Palos Hills, Heights Make List of 50 Safest Cities in Illinois

Residents of Palos Hills and Palos Heights live in two cities boasting crime rates that land them among the safest hometowns in the state. 

Writers at home security website Safewise.com dug into FBI statistics for towns with populations over 5,000. They then tabulated the number of violent crimes (aggravated assault, forcible rape, murder, robbery) and property crimes (arson, burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft) and calculated the chance of these crimes happening out of 1,000.

Palos Hills grabbed the 25th spot on the list, with a rate of .34 violent crimes per 1,000, and 7.97 property crimes per 1,000.

"The Palos Hills Police Department sponsors a robust selection of programs and services to keep the community and its members from harm," wrote Safewise. "...With a record of no rapes or murders reported in the FBI’s most recent statistics, it seems the hard-working officers of Palos Hills are doing a fine job." 

Palos Heights landed in the 38th slot, with .48 violent crimes per 1,000, and 9.86 property crimes per 1,000. 

"Perhaps it’s the city’s history with faith or the picturesque homes lining manicured neighborhoods that have brought a number of actors and athletes to Palos Heights, including Jim Hughes, Quentin Richardson and Jennifer Lien to name a few," wrote SafeWise. "These famous folk, along with all the other city residents are all well cared for by the active police department whose work helped limit the number of violent crimes reported in 2012 to a mere six."

Read more about the findings on Palos Hills and Heights, and find out who else made the list.