Based on the data from the 48 states, larceny emerges as the most frequent type of crime, accounting for more than 50% of all reported offenses. This is notable since larceny is a non-violent crime, typically involving acts like pickpocketing or shoplifting. Its prevalence aligns with the high volume of theft-related incidents often highlighted in news reports.Following larceny, burglaries are the second most common type of crime. Unlike larceny, burglary involves unlawful entry and can encompass not only theft but also crimes like vandalism.Murders, on the other hand, make up the smallest proportion of reported crimes. While murder is often perceived as the most severe and attention-grabbing crime, it accounts for the lowest percentage of overall offenses. Despite its rarity, murder dominates media coverage, which may amplify public fear and create the perception that it is a more widespread issue than it actually is.
Another way to visualize these crimes is through maps. For this reason, we created choropleth maps for each individual crime to observe their distribution by state relative to the population. As seen in the pie chart, larcenies are the most frequent crime, and the map shows that they have the widest range, appearing more uniform across the country. The states affected by larcenies are shaded in similar shades of purple, indicating a consistent prevalence. This visualization could be useful for individuals who are considering crime rates when deciding where to move or invest in property, as it helps identify states with higher or lower crime rates of specific interest.
To answer this question, we grouped our data by region, categorizing states into Southern and Northern regions. The Southern states include Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Arkansas, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Oklahoma. The Northern states encompass both Northeastern and Midwestern states, including Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin It’s important to note that there are more Northern states represented than Southern states, which may influence the data. Despite this, we observe that nonviolent crimes are the most frequent across both regions. Interestingly, although the Northern region appears to dominate in terms of crime frequency, the Southern region shows higher rates of murders, rapes, assaults, and burglaries. This suggests that the Southern states experience a higher incidence of violent crime, which aligns with the data.
Unemployment has long been a controversial topic, with many viewing it as a persistent issue in the United States, particularly as rates spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic. With this in mind, we set out to investigate whether crime rate data demonstrates any correlation with unemployment. Our analysis indicates that unemployment does appear to correlate with certain crimes more strongly than others. For instance, we found little to no correlation between unemployment rates and crimes such as rape or arson relative to population size. However, crimes like burglary and larceny show a stronger correlation with unemployment. This suggests that in states with higher unemployment rates, these types of crimes are more likely to occur. While unemployment is not the sole factor driving these crimes, this correlation is notable. It raises the possibility that increased employment opportunities could help reduce such offenses, as stable jobs may deter individuals from engaging in criminal activity. Further research could explore how shifts in employment rates influence crime patterns over time.
This graph examines the relationship between poverty rate and the least and most frequently committed crimes in the Southern and Northern regions of the United States. Figure 5 indicates that the Northern region experiences higher levels of poverty. While the bubble sizes in the graph represent the population size of each region, this detail is not the primary focus of the data. The analysis centers on the least and most frequently committed crimes to uncover potential differences between the regions, and the findings reveal significant distinctions. For murder, there appears to be a stronger correlation between crime rates and poverty levels. In the Northern region, lower poverty rates correspond with fewer murders, whereas the Southern region, with higher poverty rates, experiences a greater number of murders. On the other hand, larceny, the most commonly committed crime in the United States, shows no clear correlation with poverty. Despite the Northern region having less poverty, larceny rates remain high, while the Southern region, with more poverty, experiences fewer larcenies. These findings suggest that poverty may not be the sole factor influencing larceny rates, emphasizing the role of other external factors in contributing to this crime.