US burglary offenses, 1985 to 2025
US burglary offenses stood at 52,918 in 2025, up 6.8% on the previous period.
Law enforcement agencies in United States reported 52,690 burglary offenses in 2025-12, up 6.6 percent from the year before. The window spans 1985-01 to 2025-12, with the high at 429,081 (1997-12) and the low at 47,888 (2021-02).
How it is measured
The offense is defined as unlawful entry of a structure to commit a felony or theft, no force against a person required. Counts come from the FBI's Crime Data Explorer, which aggregates the monthly reports police agencies submit to the national crime statistics program; the chart sums them to years so trends read over seasonality. Reported crime is not total crime: it counts what victims reported and agencies recorded, and agency participation shifts over time, most sharply around the 2021 transition to the NIBRS reporting system, which temporarily lowered coverage.
What the curve shows
Burglary has fallen more steeply than almost any other crime in the modern record; better locks, alarms, and the decline of cash at home all get credit. Within a consistent reporting era the trend is meaningful; across eras, level comparisons need the coverage caveat in mind.
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