30+ Crime Rate Statistics You Should Know in 2023

The US has a high crime rate, especially compared to other countries. It’s due to various reasons, ranging from enacted policies to impoverished neighborhoods. We’ve put together some alarming crime rate statistics to show you the current rate and tendencies.

We’ll cover different kinds of criminal activities and compare the situation with other places around the world.

This data will help you better understand how bad criminal rates are in the US and how to protect yourself from potential danger.

Staggering Stats on US Crime Rate

1. 51% of US citizens consider crime to be a severe national problem.

(Statista)

According to 2020 crime rate statistics, over half of the population felt that crime was a serious problem in the US.

Research shows a slight improvement in the situation over the last five years. In 2016, 60% believed the crime rates were getting out of hand — marking the highest level of dissatisfaction this century.

Only 10% of people, however, say that crime is a big issue in their local area.

2. Auto thefts constitute 74.5% of all vehicle thefts.

(FBI)

According to the FBI’s US crime statistics, passenger cars are by far the most common type of stolen vehicles.

The rates in the Northeast and Midwest regions are higher than the average — 86.1% and 83.5%, respectively. Cars make up 70.1% in the South and 73.4% in the West, but bus and truck thefts are more prominent. 

Trucks represent 19.2% of all stolen vehicles in the South and 18.3% in the West. For the Northeast and Midwest, it’s 3.8% and 8.6%, accordingly. 

3. A property crime occurs every 4.4 seconds.

(FBI)

The most recent crime statistics in the USA show a burglary takes place every 25.7 seconds, and a motor or vehicle theft happens every 42.2 seconds.

Larceny is the most frequent of these misdeeds — every 6.1 seconds.

4. In 2019, law enforcement agencies made over 10 million arrests.

(FBI)

There were 10.1 million arrests across all law enforcement agencies, according to the FBI crime statistics. This figure excludes arrests for traffic violations.

Arrests for property offenses were the most numerous — 343.3 per 100,000 people. Of these, 263 were for larceny-theft, 52.3 for burglary, 25.1 for vehicle theft, and 2.8 — arson.

5. There were over 267,000 robbery cases in 2019.

(Statista)

The available data shows a general decrease in crime rates over the last 50 years concerning robberies. 

In 2019, there were nearly 268,000 robberies committed. It is the lowest robbery crime rate in the USA since the 1990s.

Crime Statistics by State

6. The District of Columbia had the highest violent crime rate in the US in 2019.

(Statista)

The District of Columbia had the highest crime rates for violent offenses — 1049 violent crimes per 100,000 residents.

Alaska was second, reporting a violent crime rate of 867.1. New Mexico followed with 832.2 violent crimes per 100,000 citizens.

7. Maine had the lowest reported violent crime rate in America in 2019.

(Statista, Data Commons)

Maine has a crime rate of 115.2 violent offenses per 100,000 citizens — the lowest crime rate in the US.

Among the reasons for that are the high median age of Maine’s residents (44.7) and its low population density.

Two other states with low violent crime rates in the US are New Hampshire (152.5) and Connecticut (183.6). 

8. Louisiana’s homicide rate is 12.4 per 100,000 people.

(World Population Review)

Louisiana’s homicide rate of 12.4 per 100,000 residents is considerably higher than other states. 

The murder rate is the highest of all states for decades in terms of violent crime rates.

9. Detroit has a crime rate of 1965.33.

(Statista)

Detroit ranks as the most dangerous city in the US. The town has had soaring poverty rates, heavy drug use, and gang activity for years now. 

Recent crime rate statistics by city show Detroit’s to be 1,965.33 per 100,000 citizens. 

St. Louis and Memphis follow closely. St. Louis’ rate is 1,927.32, and Memphis’ 1,901.42.

10. The sexual assault rate in Alaska is four times higher than the national rate. 

(World Population Review)

United States crime rates show Alaska has the highest number of sexual assaults — 161.6 cases per 100,000 residents. 

Alaska’s violent crime stats are overall high — 21% of all offenses.

Crime Rate in the USA: Some Intriguing National Averages

11. The arrest rate for violent crimes in 2020 was 147.9 per 100,000 citizens.

(FBI)

In four years, that was the first time the number of violent crimes had increased compared to the year before. More specifically, the FBI’s crime statistics show that the violent crime rate in 2020 increased by 5.2% in comparison to 2019. 

There were over 1,200,000 violent crimes in 2020. 

12. There were five reported cases of murder and manslaughter per 100,000 residents in 2019.

(Statista, ResearchGate)

Violent crime rates plummeted in the latter half of the 90s, and we now enjoy the lowest activity in recorded history.

The recent US crime rates by year show a decrease in the number of murder and manslaughter cases. The crime rate was only five cases per 100,000 people in 2019.

13. Murder and manslaughter have a 61.4% clearance rate.

(Statista, Pew Research Center)

Crime statistics in the United States show that murder and manslaughter have the highest clearance rate of 61.4%. Aggravated assault is second with 52.3%, while rape has a below-average rate of 32.9%.

14. The US property crime rate in 2020 was 1,958.2 offenses per 100,000 inhabitants.

(Parsons PD)

Compared to the previous year, property crimes lowered by 7.8%. In fact, that was the 18th year in a row with a decrease in these offenses. 

In 2020, there were about 6,452,038 property crimes in the US. That led to property crime victims losing about $17.5 billion.

Violent Crime Statistics

15. In the US, a murder happens every 32.5 minutes.

(FBI)

The FBI’s official crime statistics disclose that every 32.5 minutes, a murder occurs. 

Murders, however, happen much more rarely than most other common crimes. To compare, every 26.2 seconds, a violent crime takes place. 

In addition, every 1.9 minutes, a robbery occurs, a rape — every 3.8 minutes, and aggravated assault — every 39.2 seconds.

16. There were over 21,500 non-negligent manslaughter and murder cases in the US in 2020.

(Statista)

Crime rates in the US show that in 2019, over 16,500 cases of these offenses were reported, meaning that there was a substantial increase in only a year. 

As for the murder victims’ gender in 2020, more of them were male than female. On top of that, Black victims accounted for a considerable part of the total number of victims. 

17. The US aggravated assault rate in 2020 was 279.7 cases per 100,000 of the population.

(Statista)

Unlike other types of crime, assault cases have been on the rise in the last few years. For instance, US crime rate statistics note that this rate was 250.4 cases per 100,000 of the population in 2019. 

In addition, the state with the highest number of aggravated assaults (113,646) in 2020 was California. 

18. In 2019, there were over 98,000 rape cases.

(Statista)

Instances of forcible rape have risen sharply over the last eight years.

The crime statistics in the US show 98,213 reported rape cases in 2019. 

It shows a significant rise with the figure of 2013 — 82,000 cases.

19. California had the most homicides in 2019 — 1,690.

(Statista)

Of all the states, California took the lead in the number of homicides for 2019. 

The US crime statistics by year put Texas second, with 1,409 instances recorded for 2019. Florida follows with 1,122 murders.

Meanwhile, the three states with the fewest homicides were South Dakota (17), Wyoming (13), and Vermont (11).

Other Curious National Crime Statistics

20. Provo-Orem, Utah, is the safest metro area in the US, with 0.9 violent crimes per 1,000 residents.

(Safewise)

While metropolitan areas tend to house more criminal activity on average, this doesn’t apply to all. Promo-Orem, Utah is the safest of them all, as research has shown.

According to the data, this province has 13.6 property crimes per 1,000 inhabitants. When compared to average national crime rate stats (3.7 violent crimes and 22 property crimes), Provo-Orem turns out to be among the most peaceful places in the US.

21. Detroit has a violent crime rate of 19.5 per 1,000 population.

(Neighborhood Scout)

Detroit proves to be the most dangerous city in the US regardless of its recent decrease in violent crimes. 

There were 13,088 instances in 2020, 3% fewer than the year before. That’s still high compared to the nationwide crime rate statistics in America.

22. There were nearly seven million property crimes in 2019.

(Statista)

United States crime rate statistics show property crimes have been slowing down at a near-constant annual rate of around 5%. 

2019 rates noted significant progress when contrasted with the 1991’s — a little short of 13 million cases.

23. In 2019, property crime was nearly five times more common than violent offenses.

(Statista)

Despite dropping year by year, property crimes are still the vast majority of all crimes committed in the United States. In 2019, 6,925,677 property crimes took place, as opposed to 1,203,808 violent.

The national crime rate statistics show the most prominent offenses among property crimes to be larceny and burglary. Larceny accounted for a little over five million cases and burglary — around 1.1 million.

24. Victims of property crimes lost over $15 billion in 2019.

(FBI)

Property crime results in heavy financial losses overall. The victims suffered economic losses of approximately $15.8 billion in 2019, as per the FBI’s crime rates statistics. 

This sum excludes damages due to arson, mainly because of “variations in the level of participation by the reporting agencies.”, making the data on arson unreliable. But on the brighter side, arrests for property crimes are also fairly common.

Crime Rate Demographics

25. Black male homicide victims are roughly eight times more than white.

(BJS)

The most recent crime rate statistics by race show that around 32.5 Black males per 100,000 were victims of homicide in a year. For comparison, the same crime rate for white males is 3.9%.

The Black crime rate statistics from the last decade show that the homicide victim rate has fluctuated around 30.

26. The data for 2019 shows nearly five million arrests of white people.

(FBI)

FBI’s most recent data reveals a total of 6,816,975 arrests in 2019. The crime rate percentage by race indicates that the white perpetrators accounted for 4,729,290 and Black — for 1,815,144. That translates into 69.4% and 26.6%, respectively.

Both white and Black criminals are arrested predominantly for property offenses — 517,502 and 231,087 instances for 2019.

27. In 2019, over 5 million males were arrested.

(FBI)

Males account for the vast majority of arrests in the US. In 2019, law enforcement arrested 5,012,260 men, compared to 1,905,292 women.

According to FBI crime rate statistics, males dominate most of the categories. For example, they constitute 96.6% of rape cases, 93.2% of sex offenses, and 90.4% of gun crimes.

In some cases, the arrest rate is even between the genders. For instance, 49.8% of the embezzlement arrests are male, and 50.2 — female.

Prostitution is the only category with predominantly women arrested — 63%.

Strict Gun Laws vs. Crime Rate Statistics

28. Firearms account for 73.7% of murder cases.

(FBI, Office of Justice Programs)

Most people who committed murder used firearms in 2019. Unknown weapons comprised 11.4% of all cases.

Gun laws and crime rates statistics show that permit requirements and may issue regulations reduce firearm-related homicide rates.

29. Over 10,000 homicides were committed with a firearm annually in the last five years.

(Statista)

Data from 2019 reveals that approximately 10,258 homicides by firearm occurred that year. The crime rate statistics for previous years show us that the rate stayed above 10,000 since 2016.

30. Every day, guns kill over 100 people in the US.

(Everytown Research)

Over 200 people end up shot or wounded. Furthermore, suicide account for almost 66% of gun deaths. Having a firearm safe at home with varying locks and passwords may actually sway an individual in reaching for the gun when he or she can’t quickly access it.

According to many agencies that are advocating for gun control, crime rates statistics of this nature show the issue has gone out of hand.

Every year, the number of gun deaths by intent is, on average, 38,856. 

Crime Rate Statistics by Country

31. The murder rate in El Salvador is 82.84 per 100,000 people.

(World Population Review)

In terms of murder rates, El Salvador is the most dangerous country in the world.

For comparison, world crime rates statistics show the second-highest rate in the world is in Jamaica — 47.

32. The UK’s crime rate is 96.4 per 1,000 people.

(Statista)

The crime rate stats for the United Kingdom have been rising since 2013. 

Northern Ireland and Scotland have significantly lower rates by comparison — 59 and 45.1, respectively, for 2020. Meanwhile, England and Wales have a rate of 102.8.

33. South Africa’s rape rate is 132.4 per 100,000 citizens.

(World Population Review)

South Africa has by far the highest rate of rape cases of all countries. 

Botswana is second with a rate of 92.2, according to statistics on crime rate. Lesotho follows with 82.7 per 100,000 people.

Conclusion

This post outlined some insightful info about crime rates in the US and other countries. It revealed both good and bad trends, helping you get an objective view of the current state of the issue.

While crime is an incredibly complicated topic, these crime rate statistics showed which are the most often committed offenses, as well as the dangerous and the safest states and cities. Also, they can help you determine whether you are likely to fall victim to any crime.

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