US larceny / theft offenses, 1985 to 2025
US larceny / theft offenses stood at 334,734 in 2025, up 13.5% on the previous period.
Law enforcement agencies in United States reported 333,266 larceny / theft offenses in 2025-12, up 13.4 percent from the year before. The window spans 1985-01 to 2025-12, with the high at 1,254,529 (1997-12) and the low at 216,541 (2021-02).
How it is measured
The offense is defined as taking property without force, violence, or fraud: shoplifting, bicycle theft, theft from vehicles. 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
Larceny is the most numerous index crime and the most under-reported one; small thefts often never reach the police at all. Within a consistent reporting era the trend is meaningful; across eras, level comparisons need the coverage caveat in mind.
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