25 Safest Places To Live In Illinois For 2026: Ranking

A new ranking of the safest places to live in Illinois is dominated by Chicago-area suburbs, with communities from the North Shore, northwest suburbs and western suburbs all landing near the top.

Data and analytics website Niche released its 2026 rankings based on crime statistics and resident reviews, including data involving violent and property crimes.

Of the 25 highest-ranked communities in Illinois, 23 are listed as Chicago suburbs. Jerome and Sherman, both near Springfield, were the only communities outside the Chicago area to make the top 25.

Here is the list, broken down by Niche's Crime & Safety letter grades while keeping the communities in their overall ranking order:

A plus

• Tower Lakes
• Bull Valley

A

• Clarendon Hills
• Hawthorn Woods
• South Barrington
• Indian Head Park
• Campton Hills
• Fox River Grove
• Prairie Grove
• Cary
• Wayne
• Jerome
• Palos Park
• Sherman

A minus

• Kildeer
• Western Springs
• Northbrook
• Lake Bluff
• Kenilworth
• Winfield
• Itasca
• Lakewood
• Bartlett
• Pingree Grove
• Huntley

Northbrook was the highest-ranked North Shore community at No. 4 overall, followed by Lake Bluff at No. 6 and Kenilworth at No. 7.

Several northwest suburban communities also made the list, including Kildeer, Hawthorn Woods, South Barrington, Fox River Grove, Cary, Bartlett and Huntley.

One wrinkle in the rankings is that the letter grades do not perfectly match the numerical order. Clarendon Hills, for example, ranks No. 1 overall despite carrying an A Crime & Safety grade, while Tower Lakes and Bull Valley received A-plus grades.

That is because Niche's overall safest-places ranking is not simply a straight sorting of the letter grade displayed on each community's profile.

The full top 25 ranking is:

1. Clarendon Hills
2. Kildeer
3. Western Springs
4. Northbrook
5. Tower Lakes
6. Lake Bluff
7. Kenilworth
8. Hawthorn Woods
9. South Barrington
10. Indian Head Park
11. Winfield
12. Itasca
13. Campton Hills
14. Fox River Grove
15. Prairie Grove
16. Lakewood
17. Cary
18. Wayne
19. Jerome
20. Bartlett
21. Palos Park
22. Sherman
23. Bull Valley
24. Pingree Grove
25. Huntley

William Bornhoft, Patch Staff, contributed to this report