Crime in Mount Vernon, Illinois

Mount Vernon's crime rate

There were 945 crimes reported in Mount Vernon, Illinois in 2019, the most recent year crime data is available. Adjusted for population, the city’s annual crime rate is 6,384 incidents for every 100,000 people.

How does Mount Vernon compare?

Mount Vernon has one of the highest overall crime rates of any U.S. city. For comparison, the national total crime rate is 2,489 incidents for every 100,000 people.

Mount Vernon's overall crime rate is 183% higher than the overall crime rate in Illinois. Statewide, there were 285,545 crimes reported in 2019, or 2,253 for every 100,000 people.

What types of crimes are being committed?

The FBI's crime rate includes seven crime categories: three property crimes -- larceny, burglary, and motor vehicle theft, and four violent crimes -- aggravated assault, robbery, rape, and murder.

Property crime

The vast majority of crimes in America are property crimes, accounting for 85% of total crimes in 2019. In Mount Vernon, however, property crimes account for only about 77% of all offenses.

Despite accounting for a smaller than average share of total offenses, property crime is much more prevalent in Mount Vernon than it is nationwide. There were 731 property crimes in Mount Vernon in 2019, or 4,939 for every 100,000 residents. Meanwhile, the national property crime rate is 2,110 incidents per 100,000 people.

Larceny

Larceny is by far the most common type of property crime in the U.S. It is also the most commonly committed type of property crime in Mount Vernon. There were 608 larcenies reported in Mount Vernon in 2019, or 4,108 for every 100,000 people. Nationwide, the larceny rate is 1,550 per 100,000.

Burglary

There were 102 break-ins reported in Mount Vernon in 2019, or 689 for every 100,000 residents. For reference, there were 341 reported burglaries for every 100,000 people nationwide in 2019.

Motor Vehicle Theft

Across the United States, the annual motor vehicle theft rate is 220 for every 100,000 people. In Mount Vernon, meanwhile, there were 21 motor vehicle thefts in 2019, or 142 for every 100,000 people.

Violent crime

Violent crime accounts for a relatively small share of crimes nationwide. These offenses, which are generally more egregious than property crimes, account for about 15% of the nearly 8.2 million offenses reported across the U.S. in 2019. In Mount Vernon, however, violent offenses account for a larger 23% share of all reported crime.

At 1,446 incidents for every 100,000 people, the violent crime rate in Mount Vernon is well above the national violent crime rate of 379 offenses per 100,000 people. Law enforcement in Mount Vernon reported a total of 214 violent crimes in 2019.

Aggravated Assault

Aggravated assault is by far the most common type of violent crime reported in the U.S. It is also the most commonly reported violent offense in Mount Vernon. There were 176 aggravated assaults reported in Mount Vernon in 2019, or 1,189 for every 100,000 people. Nationwide, the rate is far lower, standing at 250 aggravated assaults per 100,000 people.

Robbery

Robbery is the second most common type of violent crime in America. There were 17 robberies reported in Mount Vernon in 2019, a rate of 115 robberies for every 100,000 residents. For comparison, the national robbery rate was 82 per 100,000 in 2019.

Rape

There were 18 rapes reported in Mount Vernon in 2019, or 122 for every 100,000 people. Nationwide, there were 139,815 rapes in 2019, a rate of 43 per 100,000 people.

Murder

There were 3 homicides committed in the city in 2019. Adjusted for population, the murder rate in Mount Vernon is 20.3 murders for every 100,000 people, more than four times higher than the national murder rate of 5 per 100,000 people.

Mount Vernon compared to other cities in Illinois

Mount Vernon has the second highest crime rate of all comparable cities in Illinois. To be considered comparable, a city must have a complete 2019 FBI crime report and population of 5,000 or more.

Here are all comparable cities ranked by total crime rate. Click any bar or city name to see more about crime in that city.

Click here to see a list of all city crime pages.

Click here to see a list of all state crime pages.

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