Special Report

Towns Reporting Massive Declines in Petty Crime

Methodology

To determine the towns where the larceny-theft rate is falling fastest, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the change in larceny-thefts per 100,000 people from the FBI’s 2019 and 2020 Uniform Crime Reports. Crime rates were calculated using population figures provided by the FBI in the 2020 and 2019 UCR.

We defined towns based on population thresholds — having at least 2,500 people and less than 25,000 people — using five-year estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2019 American Community Survey. Limited data was available in the 2020 UCR for areas in Alabama, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Illinois, though towns in these states were not excluded from analysis. Because some state and local agencies changed reporting practices between 2019 and 2020, the figures are not comparable, and the areas were excluded.

Population figures are five-year estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2019 American Community Survey. 

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