The Most Dangerous City in Illinois Shockingly Isn’t Chicago

I am genuinely surprised. If you had told me that the most dangerous city in Illinois wasn't Chicago, I would have guessed it would have been a different place than the actual #1 most perilous place you can live in the Land of Lincoln.

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Let's be honest. I'm guessing that most people think of Chicago when they think of violent crime in Illinois. Maybe that's fair or maybe not, but that's likely most people's perception. Data proves that perception is wrong.

So what is the most dangerous city in Illinois?

I wanted to find the most up-to-date information possible to get an accurate look at where crime is happening in Illinois and why. I found a site called Property Club that has the crime rates including some 2023 data.

According to their numbers, the most dangerous city in Illinois is Danville. They say that Danville has "a crime rate 213% above the state average". Yikes. With a population of just over 30,000, the data shows that the crime rate in Danville is "skyrocketing" as they describe it and the numbers show that's not inaccurate.

Since this is based on a per capita basis, that's likely one reason why Chicago (with it's huge population) isn't even in the top 5 for crime rate. According to the Property Club data, the Windy City is #6.

The crime in Danville has become such an issue that even the notorious metro of East St. Louis doesn't have a crime rate to match it (although it's bad there also).