34 percent of city averages less than a murder per year

When it comes to murders, Chicago has been called a city of two extremes.

A majority of the killings in recent years happened in portions of the South and West Side, yet even those areas still have communities with extremely low murder totals. Communities with the lowest murder totals can be found throughout the city — especially near suburban borders.

A Homicide Watch analysis of Chicago Police murder totals from 2011 through 2013 found a drastic difference between communities. During that time, 41 percent of the 1,349 murders reported by police happened in just nine communities, while 34 percent of the city’s 77 official communities averaged one killing per year or less.

Four communities had zero murders since the beginning of 2011 — Edison Park, Forest Glen and Montclare on the Northwest Side and Mount Greenwood on the Southwest Side.

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