Why Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan’s Reports of Property Crime Are So Low

Property crime is a broad category of offenses comprising three subcategories: burglary, larceny, and motor vehicle theft. A total of 6.9 million property crimes were committed in the United States in 2019 — or 2,110 for every 100,000 people.

Though property crime offenses are not as severe as violent crime offenses, such as aggravated assault or robbery, their impact on victims can be substantial. An estimated $14.3 billion worth of personal property — from clothing and jewelry to firearms and motor vehicles — were stolen in the United States in 2019. During the COVID-19 pandemic, certain forms of property crime have spiked. According to a recent study from the University of Pennsylvania, car thefts are up considerably in major cities around the country. And while home burglaries are down, commercial retailers are reporting a substantial spike in burglary cases.

In Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan, property crime is far less common than it is nationwide. In 2019, the most recent year of available data, there were a total of 80 property crimes reported in the city — or 878 for every 100,000 people. Click here to see the full crime report for Grosse Pointe Farms.

The FBI tracked property crime in 4,543 U.S. cities with populations of at least 5,000 in 2019 — and nearly all of those cities reported at least one property crime that year. Of those 4,537 cities that reported one or more incidents of property crime, Grosse Pointe Farms ranks No. 3,491 by property crime rate, which puts it in the top 25% lowest property crime U.S. cities.

Just as property crime is less common in Grosse Pointe Farms than it is nationwide, property crime is also less common in Michigan than it is nationwide. A total of 158,296 property crimes were reported in Michigan in 2019, or 1,585 for every 100,000 people. Of all 50 states, Michigan has the 14th lowest property crime rate.

The property crime rate in Grosse Pointe Farms ranks as No. 144 of the 220 cities in Michigan for which the FBI has data.

Across the United States, larceny-theft is the most common form of property crime. Of the 6.9 million property crimes committed in the U.S. in 2019, about 73% were incidents of larceny-theft. In Grosse Pointe Farms, larceny-theft accounted for 80% of all reported violent crimes in 2019.

Of the three types of property crime, burglary ranks the highest on the FBI’s hierarchy of crime severity. In Grosse Pointe Farms, a city of about 9,110 residents, there were four burglaries reported in 2019, or 44 for every 100,000 people. The national burglary rate stands at 341 incidents for every 100,000 people.

Property crimes are just one component of crime in an area. To provide a more comprehensive view of overall crime levels across the country, 24/7 Wall St. recently published extensive crime reports with data visualizations for over 4,000 cities and all 50 states. Click here to see the complete crime report for Grosse Pointe Farms here.