Homeowners should shoot burglars to ‘save taxpayers money,’ Florida sheriff says

Despite perceptions of rising crime, theft has become far less common in recent years than it used to be, and property crime rates declined even more sharply during the pandemic. That said, there are still hotspots where break-ins and burglaries are far more common than the typical American neighborhood. While approximately 400 burglaries and 1,700 larceny-thefts per 100,000 people annually have been the national norm over the past five years, there are cities in the United States that report rates double or even triple those numbers.As with anything, an understanding of what burglars are after and where they are active can help keep the trend heading lower. Over the last decade, the number of larceny-thefts fell nearly 20% from 6.3 million to 5.1 million, and the number of burglaries were cut in half from 2.2 million to 1.1 million, according to FBI statistics from 2015 to 2019. And it’s not a new trend. Since 1993, property crimes declined dramatically—55% to 71% depending on which source of stats you look at, Pew Research found.

Looking at the past five years of crime data, burglars were about twice as likely to target a home than a business or other building, and nearly half of all burglaries occurred during broad daylight. Once in, thieves were often after two items in particular: money and jewelry. Together, those valuables were worth more than the remaining top categories of stolen goods combined. Of those other items, office equipment, electronics, and clothing were common targets.

Protecting your home and taking initiatives to deter potential burglars are obvious steps to fight crime, but choosing a safe location to begin with is one of the most important factors. For example, burglaries occur in New York, New Hampshire, and Virginia less than half as many times as the national average, while residents of New Mexico, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana are burglarized nearly twice as often. In general, states in the South have higher-than-average property crime rates, and the states in the Northeast enjoy the lowest theft rates of any region in America.

To find out which cities were hotspots for theft, researchers at Porch analyzed data from the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program between 2015 to 2019 and then calculated the average number of burglaries and larceny-thefts per 100,000 residents. For comparison, cities were divided into three groups based on population. Here are the 15 U.S. cities with the most burglaries.

Average annual burglaries per 100k: 752 Average annual larceny-thefts per 100k: 1,925 Average annual burglaries total: 10,044 Average annual larceny-thefts total: 25,729

Average annual burglaries per 100k: 763 Average annual larceny-thefts per 100k: 2,931 Average annual burglaries total: 17,762 Average annual larceny-thefts total: 68,295

Average annual burglaries per 100k: 782 Average annual larceny-thefts per 100k: 1,608 Average annual burglaries total: 12,618 Average annual larceny-thefts total: 26,052

Average annual burglaries per 100k: 782 Average annual larceny-thefts per 100k: 2,558 Average annual burglaries total: 6,833 Average annual larceny-thefts total: 22,374

Average annual burglaries per 100k: 818 Average annual larceny-thefts per 100k: 2,950 Average annual burglaries total: 3,445 Average annual larceny-thefts total: 12,438

Average annual burglaries per 100k: 828 Average annual larceny-thefts per 100k: 1,794 Average annual burglaries total: 4,943 Average annual larceny-thefts total: 10,710

Average annual burglaries per 100k: 841 Average annual larceny-thefts per 100k: 3,935 Average annual burglaries total: 3,289 Average annual larceny-thefts total: 15,381

Average annual burglaries per 100k: 872 Average annual larceny-thefts per 100k: 2,592 Average annual burglaries total: 4,216 Average annual larceny-thefts total: 12,577

Average annual burglaries per 100k: 918 Average annual larceny-thefts per 100k: 2,532 Average annual burglaries total: 5,936 Average annual larceny-thefts total: 16,364

Average annual burglaries per 100k: 1,014 Average annual larceny-thefts per 100k: 2,471 Average annual burglaries total: 3,869 Average annual larceny-thefts total: 9,425

Average annual burglaries per 100k: 1,064 Average annual larceny-thefts per 100k: 3,583 Average annual burglaries total: 7,669 Average annual larceny-thefts total: 25,807

Average annual burglaries per 100k: 1,132 Average annual larceny-thefts per 100k: 2,772 Average annual burglaries total: 6,927 Average annual larceny-thefts total: 16,942

Average annual burglaries per 100k: 1,168 Average annual larceny-thefts per 100k: 2,161 Average annual burglaries total: 7,825 Average annual larceny-thefts total: 14,471

Average annual burglaries per 100k: 1,314 Average annual larceny-thefts per 100k: 3,351 Average annual burglaries total: 5,302 Average annual larceny-thefts total: 13,518

Average annual burglaries per 100k: 1,384 Average annual larceny-thefts per 100k: 4,070 Average annual burglaries total: 9,056 Average annual larceny-thefts total: 26,609