Criminal Statistics by State
Criminal statistics reported to law enforcement are subsequently recorded by the FBI on an annual basis in a publicly-available document known as the Uniform Crime Report, or UCR. These statistics provide national crime rates and types, as well as those for individual states and regions. The FBI warns against ranking states based on this data, as other factors can affect crime levels such as geographical area, economic climate and strength of local law enforcement personnel and resources, as well as the percentage of available areas reporting to the FBI. However, these criminal statistics by state can provide a general picture of the number and types of crimes occurring in an area.
Top 10 States for Violent Criminal Activity Rates
Based on UCR data from 2009, the top 10 states with rates of violent crime reported per 100,000 inhabitants are as follows:
| State | Rate of violent crime per 100,000 inhabitants | Population |
| 1. Nevada | 702.2 | 2,376,643 |
| 2.South Carolina | 670.8 | 3,488,626 |
| 3.Tennessee | 667.7 | 4,621,940 |
| 4.Delaware | 636.6 | 692,991 |
| 5.Alaska | 633 | 343,318 |
| 6.Louisiana | 620 | 3,349,906 |
| 7.New Mexico | 619 | 1,337,330 |
| 8.Florida | 612.5 | 17,451,538 |
| 9.Maryland | 589.9 | 5,392,905 |
| 10.Arkansas | 517.7 | 1,737,722 |
The crimes used in these calculations are murder, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault. More interestingly, the District of Columbia’s rate of violent crime was an astonishing 1,345.9 per 100,000 inhabitants, with a total population of 599,657.
Of these reported violent crimes, Nevada recorded a total of 157 murders and non-negligent manslaughters, 1,021 forcible rapes, 6,021 robberies and 11,360 cases of aggravated assault. With the largest population of these top 10 states, Florida reported 1,017 murders and non-negligent manslaughters, 5,501 cases of forcible rape, 30,911 robberies and 76,112 aggravated assaults to law enforcement. In the District of Columbia, there were 144 murders and non-negligent manslaughters, 150 forcible rapes, 4,389 robberies and 3,388 aggravated assaults.
Top 10 States for Property Crime in the U.S.
When considering the property crimes of burglary, larceny-theft and motor vehicle theft, the following is a ranking of the top 10 states with population and rate of crimes reported per 100,000 inhabitants:
| State | Rate of property crime per 100,000 inhabitants | Population |
| 1.Texas | 4015.5 | 21,787,209 |
| 2.South Carolina | 3888.6 | 3,488,626 |
| 3.Florida | 3840.8 | 17,451,538 |
| 4.Louisiana | 3794.6 | 3,349,906 |
| 5.Arkansas | 3773.7 | 1,737,722 |
| 6.Alabama | 3772.4 | 3,365,303 |
| 7.Tennessee | 3754.1 | 4,621,940 |
| 8.New Mexico | 3735.8 | 1,337,330 |
| 9.North Carolina | 3668.1 | 6,620,271 |
| 10.Washington | 3666.9 | 5,846,504 |
Classification of these crimes includes burglaries, larceny-thefts and motor vehicle thefts. The District of Columbia also holds the highest rate of property crimes overall per 100,000 inhabitants at 4745.4 with a population of 599,657; property crimes total 78 percent of the District’s total reported crime.
In the state of Texas, there were a total of 240,233 burglaries, 678,353 larceny-thefts and 76,559 reported motor vehicle thefts. As a comparison to Florida’s violent crime numbers, the state also reported 181,884 burglaries, 479,867 larceny-thefts and 50,259 motor vehicle thefts. Florida’s property crimes comprised 86 percent of the state’s total reported crimes to law enforcement.
