Chicago's Gun Violence Progress in 3 maps
Reducing and (re)Containing Gun Violence: 2014, 2023, and 2025
If Memorial Day Weekend is an indicator, 2025 is on pace to be one of Chicago’s safest years in recent history.
This Chicago Sun Times article cites Mayor Brandon Johnson attributing the reduction in violence over Memorial Day to a hiring surge of homicide detectives and murder clearance rates increasing to 56% in 2024 (the CPD’s highest rate since 2015).
Shootings decreased roughly 43% in 2025 over 2024, and were down an impressive 55% over 2023, including a 50% reduction in homicides. I don’t have data for 2009, the year the Chicago PD cites as the least violent in recent history. 2014 is the least violent Memorial Day Weekend in my dataset, so I use it as a reference point. What does this look like geographically?
2014 - Sparse Violence
The map below shows relatively few (for Chicago) shooting locations scattered mostly on the west side near Oak Park and the south side around Evergreen Park. Note the complete absence of shootings anywhere near the downtown core.
2023 - Expansive Violence
The 2023 map shows larger swaths of the city engulfed in firearm violence. Shooting locations are still heavily concentrated on the west and south sides, but they extend across more city blocks, into the downtown core, and in close proximity to Wrigleyville and University of Chicago.
2025 - “Re-contained” Violence
The 2025 map shows dramatically fewer shootings throughout the city compared to 2023. It’s apt to describe this as both a reduction and “re-containment” of violence. No shootings occurred in the downtown core or near major tourist areas. Locations are (again) concentrated in neighborhoods with high poverty, crime, and violence.
This is considered laudable progress in a city with such persistent, elevated levels of gun violence. And indeed, it is! The levels are lower, but violence persists and should not be taken for granted.