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Property Crime Rate
About This Indicator
What Is the Property Crime Rate?
Burglaries, larcenies, and motor vehicle thefts known to police, per 100,000 people, from the FBI's national estimates. Since 1960. Larceny, from shoplifting to a stolen bike, is most of it.
Why Does It Matter?
It is several times as common as violent crime, and its cost reaches people who were never victims, through insurance and store prices. Most stolen cars are reported and most petty thefts are not, so the count is fullest for the costliest losses.
Can Politics Influence It?
Policing and prosecution are local. Much of the long decline after the early 1990s came from outside politics: engine immobilizers, less cash, security cameras, and electronics too cheap to be worth stealing.
Key Idea
The count leaves out fraud and identity theft, which grew as money moved online, so part of the long decline may be theft changing form rather than disappearing.
Scored: A Faster Fall or Slower Rise Ranks Better
Source: FBI; Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics before 1979. Crime Data Explorer, estimated crimes for the nation, from 1979; Sourcebook Table 3.106.2012 for 1960-1978.
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