The topic of crime in the United States is very broad, technically covering any action that is punishable under a state or federal law. Any analysis of the topic therefore requires division into further sub-categories. One common way to do this is to limit analysis to crimes involving jail time (i.e. misdemeanors and felonies, which generally differ through the length of jail time involved), then differentiate between violent crimes and property crimes. Violent crimes are defined as offenses which involve force or the threat of force, while property crime includes offenses involving the taking of money or property, but where there is no force or threat of force against the victims. Property crimes outnumber violent crimes by a significant amount in the United States, with larceny-thefts being the most common type of property crime committed.
In 2022, California reported the highest number of crimes out of all states in the U.S., followed by Texas and New York. However, as the FBI estimates national crime by relying on law enforcement agencies to self-report their data, a strategy which means nearly one-third of law enforcement agencies are missing from the current crime statistics, it is probable that these figures do not accurately represent the number of crimes committed in each state. Moreover, looking only at the number of crimes in a geographic region does not show the full picture, as a higher population generally produces a higher overall number of crimes. Instead, it is more useful to consider the crime rate per 100,000 residents, to better understand the underlying likelihood of being involved in a crime in each state. In 2022, New Mexico, Louisiana, and Colorado experienced high rates of both property crime and violent crime, while states in New England generally saw some of the lowest rates. Note that while Washington, D.C. technically topped both crime rate lists, this is a misleading result due to its strictly urban geography: when compared to the violent crime rate of other U.S. cities, Washington, D.C. was far behind places like Detroit and St. Louis.
While surveys show that the majority of Americans feel that crime is increasing annually in the United States, the evidence suggests otherwise. Both the overall property crime rate and the violent crime rate in the U.S. have decreased by around half since the early 1990s. While there is disagreement over why this has occurred – with suggestions ranging from higher levels of incarceration, to the effect of legalized abortion in reducing the number of children born into socioeconomic circumstances likely to lead to crime, it seems to be evident that crime is not in fact increasing, regardless of the general perception to the contrary. Conversely, however, critics claim that while property crimes and violent crimes may be decreasing, at least, according to the FBI's incomplete crime records, the real problem lies within rising reports of gun violence and mass shootings, along with recent increases in cases of murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, occurring throughout the entire nation. Consequently, in the midst of uncertain data, it may be more important to consider the beliefs of Americans determining for themselves how safe they feel in the place they live.
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