Victims & Victimization

In 2011, U.S. residents age 12 or older experienced an estimated 5.8 million violent victimizations and 17.1 million property victimizations. The types of victimizations included in this figure range from rape and aggravated assault to auto theft and burglary to simple assault and personal theft.^[1]

Fast Facts

• Between 2010 and 2011, the overall victimization rate for violent crime increased 17%, from 19.3 to 22.5 victimizations per 1,000 persons age 12 or older. The increase in aggravated and simple assault accounted for the increase in total violence.^[2]

• The overall property crime rate, which includes burglary and theft, increased 11% between 2010 and 2011.^[3]

• An estimated 14,612 people (4.7 per 100,000) were victims of homicide in the United States in 2011.^[4]

• Males had a higher rate of total violent victimization than females in 2011. The rate of violent victimizations for males increased from 20.1 victimizations per 1,000 males age 12 or older in 2010 to 25.4 in 2011. No change was detected for females.^[5]

• In 2011, about 49% of violent victimizations were reported to the police. The percentage of serious violent victimizations reported to the police remained stable from 2010 to 2011. From 2010 to 2011, the percentage of property victimizations reported to the police declined from 39% to 37%.^[6]

• In 2011, persons ages 18 to 24 had the highest rate of violent victimization (49.0 per 1,000), compared to all other age groups.^[7]

• In 2010, the violent victimization rate for black non-Hispanics was 25.9 per 1,000, which was higher than the rates for white non-Hispanics (18.3) and Hispanics (16.8). By 2011, no statistically significant differences were detected in the rate of violent victimization among white non-Hispanics (21.5 violent victimizations per 1,000 persons), black non-Hispanics (26.4 per 1,000), and Hispanics (23.8 per 1,000).^[8]

• As in 2010, the rate of serious violence for black non-Hispanics (10.8 per 1,000) remained higher than the rates for white non-Hispanics (6.5 per 1,000) and Hispanics (7.2 per 1,000) in 2011.^[9]

• The per capita rate of violent victimization was two times higher for American Indians and Alaskan Natives than the general U.S. population in 2001. American Indians and Alaskan Natives experienced an estimated one violent victimization per every ten residents age 12 and older.^[10]

• In 2009, the total economic loss to victims was nearly $1.5 billion for violent crime and nearly $14.8 billion for property crime, for crimes both reported and not reported.^[11]

• According to a 2003 systematic review on crime victimization epidemiology, crime victims have a much higher lifetime incidence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) than those who have not been victimized (approximately 26% versus approximately 9%).^[12]