Incidence and Costs of Personal and Property Crimes in the United States, 2017

Abstract

Total cost estimates for crime in the United States are both out-of-date and incomplete.
We estimated incidence and costs of personal crimes (both violent and non-violent) and property
crimes in 2017. Incidence came from national arrest data, multi-state estimates of police-reported
crimes per arrest, national victimization and road crash surveys, and police underreporting
studies. We updated and expanded upon published unit costs. Estimated crime costs totaled $2.6
trillion ($620 billion in monetary costs plus quality of life losses valued at $1.95 trillion; 95%
uncertainty interval $2.2 - $3.0 trillion). Violent crime accounted for 85% of costs. Principal
contributors to the 10.9 million quality-adjusted life years lost were sexual violence, physical
assault/robbery, and child maltreatment. Monetary expenditures caused by criminal victimization
represent 3% of GDP – equivalent to the amount spent on national defense. These estimates
exclude the additional costs of preventing and avoiding crime such as enhanced lighting and
burglar alarms. They also exclude crimes against businesses and most white-collar and corporate
offenses.

Keywords: cost of crime, criminal justice policy, violent crime, property crime, child maltreatment, sexual assault

JEL Classification: D61, K42, H40