Photo: Paul Sableman · CC BY 2.0On property crime, Wood River has a higher rate per resident than seven in ten U.S. towns
One of the 2 towns next door with figures records less crime per resident. Scored on crimes Wood River’s police reported across 2023 to 2025, the town lands on C for safety: #252 of 339 graded towns in Illinois. Out of every 1,000 residents, 2.2 violent crimes and 17.2 incidents of property crime are reported annually, 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 Wood River
1 of the 2 graded towns next door reports less crime
Of the 5 Illinois towns on Wood River’s borders, 2 have a Safety Grade: Bethalto (B+), East Alton (C). Rosewood Heights is an unincorporated community (a census-designated place) with no police department of its own. Roxana and Hartford reported to the FBI for 2023 and 2024 but not 2025. Neighbors ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind Wood River’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; violent crime is the closer of the two to typical. Its violent rate (2.2) 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. Its property rate (17.2) is below the FBI’s national estimate (17.6) but higher than in most individual towns: the national figure is weighted by people, and the grade counts towns.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Wood River | Rest of Illinois | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 3.6 | 3.7 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 2.2 | 3.4 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 2.7 | 3.2 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 1.7 | 2.7 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Wood River’s police reported 68 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 2.2 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 Wood River 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 2 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
Reported crime is steady
Show as a table
| Year | Wood River property | Rest of Illinois property | Wood River violent | Rest of Illinois violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 23.8 | 20.5 | 3.6 | 3.7 |
| 2023 | 17.5 | 19.5 | 2.2 | 3.4 |
| 2024 | 17.1 | 19.8 | 2.7 | 3.2 |
| 2025 | 17.0 | 17.1 | 1.7 | 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.
190 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.
17 violent and 173 property, as reported to the FBI by Wood River’s police.
Four people died in crashes on Wood River’s roads in 2019–2023
Wood River had 4 fatal crashes in five years, in which four people died; 1 was a pedestrian.
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 Wood River’s size would see about 4 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Wood River’s own rate (7.8) 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.
Wood River and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wood River | C | 2.2 | 17.2 |
| Rosewood Heights | — | — | — |
| East Alton | C | 3.7 | 13.3 |
| Roxana | — | — | — |
| Bethalto | B+ | 0.9 | 8.2 |
| Hartford | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Rosewood Heights is an unincorporated community (a census-designated place) with no police department of its own. Roxana and Hartford reported to the FBI for 2023 and 2024 but not 2025.
Illinois towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wood River | C | 2.2 | 17.2 |
| Winfield | A | 0.5 | 2.8 |
| Highland | A− | 1.0 | 5.6 |
| Mahomet | A− | 1.7 | 2.8 |
| River Grove | B− | 1.3 | 13.4 |
| Taylorville | B− | 2.4 | 10.5 |
The five graded Illinois towns closest to Wood River’s population (10,224), 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 Wood River. 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 Wood River’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (10,205 in 2025); our figure for Wood River is 10,224 (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 Wood River
Is Wood River, IL safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Wood River reports more crime per resident than 66% of U.S. towns, a C Safety Grade and #252 of 339 in Illinois. Its police reported 2.2 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 Wood River?
2.2 violent and 17.2 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 Wood River safer than East Alton?
East Alton reports more crime per resident than Wood River: East Alton grades C for safety and Wood River C. East Alton’s police reported 3.7 violent and 13.3 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Wood River?
Wood River’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Wood River”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
Please don’t name or describe individuals. In an emergency, call 911.
Neighbors looking out for each other in Wood River.
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.