Associations between food retailer availability and violent crime by neighborhood SES in Chicago, IL: an ecological study

Violent crime continues to be a public health issue in the U.S. Prior research has associated greater availability of certain food retailers (i.e., convenience stores, liquor stores, dollar stores) with higher violent crime rates at the community level. There is limited understanding of how these retailers, and others, are associated with violent crime across the spectrum of neighborhood socioeconomic status (SES). To further explore this topic, this ecological study examined associations between food retailer availability and violent crime rate in Chicago, IL by neighborhood SES. Public data reflecting the residential census tracts (N = 798) of Chicago, IL in 2018 were obtained from the City of Chicago’s Data Portal and U.S. Census. Food availability measures reflected the number of outlets available per 1,000 residents. Violent crime rate reflected the total number of police-reported homicides, armed robberies, and aggravated assaults per 1,000 residents. Multivariable-adjusted spatial and OLS regression models were examined to identify associations between food retailer availability and violent crime rate by neighborhood SES. Spatial models indicated that an increase in food retailer availability was associated with an increase in violent crime rate. The magnitude of the increase varied by neighborhood SES for some retailers. Unlike middle-income (β: 1.30; SE: 0.42; p = 0.002) and high-income tracts (β: 1.70; SE: 0.54; p = 0.003), greater supermarket/large grocery store availability was not associated with higher violent crime rate among low-income tracts (β: 0.55; SE: 0.96; p = 0.56). Also, greater dollar store availability was associated with higher violent crime rate among low-income tracts only (β: 2.46; SE: 0.81; p = 0.002). Food retailer availability is associated with violent crime rate in Chicago, and associations vary by neighborhood SES. Future studies on drivers of urban crime inequities should consider the composition of a community’s retail food environment.