Although the frequency of robbery continues to drop, there were well over 300,000 robberies nationwide totaling an estimated $400 million in losses in 2014. The average amount reported stolen was $1,227, but the overall cost incurred by the victim and criminal justice system for each armed robbery is estimated to reach $335,733.
In order to visualize the scale of robbery, FindTheHome synthesized data from the 2014 FBI Uniform Crime Report (UCR) and identified the counties with the highest robbery rates. The latest UCR, which provides comprehensive crime reporting data, defines robbery as “the taking or attempting to take anything of value from the care, custody, or control of a person or persons by force or threat of force or violence and/or by putting the victim in fear.” This can range from street mugging to the robbery of businesses, such as banks. Unlike burglary, robbery involves taking property directly from another person.
The robbery rate is the total number of robberies reported to law enforcement agencies within a county per 100,000 people. Population estimates for this calculation come from the 2014 American Community Survey. Only counties in the 50th percentile for population in their state were considered in this analysis.
Disclaimer: The data published here is meant solely to illustrate the relative rates of robbery, and not to make assertions about the effectiveness of law enforcement. There are many factors that affect the rate and nature of crime — such as the degree of urbanization, composition of age groups, economic climate and modes of transportation within an area — which are not considered here.
#50. Wyoming: Laramie County
Robberies per 100K People: 18.0
Total Robberies: 17
Violent Crimes per 100K People: 163.1
Total Violent Crimes: 154
Population: 94,412
#49. Vermont: Rutland County
Robberies per 100K People: 21.4
Total Robberies: 13
Violent Crimes per 100K People: 105.2
Total Violent Crimes: 64
Population: 60,864
#48. Idaho: Twin Falls County
Robberies per 100K People: 27.9
Total Robberies: 22
Violent Crimes per 100K People: 242.0
Total Violent Crimes: 191
Population: 78,933
#47. Maine: Androscoggin County
Robberies per 100K People: 37.2
Total Robberies: 40
Violent Crimes per 100K People: 136.8
Total Violent Crimes: 147
Population: 107,470
#46. Montana: Yellowstone County
Robberies per 100K People: 42.1
Total Robberies: 64
Violent Crimes per 100K People: 342.2
Total Violent Crimes: 520
Population: 151,965
#45. Hawaii: Maui County
Robberies per 100K People: 50.4
Total Robberies: 80
Violent Crimes per 100K People: 319.9
Total Violent Crimes: 508
Population: 158,814
#44. North Dakota: Cass County
Robberies per 100K People: 50.6
Total Robberies: 80
Violent Crimes per 100K People: 304.4
Total Violent Crimes: 481
Population: 158,041
#43. South Dakota: Pennington County
Robberies per 100K People: 55.5
Total Robberies: 58
Violent Crimes per 100K People: 504.9
Total Violent Crimes: 528
Population: 104,574
#42. Utah: Salt Lake County
Robberies per 100K People: 70.4
Total Robberies: 749
Violent Crimes per 100K People: 253.7
Total Violent Crimes: 2,698
Population: 1,063,670
#41. Rhode Island: Providence County
Robberies per 100K People: 74.8
Total Robberies: 471
Violent Crimes per 100K People: 287.3
Total Violent Crimes: 1,808
Population: 629,280
#40. New Hampshire: Hillsborough County
Robberies per 100K People: 77.7
Total Robberies: 313
Violent Crimes per 100K People: 262.9
Total Violent Crimes: 1,059
Population: 402,776
#39. West Virginia: Raleigh County
Robberies per 100K People: 88.8
Total Robberies: 70
Violent Crimes per 100K People: 388.2
Total Violent Crimes: 306
Population: 78,827
#38. Arizona: Maricopa County
Robberies per 100K People: 100.6
Total Robberies: 3,973
Violent Crimes per 100K People: 354.1
Total Violent Crimes: 13,977
Population: 3,947,382
#37. Iowa: Scott County
Robberies per 100K People: 101.4
Total Robberies: 171
Violent Crimes per 100K People: 473.0
Total Violent Crimes: 798
Population: 168,714
#36. Delaware: New Castle County
Robberies per 100K People: 119.3
Total Robberies: 651
Violent Crimes per 100K People: 413.7
Total Violent Crimes: 2,258
Population: 545,846
#35. Connecticut: New Haven County
Robberies per 100K People: 126.5
Total Robberies: 1,092
Violent Crimes per 100K People: 305.3
Total Violent Crimes: 2,635
Population: 863,148
#34. Washington: King County
Robberies per 100K People: 131.5
Total Robberies: 2,641
Violent Crimes per 100K People: 344.9
Total Violent Crimes: 6,929
Population: 2,008,997
#33. Nebraska: Douglas County
Robberies per 100K People: 139.7
Total Robberies: 742
Violent Crimes per 100K People: 492.0
Total Violent Crimes: 2,613
Population: 531,057
#32. Oregon: Multnomah County
Robberies per 100K People: 144.3
Total Robberies: 1,093
Violent Crimes per 100K People: 477.8
Total Violent Crimes: 3,619
Population: 757,371
#31. South Carolina: Richland County
Robberies per 100K People: 157.0
Total Robberies: 618
Violent Crimes per 100K People: 778.0
Total Violent Crimes: 3,063
Population: 393,707
#30. Kansas: Wyandotte County
Robberies per 100K People: 161.2
Total Robberies: 257
Violent Crimes per 100K People: 705.5
Total Violent Crimes: 1,125
Population: 159,466
#29. Alaska: Anchorage Municipality
Robberies per 100K People: 166.3
Total Robberies: 496
Violent Crimes per 100K People: 873.6
Total Violent Crimes: 2,605
Population: 298,178
#28. Oklahoma: Oklahoma County
Robberies per 100K People: 170.8
Total Robberies: 1,269
Violent Crimes per 100K People: 731.4
Total Violent Crimes: 5,435
Population: 743,145
#27. Colorado: Denver County
Robberies per 100K People: 172.1
Total Robberies: 1,091
Violent Crimes per 100K People: 628.5
Total Violent Crimes: 3,983
Population: 633,777
#26. Minnesota: Hennepin County
Robberies per 100K People: 190.2
Total Robberies: 2,252
Violent Crimes per 100K People: 436.1
Total Violent Crimes: 5,164
Population: 1,184,091
#25. New York City: All Counties
Robberies per 100K People: 198.5
Total Robberies: 16,581
Violent Crimes per 100K People: 605.2
Total Violent Crimes: 50,564
Population: 8,354,889
Note: Since the NYPD reports crimes for New York City, which spans five counties, we calculated the rate of violent crime for the entire city.
#24. Alabama: Montgomery County
Robberies per 100K People: 199.7
Total Robberies: 457
Violent Crimes per 100K People: 465.8
Total Violent Crimes: 1,066
Population: 228,850
#23. Florida: Miami-Dade County
Robberies per 100K People: 217.5
Total Robberies: 5,658
Violent Crimes per 100K People: 644.0
Total Violent Crimes: 16,750
Population: 2,600,861
#22. Kentucky: Jefferson County
Robberies per 100K People: 218.0
Total Robberies: 1,638
Violent Crimes per 100K People: 552.5
Total Violent Crimes: 4,152
Population: 751,485
#21. New Mexico: Bernalillo County
Robberies per 100K People: 219.4
Total Robberies: 1,473
Violent Crimes per 100K People: 826.1
Total Violent Crimes: 5,547
Population: 671,429
#20. Illinois: Cook County
Robberies per 100K People: 221.7
Total Robberies: 11,589
Violent Crimes per 100K People: 542.4
Total Violent Crimes: 28,357
Population: 5,227,827
#19. Arkansas: Pulaski County
Robberies per 100K People: 231.3
Total Robberies: 899
Violent Crimes per 100K People: 1,008.9
Total Violent Crimes: 3,922
Population: 388,752
#18. North Carolina: Durham County
Robberies per 100K People: 235.1
Total Robberies: 664
Violent Crimes per 100K People: 666.0
Total Violent Crimes: 1,881
Population: 282,422
#17. Michigan: Wayne County
Robberies per 100K People: 240.8
Total Robberies: 4,310
Violent Crimes per 100K People: 945.4
Total Violent Crimes: 16,924
Population: 1,790,078
#16. Massachusetts: Suffolk County
Robberies per 100K People: 256.0
Total Robberies: 1,915
Violent Crimes per 100K People: 740.4
Total Violent Crimes: 5,538
Population: 747,928
#15. Ohio: Cuyahoga County
Robberies per 100K People: 263.5
Total Robberies: 3,340
Violent Crimes per 100K People: 468.4
Total Violent Crimes: 5,937
Population: 1,267,513
#14. Virginia: Richmond City
Robberies per 100K People: 269.6
Total Robberies: 569
Violent Crimes per 100K People: 594.1
Total Violent Crimes: 1,254
Population: 211,063
#13. Nevada: Clark County
Robberies per 100K People: 275.0
Total Robberies: 5,510
Violent Crimes per 100K People: 756.1
Total Violent Crimes: 15,150
Population: 2,003,613
#12. Mississippi: Hinds County
Robberies per 100K People: 327.2
Total Robberies: 806
Violent Crimes per 100K People: 665.7
Total Violent Crimes: 1,640
Population: 246,364
#11. Texas: Harris County
Robberies per 100K People: 328.3
Total Robberies: 14,019
Violent Crimes per 100K People: 750.6
Total Violent Crimes: 32,046
Population: 4,269,608
#10. Tennessee: Shelby County
Robberies per 100K People: 365.5
Total Robberies: 3,422
Violent Crimes per 100K People: 1,314.2
Total Violent Crimes: 12,303
Population: 936,130
#9. Georgia: Fulton County
Robberies per 100K People: 365.8
Total Robberies: 3,538
Violent Crimes per 100K People: 832.9
Total Violent Crimes: 8,055
Population: 967,100
#8. California: San Francisco County
Robberies per 100K People: 388.9
Total Robberies: 3,224
Violent Crimes per 100K People: 815.5
Total Violent Crimes: 6,761
Population: 829,072
#7. New Jersey: Essex County
Robberies per 100K People: 392.0
Total Robberies: 3,095
Violent Crimes per 100K People: 642.1
Total Violent Crimes: 5,070
Population: 789,616
#6. Louisiana: Orleans Parish
Robberies per 100K People: 398.9
Total Robberies: 1,470
Violent Crimes per 100K People: 1,023.1
Total Violent Crimes: 3,770
Population: 368,471
#5. Wisconsin: Milwaukee County
Robberies per 100K People: 404.2
Total Robberies: 3,854
Violent Crimes per 100K People: 997.1
Total Violent Crimes: 9,506
Population: 953,401
#4. Indiana: Marion County
Robberies per 100K People: 418.8
Total Robberies: 3,850
Violent Crimes per 100K People: 1,178.2
Total Violent Crimes: 10,832
Population: 919,336
#3. Pennsylvania: Philadelphia County
Robberies per 100K People: 450.6
Total Robberies: 6,970
Violent Crimes per 100K People: 1,029.5
Total Violent Crimes: 15,925
Population: 1,546,920
#2. Missouri: St. Louis City
Robberies per 100K People: 490.1
Total Robberies: 1,562
Violent Crimes per 100K People: 1,677.9
Total Violent Crimes: 5,348
Population: 318,727
Note: St. Louis City is the county that includes the city of St. Louis.
#1. Maryland: Baltimore City
Robberies per 100K People: 590.9
Total Robberies: 3,677
Violent Crimes per 100K People: 1,341.2
Total Violent Crimes: 8,346
Population: 622,271
Note: Baltimore City refers to the county that includes the city of Baltimore.
