The Bureau of Justice Statistics today announced the results of the 2017 National Crime Victimization Survey, which BJS has conducted annually since 1973.
There was no statistically significant increase from 2016 to 2017 in the number of residents age 12 and over who had been victims of violent crime during the prior six months, while there was a statistically significant increase from 2015 to 2017.
The overall number of victimizations that occurred, reflecting the total number of times people were victimized, did not increase significantly over either a 1- or 2-year span.
These 2017 findings follow a statistically significant increase in the number of victims of violent crime from 2015 to 2016.
From 2016 to 2017, trends were mixed among individual crime types. The rate of robbery victimizations rose from 1.7 per 1,000 residents age 12 or older in 2016 to 2.3 per 1,000 in 2017.
Meanwhile, the burglary rate dropped from 23.7 victimizations per 1,000 households in 2016 to 20.6 per 1,000 households in 2017. In the NCVS, robbery is defined as theft or attempted theft directly from a person by force or threat of force, and burglary is the unlawful or forcible entry or attempted entry of a residence or other non-commercial structure, such as a garage or shed.
The portion of U.S. residents age 12 or older who had been a victim of violent crime during the prior six months increased from 0.98 percent in 2015 to 1.14 percent in 2017. This 2-year rise in the prevalence of violent crime was driven primarily by an increase in simple assault (which is generally non-felony assault).
For the second straight year, the number of victims of violent crime was higher than in 2015. The number of persons age 12 or older who had been victims of violent crime rose from 2.7 million in 2015 to 2.9 million in 2016 (up 9 percent from 2015) and 3.1 million in 2017 (up 17 percent from 2015). The 2-year increase in the number of violent-crime victims was 455,700.
From 2016 to 2017, the portion of persons victimized by violent crime increased among females, whites, those ages 12 to 17, those age 65 and over, and those who were divorced or had never been married. The portion of Asians victimized by violent crime, however, decreased. From 2015 to 2017, the portion of persons who were victims of violent crime increased among males, whites, those ages 25 to 34, those ages 50 to 64, those age 65 and over, and those who had never been married.
Overall, property crime decreased from 2016 to 2017, falling from 118.6 victimizations per 1,000 households to 108.4. This decrease followed an increase in property crime the previous year, from 110.7 victimizations per 1,000 households in 2015 to 118.6 in 2016.
Based on the 2017 survey, about 45 percent of violent victimizations and 36 percent of property victimizations were reported to police. The percentage of rapes or sexual assaults that were reported to police rose from 23 percent in 2016 to 40 percent in 2017.
The NCVS collects information on nonfatal violent and property crimes against persons age 12 or older, whether or not these crimes were reported to police, from a nationally representative sample of U.S. households.
Respondents are asked about the number and characteristics of crimes they have experienced during the prior six months.
Crimes are classified by the year of the survey and not by the year of the crime.