Crime in the United States
by State, 2009
The FBI collects these data through the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program.
General comments
- This table provides an estimation of reported crime and the rate of crime per 100,000 inhabitants for each state.
- This table provides the estimated number of offenses and the actual number of offenses reported in Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs), cities outside metropolitan areas, and nonmetropolitan counties, and the rate (per 100,000 inhabitants) for each community type, and the estimated population for each state.
- For Illinois, valid counts for murder, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft were available only for agencies in cities 100,000 and over in population. For other agencies, the only available data generated by the Illinois State Program were totals based upon an incident-level system without indication of multiple offenses recorded within single incidents. Therefore, the UCR Hierarchy Rule could not be applied in order to convert the state’s data to the Summary Reporting System format. (The Hierarchy Rule requires that only the most serious offense in a multiple-offense criminal incident is counted.) To arrive at a comparable state estimate to be included in national compilations, the Illinois State Program’s totals were reduced by the proportion of multiple offenses reported within single incidents in the National Incident-Based Reporting System database. Data for cities 100,000 and over in population were excluded from the reduction process.
- The data collection methodology for the offense of forcible rape used by Illinois (with the exception of Rockford, Illinois) and Minnesota (with the exceptions of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota) do not comply with national UCR Program guidelines. Consequently, their figures for forcible rape were estimated for inclusion in this table.
- The UCR Program does not have sufficient data to estimate for arson.
Caution against ranking
Any comparisons of crime among different locales should take into consideration relevant factors in addition to the area’s crime statistics. Variables Affecting Crime provides more details concerning the proper use of UCR statistics.
Methodology
- The data used in creating this table were from all law enforcement agencies in the UCR Program (including those submitting less than 12 months of data).
- Crime statistics include estimated offense totals (except arson) for agencies submitting less than 12 months of offense reports for each year.
- The statistics under the heading “Area actually reporting” represent offense totals for agencies submitting 12 months of data and estimated totals for agencies submitting less than 12 but more than 2 months of data.
- The statistics in the table under the heading “Estimated total” represent the above “Area actually reporting” plus estimated totals for agencies submitting 2 months or less of data.
Population estimation
For the 2009 population estimates used in this table, the FBI computed individual rates of growth from one year to the next for every city/town and county using 2000 decennial population counts and 2001 through 2008 population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. Each agency’s rates of growth were averaged; that average was then applied and added to its 2008 Census population estimate to derive the agency’s 2009 population estimate.