Five Kane County communities have been named among the top 50 safest in Illinois.

Those five are, in order of “safest”:

• Gilberts
• Campton Hills
• Bartlett
• Hampshire
• Huntley

Bartlett is located in Cook, DuPage and Kane counties. A small parcel on the western border is in Kane County.

According to the Safewise report, the safest places to live in Illinois are not only small cities like Willow Springs and Northfield but also much more populated ones like Wheaton and Hoffman Estates — proving that bigger cities are not inherently unsafe. The safety determination is based on the FBI’s 2015 crime report.

The average violent crime rate among the cities — large and small — on the Safewise list was 86 percent lower than the national average. Inverness, Gilberts, Spring Grove, and Palos Heights cited no violent crimes at all, and the state’s 50 safest cities reported one murder, 67 robberies, and fewer than 300 aggravated assaults.

That does not mean that violent crime is down on the whole in Kane County. According to the Kane County State’s Attorney’s Office 2016 annual report, Criminal Division attorneys screened more than 2,600 felony investigations from 34 police agencies that year, a 7 percent increase from 2015. McMahon has said on several occasions at County Board meetings this year and felonies in 2017 are trending higher than last year.

For communities on the “Safest Cities” list, property crime rates were also exceptionally low. No city cited more than nine property crimes per 1,000 residents—with the average rate being about six crimes per 1,000 people. That’s 77 percent lower than the United States average.

Looking at specific crimes, only 27 arsons and 152 motor vehicle thefts were reported. Bartlett, with a population over 40,000, cited a mere 10 burglaries.

To learn more about personal safety and home security, take a look at Safewise’s Illinois Safety Directory.

How Safewise Chose the Safest Cities in Illinois

To identify the safest cities in Illinois, Safewise staff members reviewed the 2015 FBI Crime Report statistics and population data. They eliminated all cities with fewer than 5,000 residents as well as any cities that failed to submit a complete crime report to the FBI.

From there, Safewise evaluated the remaining cities. They narrowed the list down based on the number of reported violent crimes (aggravated assault, murder, rape, and robbery) and property crimes (burglary, arson, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft) in each city. To level the playing field, they calculated the likelihood of these crimes occurring out of 1,000 people in each city.

• Learn more about how Safewise ranks for its Safest Cities reports.

Rankings For Kane County Communities

5. Gilberts ↑

Previous Rank: 8

Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.00
Property Crimes per 1,000: 3.24

6. Campton Hills ↓

Previous Rank: 3

Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.35
Property Crimes per 1,000: 3.17

16. Bartlett ↔

Previous Rank: 16

Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.62
Property Crimes per 1,000: 4.58

22. Hampshire ↓

Previous Rank: 6

Violent Crimes per 1,000: 1.32
Property Crimes per 1,000: 5.10

46. Huntley ↓

Previous Rank: 38

Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.23
Property Crimes per 1,000: 8.41

Illinois Top 50 List

1. Inverness
2. Waterloo
3. Winfield
4. Western Springs
5. Gilberts
6. Campton Hills
7. Hawthorn Woods
8. Manhattan
9. Willow Springs
10. Channahon
11. Spring Grove
12. Lindenhurst
13. Lakemoor
14. Lake in the Hills
15. Mascoutah
16. Bartlett
17. Palos Heights
18. Buffalo Grove
19. La Grange Park
20. Clarendon Hills
21. Palos Hills
22. Hampshire
23. Mount Zion
24. Homer Glen
25. Northfield
26. Deerfield
27. Charleston
28. Cary
29. Pinckneyville
30. Monticello
31. Lincolnshire
32. Wauconda
33. Winnetka
34. Mahomet
35. Roselle
36. Lake Forest
37. Wheaton
38. Prospect Heights
39. Hanover Park
40. Greenville
41. Morton
42. Highwood
43. Frankfort
44. Troy
45. Burr Ridge
46. Huntley
47. Chatham
48. Hoffman Estates
49. Lake Villa
50. Glencoe