Sterling, IL crime & safety
Sterling's reported crime rate is below Illinois's. Most reported incidents are property crimes, mainly thefts. 37 violent crimes were reported in 2025.
Crime reported to police, trends and how Sterling compares with the towns next door, from FBI data.
Not graded yet
A grade needs all of the FBI's latest years (2023–2025). Sterling's police department reported only 2024 and 2025, so we don't grade it yet. The figures below are still real.
Sterling at a glance
Reported crime per 1,000 residents, 2022–2025
Show as a table
| Year | Sterling property | Illinois property | Sterling violent | Illinois violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 15.4 | 18.4 | 3.5 | 3.4 |
| 2023 | not reported | 17.9 | not reported | 3.2 |
| 2024 | 13.3 | 17.7 | 3.2 | 2.9 |
| 2025 | 11.4 | 15.6 | 2.6 | 2.6 |
2025, by type
Offenses reported to police, not convictions.
Local public safety
Sterling and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sterling | — | 2.6 | 11.4 | 2025 |
| Rock Falls | — | 4.4 | 25.1 | 2025 |
No town figures in the FBI's data: Coloma, Sterling, Hopkins, Galt.
What this data can and can't tell you
- It's reported crime. Only incidents reported to and recorded by police appear here. Many thefts and some assaults are never reported.
- Small numbers swing. In a town of about 14,500, a handful of incidents moves the rate noticeably from year to year. The trend matters more than any one year.
- Visitors count too. Towns with a campus, highway, beach or shopping center see incidents involving people who don't live there, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Gaps are real gaps. A missing year means the department didn't report a full year, not that nothing happened.
Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program, Crime Data Explorer: offenses known to law enforcement by city, 2025, and state and national rates. Counts are crimes reported to police, not convictions. This isn't an official statement of public safety — in an emergency, call 911.