The crime index
The crime index compares crimes per resident in a place with the U.S. rate. 100 is the U.S. rate, 200 is twice it and 50 is half. Every state and city on this site has one, for major crime and for each of 16 crime types.
Reading an index
Across the U.S. we estimate about 1,715 major crimes a year per 100,000 residents: 310 persons crimes and 1,405 property crimes. An index is that rate scaled to 100, so a city with a major-crime index of 150 has about 2,572 major crimes a year per 100,000 residents, and one with 50 has about 857.
Crime indexes on other sites use other scales. Here 100 is always the U.S. rate, and a higher index always means more crime per resident.
The largest U.S. cities, and the largest below the U.S. rate
New York's index of 154 means its major crime per resident is 1.5 times the U.S. rate. Bars run left of the dashed U.S. line for indexes under 100 and right of it above 100.
What it counts
Major crime is persons crimes and property crimes together. Social disorder has its own index and is not part of major crime.
- Persons crimes
- Murder, Rape / sexual assault, Robbery, Aggravated assault
- Property crimes
- Burglary, Shoplifting, Theft from vehicle, Other larceny, Motor vehicle theft
- Social disorder
- Simple assault, Intimidation, Vandalism, Weapons violations, Drugs and alcohol, Disorderly conduct, Trespassing
Per resident
The index divides crimes by the people who live in a place. Where many people work, shop or visit but few live, such as downtowns, airports, stadiums and shopping centers, it reads high. That is also why a small town with a large store or a highway stop can rank near the top of its state, and why state pages rank places only against places of similar size.
Neighborhoods and uncertainty
Each of the 239,780 census block groups in the U.S. gets its own estimate, and a city's index adds up the block groups that lie mostly inside it. Each estimate comes with an 80% interval and a confidence level, and indexes are withheld for block groups with fewer than 100 residents. The indexes are modeled from what police agencies report to the FBI and from local incident records. How the estimates are made·Data sources
Major-crime index by state
Highest first. States with published cities link to their page.
Per 100k: major crimes (persons and property) a year per 100,000 residents.