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:
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:
William Bornhoft, Patch Staff, contributed to this report
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