South Chicago Heights has more property crime per resident than 88% of U.S. towns
Among its 2 neighbors with figures, only one records less crime per resident. Graded on crimes South Chicago Heights’ police reported from 2023 to 2025, it scores C− for safety: #304 of 339 graded towns in Illinois. What’s more, recorded violent crimes ran at 3.4 per 1,000 residents a year and property crime at 26.6, against 3.1 and 18.8 in the rest of 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 South Chicago Heights
1 of the 2 graded towns next door reports less crime
Of the 2 Illinois towns on South Chicago Heights’ borders, 2 have a Safety Grade: Steger (C), Chicago Heights (D−). Neighbors ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind South Chicago Heights’ 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; violent crime is the closer of the two to typical. Its violent rate (3.4) 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.
Crime in South Chicago Heights 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 4 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 | South Chicago Heights | Rest of Illinois | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 6.0 | 3.7 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 3.7 | 3.4 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 2.4 | 3.2 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 4.1 | 2.7 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
South Chicago Heights’ police reported 39 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 3.4 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 | South Chicago Heights property | Rest of Illinois property | South Chicago Heights violent | Rest of Illinois violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 23.9 | 20.5 | 6.0 | 3.7 |
| 2023 | 21.8 | 19.5 | 3.7 | 3.4 |
| 2024 | 32.8 | 19.8 | 2.4 | 3.2 |
| 2025 | 25.4 | 17.1 | 4.1 | 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.
114 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.
16 violent and 98 property, as reported to the FBI by South Chicago Heights’ police.
Seven people died in crashes on South Chicago Heights’s roads in 2019–2023
South Chicago Heights had 6 fatal crashes in five years, in which seven people died; 2 were pedestrians.
That is more than is typical for Illinois towns of 2,500–5,000 people: at their median rate (7.1 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of South Chicago Heights’s size would see about 1 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so South Chicago Heights’s own rate (35.8) 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.
South Chicago Heights and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Chicago Heights | C− | 3.4 | 26.6 |
| Steger | C | 3.0 | 18.2 |
| Chicago Heights | D− | 12.6 | 29.2 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Illinois towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Chicago Heights | C− | 3.4 | 26.6 |
| Smithton | A+ | 0.2 | 2.0 |
| Millstadt | A+ | 0.3 | 2.6 |
| Coal Valley | A− | 0.3 | 8.3 |
| Marshall | B− | 2.0 | 12.6 |
| Rosemont | D− | 4.6 | 57.8 |
The five graded Illinois towns closest to South Chicago Heights’ population (3,884), 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 South Chicago Heights. 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 South Chicago Heights’ residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (3,859 in 2025); our figure for South Chicago Heights is 3,884 (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 South Chicago Heights
Is South Chicago Heights, IL safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, South Chicago Heights reports more crime per resident than 84% of U.S. towns, a C− Safety Grade and #304 of 339 in Illinois. Its police reported 3.4 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 South Chicago Heights?
3.4 violent and 26.6 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 South Chicago Heights safer than Steger?
Steger reports less crime per resident than South Chicago Heights: Steger grades C for safety and South Chicago Heights C−. Steger’s police reported 3.0 violent and 18.2 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices South Chicago Heights?
South Chicago Heights’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “South Chicago Heights”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
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Neighbors looking out for each other in South Chicago Heights.
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.