Crime Grade · FBI UCR Data · 2025
Ottawa, IL Crime Grade
How Ottawa grades for violent crime against every other reporting U.S. city — and against the rest of Illinois — based on the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting data.
National
7/10
vs. all U.S. cities ≥ 25,000 population
Illinois
8/10
vs. Illinois cities ≥ 10,000 population
In 2025, the violent crime rate in Ottawa, IL was 245.2 per 100,000 residents (46 incidents over a population of 18,764). That puts Ottawa 25% below the U.S. rate of 325.3 and 0% below the Illinois statewide rate of 245.7.
That ranks Ottawa #2,353 of 3,771 ranked U.S. cities, safer than 38% of them, and #154 of 214 in Illinois. Violent crime is up 31% year over year and up 120% over the last five years.
Ottawa, IL crime — key facts
- National Crime Grade
- C (7/10)
- Illinois Grade
- D (8/10)
- Violent crime rate
- 245.2 / 100k
- National rank
- #2,353 of 3,771
- IL rank
- #154 of 214
- Safer than
- 38% of U.S. cities
- Year over year
- up 31%
- 5-year change
- up 120%
- Population
- 18,764
- Reporting agency
- Ottawa Police Department
- Data year
- 2025 · FBI UCR
Reported by Ottawa Police Department (FBI ORI IL0500700) to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program. Download the full dataset (CSV) · methodology.
About Ottawa, IL
Also known as
- Ottowa
- South Ottawa
Name history sourced from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) — public-domain federal geographic-names data.
Violent crime rate, 5-year trend
Per 100,000 residents. Ottawa (red), Illinois (blue), U.S. average (gray dashed).
Ottawa vs. U.S., 2025 — by offense
Rates per 100,000 residents for each offense category.
Full data, last 5 years
Rates per 100,000 residents. Raw counts in parentheses.
| Offense | 2020 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crime | 111.2(20) | 176.5(33) | 279.9(52) | 186.9(35) | 245.2(46) |
| Murder | 0.0(0) | 0.0(0) | 0.0(0) | 0.0(0) | 0.0(0) |
| Rape | 11.1(2) | 58.8(11) | 118.4(22) | 64.1(12) | 79.9(15) |
| Robbery | 16.7(3) | 21.4(4) | 5.4(1) | 5.3(1) | 5.3(1) |
| Aggravated assault | 83.4(15) | 96.3(18) | 156.1(29) | 117.5(22) | 159.9(30) |
| Property crime | 1584.8(285) | 738.1(138) | 1496.3(278) | 1500.9(281) | 1236.4(232) |
| Burglary | 144.6(26) | 107.0(20) | 253.0(47) | 288.4(54) | 165.2(31) |
| Larceny | 1362.4(245) | 561.6(105) | 1130.3(210) | 1116.3(209) | 1007.2(189) |
| Motor vehicle theft | 61.2(11) | 58.8(11) | 102.3(19) | 90.8(17) | 58.6(11) |
How the Crime Grade is calculated
- What is the source of the Ottawa, IL Crime Grade?
- FBI Uniform Crime Reporting via the Crime Data Explorer. Agency-level data, pulled directly. No third-party aggregators, no proprietary score.
- What metric does the Ottawa Crime Grade use?
- Violent crime rate per 100,000 residents (murder + rape + robbery + aggravated assault), most recent fully-reported year.
- How is the national decile for Ottawa calculated?
- Ottawa's rate placed against all FBI-reporting U.S. cities with population ≥ 25,000. 1 = safest.
- How is the Illinois state decile calculated?
- Same calculation restricted to Illinois cities with population ≥ 10,000.
- How do decile scores convert to a letter grade?
- 1–3 = A · 4–5 = B · 6–7 = C · 8 = D · 9–10 = F.
- How often is the Ottawa Crime Grade refreshed?
- Twice a year. The FBI typically releases the prior year's full data each September.
- What are the limits of this Crime Grade?
- The FBI relies on local agency reporting. Rates reflect what was reported, not what occurred.
Nearby cities in Illinois
Comparable Illinois cities by population.
Compare Ottawa to other places
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