Data through September 2026, Chicago Police Department

Crime in Near West Side, Chicago

The violent crime rate in Near West Side is 3,706 per 100,000 residents per year, 49% above Chicago as a whole (2,494). It ranks 22 of 75 community areas, where 1 is the highest rate.

Aerial photo of the Near West Side community area in Chicago, with its boundary outlined. — Aerial imagery: USDA NAIP 2019, public domain

The numbers

12 months to Sep 2026

Violent crime

3,706 per 100,000 residents, per year

2,526 reported in the last 12 months

+49% vs. Chicago (2,494)

Property crime

8,441 per 100,000 residents, per year

5,754 reported in the last 12 months

+114% vs. Chicago (3,944)

All reported

12,530 per 100,000 residents, per year

8,541 reported in the last 12 months

+83% vs. Chicago (6,855)

About 162,025 people work in Near West Side, 2.4 times its 68,165 residents (Census jobs data, 2023). The rates divide by residents only, so they run high here: most people in Near West Side on a weekday live somewhere else. The counts, and how they change from year to year, say more than the rate.

Rates use the 2020 Census population of 68,165 for Near West Side. Small areas swing more month to month, so all rates here use a 12-month window ending September 2026.

Where Near West Side sits in Chicago, and where incidents concentrate

rank 22 of 75

Loading map…

1the block with the most violent incidents10the tenthCounted over the last 12 months. Point at a mark, or at a row in the table below, to see which street it is.

SaferHigher rateNot rated: park or fewer than 2,500 residentsArea shading: violent crimes per 100,000 residents per year, so you can see how this neighbourhood compares with the ones around it.

Near West Side is in the middle of the city’s range: rank 22 of 75. Nearby in the ranking: Grand Boulevard (3,963), Avalon Park (3,934), Douglas (3,632), Oakland (3,532).

Blocks with the most violent incidents

12 months to Sep 2026

Block	Violent	Property	Share of area’s violent
01023XX W Jackson Blvd	40	19	2%
02011XX S Laflin St	39	15	2%
03020XX W Adams St	38	16	2%
04012XX S Ashland Ave	35	51	1%
05013XX S Throop St	35	11	1%
06020XX W Jackson Blvd	34	26	1%
07023XX W Madison St	32	46	1%
08014XX W Lake St	27	40	1%
09014XX S Canal St	26	12	1%
10009XX W Randolph St	25	101	1%

“Block” is the hundred-block as the police department publishes it (for example 51XX W Madison St), never an exact address. Only blocks with 5 or more violent incidents in the window are listed; the top 10 account for 13% of Near West Side’s violent incidents. These are the numbered marks on the map above; hover a row to find it.

Violent crime, month by month

Oct 2025 to Sep 2026

Violent crimes in Near West Side by month
Month	Violent crimes in Near West Side
Oct 2025	261
Nov 2025	207
Dec 2025	168
Jan 2026	199
Feb 2026	178
Mar 2026	205
Apr 2026	184
May 2026	239
Jun 2026	197
Jul 2026	231
Aug 2026	250
Sep 2026	207

When crime happens in Near West Side

12 months to Sep 2026

In the last 12 months, half of the violent crime reported in Near West Side happened between noon and 10 pm. Friday had the most.

Violent crime busiest hour 4 pm

Property crime busiest hour 5 pm

Each line is an average day of that kind, as a multiple of the average hour of the week (dashed line), smoothed over three hours. Days run from 6 am to 6 am, so a Friday night stays on Friday. Times are when the incident happened, as recorded by Chicago Police Department; 2% of incidents have no usable time (many unknown times are recorded as midnight or noon) and are left out.

See the numbers by hour

Violent crime in Near West Side by hour, last 12 months
Hour	Friday and Saturday	Sunday to Thursday	All days
6 am	13	34	47
7 am	19	49	68
8 am	18	72	90
9 am	30	59	89
10 am	29	79	108
11 am	39	81	120
12 pm	32	80	112
1 pm	35	81	116
2 pm	33	65	98
3 pm	28	111	139
4 pm	40	107	147
5 pm	28	108	136
6 pm	38	89	127
7 pm	46	91	137
8 pm	40	102	142
9 pm	39	88	127
10 pm	39	69	108
11 pm	30	61	91
12 am	53	69	122
1 am	64	65	129
2 am	49	45	94
3 am	38	32	70
4 am	24	22	46
5 am	11	29	40
Total with a known time	815	1,688	2,503

Property crime in Near West Side by hour, last 12 months
Hour	Friday and Saturday	Sunday to Thursday	All days
6 am	49	162	211
7 am	69	147	216
8 am	46	166	212
9 am	66	161	227
10 am	64	167	231
11 am	70	197	267
12 pm	91	196	287
1 pm	79	177	256
2 pm	80	192	272
3 pm	98	183	281
4 pm	100	204	304
5 pm	95	255	350
6 pm	94	240	334
7 pm	105	206	311
8 pm	94	203	297
9 pm	78	154	232
10 pm	72	151	223
11 pm	85	124	209
12 am	62	118	180
1 am	73	98	171
2 am	68	70	138
3 am	56	107	163
4 am	34	88	122
5 am	34	99	133
Total with a known time	1,762	3,865	5,627

Reported crime by type

last 12 months

Offense	Reported	Per 100k, per year	vs. Chicago
Assault and batteryViolent	2,321	3,405	+48%
RobberyTaking property by force or threatViolent	195	286	+62%
HomicideViolent	10	15	−6%
TheftShoplifting, pickpocketing and other theft without force or entryProperty	2,603	3,819	+133%
Property damage and arsonProperty	1,202	1,763	+88%
Vehicle theftProperty	947	1,389	+108%
Theft from vehiclesItems or parts taken from a vehicle, break-ins includedProperty	850	1,247	+155%
BurglaryEntering a home or business to stealProperty	152	223	+6%
Weapons offensesOther	141	207	+15%
Drug offensesOther	120	176	−26%

Source and dates

ijzp-q8t2

Source: Chicago Police Department, via City of Chicago Data Portal (dataset ijzp-q8t2), aggregated by community area
Window: October 2025 to September 2026 (12 months)
Population: 68,165 residents, 2020 Census
City page: Crime in Chicago, IL
All community areas: Chicago neighborhoods by reported crime rate