What's the Property Crime Rate in North Carolina?

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What’s the Property Crime Rate in North Carolina?

Published 07/26/2018 by General Security

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There are several basic, universally essential needs we all wish to fulfill. This includes food, clothing and shelter. Our homes don't simply consist of the structures we live in, however. The state, county, and neighborhood where we reside also play significant roles in determining our collective and individual well-being.

Not only do we all desire a roof over our heads, but we also want our surroundings to be safe. Knowing whether a certain area in the United States, such as North Carolina, experiences more crime than others, requires research—specifically, analyzing official statistics compiled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). 

FIRST, IT’S IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT THERE ARE SEVERAL CRIME RATES CALCULATED, CATEGORIZED BY THE TYPE OF CRIME COMMITTED.

For example, “property crime,” as the FBI defines it, refers to “offenses of burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson.”

The government agency also breaks down what’s considered a “violent crime.” In fact, there are four main offenses one could commit that would fall under this category: “murder and non-negligent manslaughter, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault.”

The main difference between these two types of crimes is that the former doesn’t involve “force of threat against the victims,” while the latter does. Still, both are serious offenses that affect many people, not just in North Carolina or the United States, but across the globe. While there are other types of crime rates calculated, as well, this article focuses solely on the property crime rate in North Carolina.

ACCORDING TO 2016 STATISTICS—THE MOST CURRENT DATA AVAILABLE—THE PROPERTY CRIME RATE IN NORTH CAROLINA IS 27.37 PER 1,000 RESIDENTS. THIS MEANS THE CHANCE OF A RESIDENT BEING A VICTIM OF A PROPERTY CRIME IN THE STATE IS 1 IN 37.

These statistics, calculated by the FBI and discussed by analytics database NeighborhoodScout®, also reveal that The Old North State’s property crime rate is substantially higher than the national average, which is 25 per 1,000 residents.

Breaking down this information even further, the analytics database shares the number of burglary, theft and motor-vehicle-theft offenses reported in North Carolina.

The number of reported burglaries totaled to 72,082 in the state, which has a population of 10.15 million. This equates to a crime rate of 7.10 per 1,000 residents, and is higher than the national average of 4.69 per 1,000 residents.

Cases involving theft ranked highest, with 190,377 reported incidents in North Carolina, and 5.64 million reported incidents within the United States, which had a population of 323.13 million at the time. Such numbers translate to a crime rate of 18.76 per 1,000 residents, and 17.45 per 1,000 residents, respectively.

Lastly, motor vehicle theft caused the least trouble on both a state and national level in 2016. There were 15,306 total reported cases in North Carolina, or 1.51 per 1,000, while there were 765,484 total reported cases in the United States, or 2.37 per 1,000.

ONE WAY TO DECREASE THE CHANCE OF BECOMING A VICTIM OF A PROPERTY CRIME, SPECIFICALLY BURGLARY, IS TO INVEST IN AN EFFECTIVE HOME SECURITY SYSTEM.

While some may not believe that buying a home security system will make much of a difference in terms of crime rate, its very presence has the ability to scare off burglars looking for their next target.

In fact, a study conducted by the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology and researcher Joseph Kuhns of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, as well as others, took a close look at how and why burglars break into certain buildings or homes.

Titled “Understanding Decisions to Burglarize from the Offender’s Perspective” and discussed in a 2013 article on the university's official website, it specifically examined “the decision-making processes and methods of 422 incarcerated male and female burglars selected at random from state prison systems in North Carolina, Kentucky and Ohio.”

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About 83 percent of burglars interviewed said “They would try to determine if an alarm was present before attempting a burglary, and 60 percent said they would seek an alternative target if there was an alarm on-site.”

"Among those who discovered the presence of an alarm while attempting a burglary, half reported they would discontinue the attempt,” the article continues, “while another 31 percent said they would sometimes retreat. Only 13 percent said they would always continue with the burglary attempt.”

Such data indicate just how important having a security system is, whether you live in North Carolina, or any other state.

Featured image courtesy of Wikimedia


General Security provides premier home security systems to residents of North Carolina, as well as New York, Florida and Virginia. Request a quote from us today!


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