incidents happen, and that can differ a lot from one part of the city to another.
- Visitors count too. Incidents involving people who work, shop or visit are counted against Rockford’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (147,186 in 2025); our figure for Rockford is 147,384 (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 Rockford
Is Rockford, IL safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Rockford reports more crime per resident than 96% of U.S. towns, a D− Safety Grade and #332 of 339 in Illinois. Its police reported 10.4 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.0 in the rest of Illinois and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Rockford?
10.4 violent and 25.7 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Illinois reports 3.0 and 18.7; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is crime going up or down in Rockford?
Reported crime per resident fell from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings.
How many homicides were there in Rockford in 2025?
Rockford’s police reported 11 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 7.5 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Rockford safer than Loves Park?
Loves Park reports less crime per resident than Rockford: Loves Park grades C+ for safety and Rockford D−. Loves Park’s police reported 3.2 violent and 12.2 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Rockford?
Rockford’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Rockford”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Rockford.
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.