Crime in Decline

Jeffrey M. Jones at Gallup:

Gallup finds new lows in the percentage of Americans reporting that they, or someone in their household, have been victimized by one of seven different crimes in the past year. Twenty percent of U.S. adults say their household has been the victim of a crime, and 13% say they personally were a victim -- the lowest rates in Gallup's trend, which began in 2000.

The prior low in reports of household crime victimization, 22%, occurred in 2001, shortly after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and again in 2017. The high was 29% in 2016, when Americans' self-reports of theft exceeded those in any other year.

Gallup's crime victimization index has been computed annually as part of its Crime poll since 2000, with the exception of 2012. This year's survey was conducted Sept. 30-Oct. 15.