Burglars have many methods at their disposal to target people and their homes especially during these times of economic upheaval, chaos, social media and oversharing of information.
Burglars target people and homes who appear to be easy marks and who have things worth stealing. Houses that are unsecured are most desirable but they will also target certain types of people who they feel won’t cause them trouble. Houses from all socioeconomic levels get robbed with single person households and people with the lowest incomes robbed most.
Who Do Burglars Target?
Research and statistics show certain patterns when it comes to break-ins, in terms of who gets victimized and why. Burglars tend to:
- Target renters more than home owners.
- Rob residences more often than commercial businesses.
- Look for homes that appear that they are easy to target ie. no security system.
- Go to neighborhoods outside the one from where the thief lives.
- Rob victims who make less than $15,000
per year. - Look for homes that are frequently empty, has a single parent, a young person as the head of the household, or where the resident has a predicable schedule.
- Target people that burglars feel won’t cause them trouble should they be home at the time.
Most break-ins tend to happen during the day when people are at work or school but significant burglaries also occur at night. Most burglaries also occur during the summer with fewer in the winter months especially February.
As shown above, people with the lowest income levels suffer the most robberies per capita over all other income levels. For the most part, the higher your income the less likely you are to be burgled.
Income and Burglaries
As stated above, income levels appear to have a correlation to burglary as the rate of robberies suffered by household income bracket tends to goes down as income goes up. There are several main reasons for this since a higher income level means a person can:
- Move to a more desirable neighborhood with lower crime.
- Live in neighborhoods that are more likely to look out for one another and keep an eye on each other’s property.
- Purchase more expensive and better quality locks, doors and windows.
- Afford home alarms and security devices to better protect their property.
- Expect to have better access to quick police response to calls.
- Receive more attention from local politicians and media regarding crime fighting.
Interviews with former and convicted burglars shows that they will tend to avoid homes with security alarms and houses that look like they may be a challenge to break into or quickly escape from. Since burglary tends to be a crime of opportunity, houses in all neighborhoods rich and poor get broken into so everyone is potentially a target.
Top 10 States For Burglaries
Below are the top 10 states for robberies where the burglary rate is shown per 100,000 inhabitants.
| State | Burglary Rate |
| New Mexico | 696.8 |
| Oklahoma | 671.7 |
| Mississippi | 627 |
| Arkansas | 599.6 |
| Louisiana | 579 |
| South Carolina | 533.4 |
| Alabama | 531.9 |
| North Carolina | 519.1 |
| Nevada | 503.5 |
| Alaska | 487.1 |
Many of the highest burgled states are located in the south but robberies do occur in all parts of the country, in all small towns and large cities.
Relationship To Burglar
Statistics compiled by the US Department of Justice showed that of all burglaries where a person was home at the time of the robbery that included violence, 65% of victims knew the thief in some manner. So in almost 2/3 of violent robberies where the burglar is identified, they and the person they are robbing are known to one another. The rate is higher in lower income families. The statistics suggest that many burglaries may have a personal component and some underlying reason perhaps related to burglary, perhaps something else.
It should be noted that this same research showed that in 72.4% of robberies, no one was home at the time of the burglary. It’s likely that in most robbery cases, the victim and thief are not known to one another and the crime is simply an event focused on theft. Further, burglars tend to look for homes that are empty at the time of the crime.
Important Burglary Facts
The US Department of Justice also highlighted other facts regarding burglaries to shed light on how victims are targeted:
- Single parent (both male and female) households with kids experienced the highest rate of theft when no one was present. This could suggest that a thief knew there was only one adult in the household and when that person was away, the home would be empty.
- Single mothers with children experienced the single highest rate of break-ins among robberies committed when someone was home. This suggests burglars may target single mothers knowing that there is no male in the home and that they can commit the robbery even with the mother present. Perhaps the thief also feels that with children in the home, the mother will be less likely to fight back and want to protect the child(ren) rather than property.
- The highest rate of crime by age is when the head of the household is 12-19 years old suggesting that thieves may target younger people deliberately. This is true for both robberies when the young person is home and when the home is empty. Perhaps thieves think younger people are smaller, less mature, are less likely to have paid security and less able to defend themselves if they are home. If they are not home, thieves may be interested in goods that younger people may typically have at home ie. cash, cellphones, tablets and laptops, other electronics, jewelry and drugs.
- The highest rate of theft occurs at hotels/motels/rooming houses and Group quarters unit ie. houses with multiple units, rooms and common areas accessible to many people. This suggests that people in housing units that are often full of transient people and many units with common areas are most likely to be robbed. This suggests crimes of opportunity where security is low and opportunity to rob is high.
Source: US Department of Justice
How To Deter Burglars
Making yourself less of a target is the best way to deter potential burglars from robbing you:
- Install a monitored home security system and use a sign and stickers outside the home to announce it.
- Install a doorbell camera or other device that monitors the outside of your home. Modern cameras can start filming the moment motion is detected to provide proof of a person walking on your property.
- Use a phone app to view and monitor your home through your security system when needed.
- Always lock and windows and doors. People think this is obvious but many crimes are ones of opportunity where people leave windows and doors open, unlocked and unattended.
- Secure weak points in your house including old locks, windows and garage doors and light up areas around your home with motion detecting lights.
- Don’t advertise vacations before they happen or while they are in progress. If you have to talk about vacations on social media do it when you are back home.
- If you have children, educate them about not oversharing travel details with their online “friends” too, so that your empty home doesn’t become widely known.
Summary
Robbery statistics tend to show that people get burgled when the security is low, opportunity is high and the barrier to enter the home is also low ie. no security alarm, weak locks and doors, less chance of getting into an altercation with someone who can fight back and stop the theft.
Many thefts and robberies are crimes that occur when the opportunity presents itself to a potential thief. The lower the barrier to break into a house and the lower the chance of getting caught, the more likely a thief will be attracted to your home.