“Robbery”—“a crime in which force or the threat of force or violence is used to take, or attempt to take, anything of value from another person”–“FBI 2020 Uniform Crime Report”
Crime rose across much of America last year, according to the FBI. The move higher was not uniform. Murders rose at a horribly large pace. Some of this was blamed on the COVID-19 pandemic. Some were blamed on social unrest. The fact is, there is no solid explanation for movement up or down for any crime category. Other types of crime fell.
Despite the long-term decline in robberies nationwide, there were still nearly a quarter of a million robbery cases reported in the U.S. in 2020, accounting for about 19% of all reported violent crimes — and in some parts of the country, robbery is far more common than average.
Using data from the FBI’s 2020 Uniform Crime Report, 24/7 Wall St. identified the city with the most robberies. Cities we considered are ranked by their robbery rate — specifically, the number of reported robberies for every 100,000 residents. Only cities with populations of 25,000 or more were considered.
In every city we considered, the robbery rate is at least three times higher than the national rate of 73.9 per 100,000 people. Though these cities span the country, California is home to a dozen of them, far more than any other state.
To determine the city with the most robberies, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed robbery figures from the FBI’s 2020 Uniform Crime Report. The rate of robberies per 100,000 people was calculated using population data from the FBI.
We included cities that have more than 25,000 people based on five-year estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2019 American Community Survey. Limited data were available in the 2020 UCR for areas in Alabama, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Illinois, though cities in these states were not excluded from the analysis.
Additional information on the violent crime rate is also from the 2020 FBI UCR. Poverty rates are five-year estimates from the 2019 ACS.
The city with the most robberies was Oakland, California. Here are the details:
> Robberies per 100k people: 566.1
> Number of robberies: 2,479 — 7th highest of 1,288 cities
> Violent crimes per 100k people: 1,290.9 — 30th highest of 1,287 cities
> Poverty rate: 16.7% — 388th highest of 1,288 cities
> Population within reporting jurisdiction: 437,923 — 41st highest of 1,288 cities
Click here to read Cities With The Most Robberies
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