Why Reported Property Crimes Are Far More Common in Chicago, Illinois

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 Chicago, Illinois, property crime is far more common than it is nationwide. In 2019, the most recent year of available data, there were a total of 80,742 property crimes reported in the city — or 2,983 for every 100,000 people. Click here to see the full crime report for Chicago.

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, Chicago ranks No. 927 by property crime rate, which puts it in the top 25% highest property crime U.S. cities.

Although property crime is more common in Chicago than it is nationwide, property crime is less common in Illinois than it is nationwide. A total of 233,984 property crimes were reported in Illinois in 2019, or 1,847 for every 100,000 people. Of all 50 states, Illinois has the 18th lowest property crime rate.

The property crime rate in Chicago ranks as No. 36 of the 291 cities in Illinois 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 Chicago, larceny-theft accounted for 77% 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 Chicago, a city of about 2,707,060 residents, there were 9578 burglaries reported in 2019, or 354 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 Chicago here.