Western Springs, a town of about 13,530 people about 18 miles southwest of the Loop, wins big on the last two, with very low figures. Its property crime rate of 2.65 incidents per 1,000 people is less than half the rate in nearly all the other Illinois towns. So is its violent crime rate, 0.076 incidents per 1,000 people.
"We are pleased to be recognized for being a safe community, Heidi Rudloph, the village president in Western Springs, told Crain's in an emailed statement. "The Western Springs Police Department works tirelessly to engage in community outreach and to promote safety in our village."
Winnetka's village president, Bob Dearborn, said something similar about his town, where the property crime rate is 6.14 and violent crime is 0.16 according to GoBankingRates. "Our men and women in public safety work hard to earn that spot," Dearborn said, "and they also have huge support from the community."
Since April, Winnetka's police force has been supplemented with a private security company, brought in to help combat an increase in property crime at a time when the police force is struggling with a staffing shortage.
Downers Grove-based P4 Security Solutions has been providing the policing boost "we need given some of the activities out there in the world," Dearborn said. Winnetka, 19 miles north of the Loop, is a town of about 12,500 people.
Winnetka's geographical neighbor, Kenilworth, is also its neighbor on the list, one place below it at eigth. That town and others on the list, such as Deerfield and Wilmette, "put the same priority on public safety as we do," Dearborn said.
The national rankings, Rudolph said, back up "the direct feedback we hear from our residents." In last year's National Community Survey, based on the input of residents, Western Springs ranked first out of a few hundred towns on four attributes: sense of community, preservation of historical/cultural character of the community, neighborliness of residents, and fire prevention and education, and second nationwide on four other attributes.
For affluent Chicago-area house-hunters hoping to settle in a suburb that ranks high for safety, Park Ridge may be a smart choice. It's cost of entry is lower than any other Illinois city that made the list. A town of about 39,700 people 15 miles northwest of the Loop, Park Ridge has the lowest household median income ($187,830) and the lowest average single-family home value ($610,055) of the dozen Chicago suburbs on the list. It's ranked 33rd, higher than five other Chicago-area suburbs that made the top 50.
