Property and Violent Crime in American Cities: The Latest Statistics and Trends for All 50 States

Property Crimes By State and City

Law enforcement agencies categorize a few specific incidents as property crime — burglary, larceny theft, and motor vehicle theft. Mostly these are self-explanatory (you can read the FBI’s definitions here), but there are some important distinctions that can help you better understand these crimes and how they differ from one another.

• Burglary is defined as any unlawful entry into a structure with the intent of committing a crime. Physically breaking into the structure is not necessary, but if force or the threat of force is used to obtain any items or to gain entry, the incident would be classified as a violent crime, most likely robbery.
• Larceny theft is by far the most common type of property crime because the definition applies very broadly. Larceny is the unlawful taking of property that belongs to someone else. One important note here is that theft from motor vehicles (as opposed to theft of motor vehicles) is classified as larceny theft.
• Finally, motor vehicle theft applies to automobiles like cars and SUVs and vehicles like motorcycles, but aircraft, farm equipment, and watercraft are not included.

Explore the interactive map below to see each state's average property crime rate and overall ranking compared to other states. The map also shows the best and worst cities in each state for property crime.

The states with the highest population-adjusted property crime rates are

1. Washington
2. Colorado
3. New Mexico
4. Oregon
5. Louisiana

The states with the lowest population-adjusted property crime rates are

1. Idaho
2. New Hampshire
3. Massachusetts
4. Maine
5. West Virginia

Within each state, property crime rates vary greatly, based on many economic and social factors. To help you find out more about the safest and most dangerous cities for property crime, we’ve created detailed reports for each state. You can find them at the bottom of this page.

Property Crimes Over Time

In the interactive chart below, you can explore nationwide property crime rates over time compared to several of the most populous states. These crimes represent a huge financial and emotional toll for victims. Since 2012, thieves stole more than $3 trillion worth of property from American homes and businesses according to the latest FBI reports.

This chart reveals that property crime has decreased by 26 percent since 2012. In more recent years, though, some types of crime have ticked up: between 2021 and 2022, larceny thefts and motor vehicle thefts increased while burglaries remained nearly constant.

It’s also important to note that the figures above do not factor in rates of arrests or convictions for any of these crimes, nor do we take into account, at least as far as crime data is concerned, whether any people victimized in property crime incidents got their items back or were compensated for their lost value.

Total Value of Stolen and Recovered Item

The FBI also tracks the total value of goods stolen during property crimes, and the annual total is staggering: over $463.5 billion in property was stolen in 2022 alone, but only eight percent of stolen items were recovered.

Source: “Property Stolen and Recovered in the United States”, Federal Bureau of Investigation Crime Data Explorer (2022)

Stolen motor vehicles were the most likely to be recovered, but office equipment and electronics like TVs and stereos were least likely to be recovered in 2022. Aside from the miscellaneous category, the largest category of stolen items by sheer value was cash. This makes sense since it can be immediately exchanged for other goods or services, whereas items like jewelry or livestock aren’t as universally valuable as cold hard cash.

Violent Crimes By State and City

Murder, non-negligent manslaughter, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault are all considered violent crimes. The FBI defines murder and non-negligent manslaughter as the willful killing of a human being, so this does not include deaths caused by negligence, self-defense, or officers in the line of duty. The Bureau broadened its definition of rape in 2013 to be more inclusive of both male and female victims and offenders.

Aggravated assault is the most common type of violent crime in the U.S., and is defined by the FBI as “an unlawful attack by one person upon another wherein the offender uses a weapon or displays it in a threatening manner, or the victim suffers obvious severe or aggravated bodily injury involving apparent broken bones, loss of teeth, possible internal injury, severe laceration, or loss of consciousness.” Interestingly, passing along a deadly disease through biting, spitting, or other means can also be considered an aggravated assault.

Explore the interactive map below to see each state's average violent crime rate and overall ranking compared to other states. The map also shows the best and worst cities in each state for violent crime, which you can view by hovering over each state.

The states with the highest population-adjusted violent crime rates are

1. New Mexico
2. Alaska
3. Arkansas
4. Louisiana
5. Tennessee

The states with the lowest population-adjusted violent crime rates are

1. Maine
2. New Hampshire
3. Connecticut
4. Rhode Island
5. Wyoming

Within each state, violent crime rates vary greatly, based on many economic, psychosocial and demographic factors. To help you find out more about the most and least violent cities, we’ve created detailed reports for each state. You can find those here.

Violent Crimes Over Time

In the interactive chart below, you can explore nationwide property crime rates over time compared to several of the most populous states.

After significant increases in violent crime during the COVID-19 pandemic, most types of violent crime decreased between 2021 and 2022. According to FBI statistics, the murder rate decreased by six percent nationally year over year and rape rates declined by five percent. The only violent crime with a year-over-year increase in 2022 was robbery, which rose by about one percent.

Demographics of Violent Crime

In 2022, nearly half of all victims and perpetrators of violent crimes were in their 20s or 30s, according to FBI data. Approximately three in four offenders were male, but victims were more evenly divided between male and female (51 percent to 48 percent). Black Americans were disproportionately victimized by violent crime: while only comprising around 13 percent of the national population, 36 percent of violent crime victims were Black. White Americans made up approximately 57 percent of violent crime victims.

Source: 2022 Offenses Known to Law Enforcement, National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS), Federal Bureau of Investigation

Though many people feel safest in their homes, statistics show that most violent crimes take place in private residences. In 2022, FBI data revealed that 48 percent of violent crimes happened at homes, and only 18 percent were committed by strangers. In most cases, victims of violent crimes know the perpetrator.

Where Does Your State Stand?

How common are property and violent crimes where you live? Check out where your state ranks below (with 1 having the highest rates, and 50 having the lowest rates):

Methodology

Our data comes from comprehensive reporting compiled by the FBI and accessed via the Crime Data Explorer website. Property and violent crime state figures were drawn from Table 5 of the 2022 Crime in the U.S. Report. The population figures in that table are U.S. Census Bureau provisional estimates as of July 1, 2020.

Limitations: Limited data for 2022 were available for Florida, Illinois, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. According to the FBI, the data in the publication tables may differ from those released on the Explorer Pages of the CDE. These variations are due to the difference in methodologies between the publication tables and data displayed on the CDE.