Burglary - defined as the unlawful entry of a structure, such as a home or business, to commit a theft or felony - is the most serious nonviolent offense tracked by the FBI. There were just over 1 million burglaries reported in the United States in 2020, resulting in billions of dollars in stolen property.
Most burglaries in the U.S. are committed in residential properties, and more often during the day than at night. Not only do victims of burglaries typically suffer material loss, but they can also be impacted psychologically. Many burglary victims have reported heightened anxiety, difficulty sleeping, feelings of vulnerability, and even post-traumatic stress disorder in some cases.
Encouragingly, burglaries are becoming less common in the United States, with total reported cases dropping by 7% in the most recent year of available data. The decline in the burglary rates nationwide is being driven by steep declines in burglary rates in some major metropolitan areas.
In the Fort Smith metro area, which covers parts of Arkansas and Oklahoma, the total number of burglaries fell by 13.5% - from 1,506 in 2019 to 1,303 in 2020. The resulting decrease in the area's population-adjusted burglary rate was one of the largest of any U.S. metro areas.
The reported burglary rate in Fort Smith declined by about 83 incidents for every 100,000 people from 2019 to 2020. Despite the decrease, the metro area's burglary rate of 520 reported incidents per 100,000 people remains well above the national rate of 314 burglaries per 100,000 people.
All crime data used in this story is from the FBI's 2019 and 2020 Uniform Crime Reports. We considered all U.S. metropolitan areas for which the boundaries defined by the FBI match the boundaries as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau.
RankMetro area1-yr. decline in burglary rate (burglaries per 100k people)Burglaries per 100k people, 2020Total burglaries, 2020Total burglaries, 20191Florence, SC2766731,3791,9452Sumter, SC2525297421,0933Lawton, OK2325747231,0104Vallejo, CA2186152,7513,7275Madera, CA2082263536826Sebring-Avon Park, FL2063123335467Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV1983758,68313,0038Sioux City, IA-NE-SD1763945698169New Bern, NC17653065788110Burlington, NC16043073899311Panama City, FL1464437751,09712Vineland-Bridgeton, NJ14639959381613Modesto, CA1463321,8252,62814Lake Havasu City-Kingman, AZ1414148891,17115Bakersfield, CA1397086,3587,59516Stockton, CA1313692,8173,77117Elizabethtown-Fort Knox, KY12718127947218Elmira, NY12715913123819Greenville, NC12035063885220Brownsville-Harlingen, TX1192751,1651,67021Abilene, TX11733056876522Tallahassee, FL1154451,7282,15423Anchorage, AK1134881,4881,83724Monroe, LA1128361,6651,90325Lafayette, LA1055152,5233,03126Goldsboro, NC10461575888727Toledo, OH1043652,3373,01128The Villages, FL10013919131829Jacksonville, FL983164,9966,41030Chico, CA983848331,11131Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI922209,47213,45132Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL912687,1389,38933Wilmington, NC883721,1271,38034Canton-Massillon, OH884021,5911,94635Alexandria, LA8810191,5411,68236Fort Wayne, IN862058511,20037Rockford, IL853401,1321,42438Spartanburg, SC855251,7031,94139Fort Smith, AR-OK835201,3031,50640Clarksville, TN-KY832868931,14541Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH832871,0151,31742St. George, UT8215027340843Charleston-North Charleston, SC743092,5333,08444Roanoke, VA7420965688745Johnson City, TN7327856771246California-Lexington Park, MD7122425533347Gainesville, FL693391,1201,34548Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA6936917,14020,26849Yuma, AZ6930165379350Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL682681,6292,019
via Oklahoma's Center Square News
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