The Crimes Americans Worry About Most

In 2022, cybercrime remained on the top of Americans' minds while the worry about violent criminal acts rose significantly. The biggest rise was observed for the worry of having a school-aged child physically harmed at school, according to a report by Gallup. The respective rate was up to 47 percent from just 34 percent a year ago - not surprising given the string of mass and school shootings the U.S. experienced recently. Worry about getting mugged was up 7 percentage points to 40 percent. Fear of being attacked while driving rose similarly, from 29 percent of people in 2021 to 36 percent in 2022, as did worry about being present for a home burglary (up six percentage points to 34 percent).

After cybercrime and fear of a school shooting, anxiety about having a car stolen or your vehicle or home broken into in your absence remained the top 4 and top 5 worry. As opposed to violent crime, these categories only saw small gains. The U.S. did see a surge of gun deaths in 2020 as well as a rise in shooting incidents on school grounds in 2021 but according to official statistics, violent crime rates overall are not or just slightly up.

More serious crimes stayed further down the list, but also saw bigger gains (being sexually assaulted: up 8 percentage points to 29 percent. Getting murdered: up 7 percentage points to 29 percent). Cybercrime is in fact more common than violent crime but crime victimization rates also depend on where you live and what your ethnicity and economic status is, for example. Perceptions of how common crime is also vary by political affiliation and even party of the president, data by Gallup shows.