Swansea sees less violent crime per resident than 78% of U.S. towns
None of the 4 towns next door with figures records less crime per resident. Swansea’s police logs show 0.7 violent crime and 8.3 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents a year, while in the rest of Illinois the numbers are 3.1 and 18.8. Overall, Swansea grades B+ for safety (#133 of 339 graded towns in Illinois): less crime per resident than 71% of U.S. towns, on crimes its police reported from 2023 to 2025. Add to that, the rate the grade counts dropped 36% from 2023 to 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 Swansea
Swansea reports less crime than every graded town next door
Of the 6 Illinois towns on Swansea’s borders, 4 have a Safety Grade: Shiloh (B+), O'Fallon (B−), Belleville (C−), Fairview Heights (D). St. Clair Township and Caseyville Township have no FBI figures of their own for 2023–2025. Neighbors ↓
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 Swansea’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 lower than in most U.S. towns; violent crime is the stronger of the two.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Swansea property | Rest of Illinois property | Swansea violent | Rest of Illinois violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 13.2 | 20.5 | 1.0 | 3.7 |
| 2023 | 10.7 | 19.5 | 1.0 | 3.4 |
| 2024 | 7.4 | 19.9 | 0.4 | 3.2 |
| 2025 | 6.8 | 17.1 | 0.7 | 2.7 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
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.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Swansea | Rest of Illinois | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1.0 | 3.7 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 1.0 | 3.4 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 0.4 | 3.2 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 0.7 | 2.7 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Swansea’s police reported 30 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 0.7 per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.1 in the rest of Illinois and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Crime in Swansea 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 1 violent crime, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
109 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.
10 violent and 99 property, as reported to the FBI by Swansea’s police.
Four people died in crashes on Swansea’s roads in 2019–2023
Swansea had 4 fatal crashes in five years, in which four people died; 1 was a pedestrian and 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 Swansea’s size would see about 5 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Swansea’s own rate (5.4) 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.
Swansea and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Swansea | B+ | 0.7 | 8.3 |
| St. Clair Township | — | — | — |
| Belleville | C− | 4.8 | 17.2 |
| Fairview Heights | D | 3.8 | 30.5 |
| Shiloh | B+ | 1.4 | 5.9 |
| O'Fallon | B− | 1.6 | 10.7 |
| Caseyville Township | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. St. Clair Township and Caseyville Township have no FBI figures of their own for 2023–2025.
Illinois towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Swansea | B+ | 0.7 | 8.3 |
| Channahon | A− | 0.8 | 4.4 |
| Dixon | A− | 1.4 | 3.9 |
| Chatham | B+ | 1.2 | 5.5 |
| Hickory Hills | B+ | 0.7 | 9.5 |
| Sterling | C+ | 2.7 | 12.8 |
The five graded Illinois towns closest to Swansea’s population (14,356), 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 Swansea. 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 Swansea’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (14,470 in 2025); our figure for Swansea is 14,356 (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 Swansea
Is Swansea, IL safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Swansea reports less crime per resident than 71% of U.S. towns, a B+ Safety Grade and #133 of 339 in Illinois. Its police reported 0.7 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 Swansea?
0.7 violent and 8.3 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 Swansea safer than Belleville?
Belleville reports more crime per resident than Swansea: Belleville grades C− for safety and Swansea B+. Belleville’s police reported 4.8 violent and 17.2 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Swansea?
Swansea’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Swansea”. 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 Swansea.
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.