Categories: NewsTexas

How the Property Crime Rate in Texas compares to the nation

Communities and police departments across the United States are grappling with rising rates of deadly violence, as the U.S. murder rate reached its highest level in nearly two and a half decades in 2020. Despite the recent surge in homicides, however, most Americans face a far higher risk of being the victim of crimes that do not involve violence.

Property crimes, a broad category of theft-related offenses, are by far the most commonly reported of all major crimes in the United States, accounting for over 80% of the most serious offenses tracked and reported by the FBI. Property crimes fall into one of three categories: larceny, burglary, and vehicle theft.

Larceny is defined as the unlawful taking of property — pickpocketing and shoplifting being two common examples. Burglary, defined as the illegal entry of a structure to commit a crime, such as theft, is the most severe form of property crime tracked by the FBI. Vehicle-theft, meanwhile, is a crime that can be either the theft, or the attempted theft, of a vehicle, such a car, motorcycle, or ATV.

There were a total of 659,160 property crimes reported in Texas in 2020. Adjusting for population, there were 2,245 property crimes for every 100,000 people, the 14th highest property crime rate among states and higher than the national rate of 1,958 per 100,000 people.

Larceny is by far the most commonly reported property crime nationwide. The same pattern holds in Texas, where larceny accounted for about 71% of all major nonviolent offenses in 2020. Burglary, meanwhile, comprised about 17% of reported property crimes in the state, and motor vehicle theft accounted for 13%.

All data in this story, including population estimates used to calculate crime rates, are from the FBI.

Rank State Property crimes per 100k people, 2020 Total poperty crimes, 2020
1 Louisiana 2,884 133,989
2 New Mexico 2,842 59,859
3 Colorado 2,834 164,582
4 Washington 2,732 210,223
5 South Carolina 2,721 141,987
6 Oklahoma 2,706 107,705
7 Oregon 2,659 112,782
8 Arkansas 2,613 79,200
9 Missouri 2,531 155,698
10 Tennessee 2,493 171,675
11 Utah 2,464 80,091
12 Hawaii 2,411 33,928
13 Alaska 2,261 16,528
14 Texas 2,245 659,160
15 Arizona 2,228 165,323
16 North Carolina 2,227 236,026
17 Kansas 2,199 64,077
18 California 2,139 842,054
19 Alabama 2,137 105,161
20 Minnesota 2,125 120,212
21 North Dakota 2,124 16,256
22 Montana 2,121 22,917
23 Mississippi 2,102 62,351
24 Georgia 2,007 214,988
25 Delaware 1,961 19,355
26 South Dakota 1,957 17,468
27 Nevada 1,927 60,462
28 Nebraska 1,909 36,991
29 Ohio 1,850 216,363
30 Indiana 1,783 120,453
31 Kentucky 1,780 79,673
32 Florida 1,769 384,556
33 Iowa 1,698 53,725
34 Pennsylvania 1,644 210,167
35 Wyoming 1,611 9,379
36 Maryland 1,610 97,487
37 Connecticut 1,565 55,670
38 Illinois 1,559 196,287
39 Wisconsin 1,486 86,654
40 Virginia 1,456 125,114
41 New York 1,411 272,788
42 West Virginia 1,399 24,976
43 Michigan 1,361 135,633
44 Rhode Island 1,246 13,166
45 Vermont 1,217 7,586
46 New Jersey 1,158 102,875
47 Maine 1,156 15,610
48 Idaho 1,112 20,313
49 New Hampshire 1,099 15,014
50 Massachusetts 1,053 72,602
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