To better understand the news about local crime that Americans see, we asked people what types of crime they get news about.
About a third or more of Americans say they see or hear local news about property crime (37%), drug-related crime (33%) and violent crime (32%) weekly or more often. Only 11% say they see local news about white-collar crime (such as corporate fraud or political corruption) at least weekly.
According to statistics from the FBI, property crime in the United States is much more common than violent crime. In 2022, the FBI reported a total of 1,954.4 property crimes and 380.7 violent crimes per 100,000 people. However, the public reports seeing news about these two types of crime at similar rates. (The FBI’s annual data only includes crimes that have been reported to law enforcement, not those that went unreported.)
Some groups are more likely to report seeing news about violent crime in their local community:
- City dwellers: Americans who live in urban areas (42%) are far more likely than those who live in suburban (31%) or rural (23%) areas to see violent crime news at least weekly.
- Black Americans: A quarter say they see news about violent crime daily, and about half (48%) see it at least weekly – higher than all other racial or ethnic groups.
- Older adults: 37% of those 65 and older see news about violent crime about weekly (including 22% who see it daily), compared with 27% of those ages 18 to 29 who see this kind of news weekly (8% daily).
These patterns are in line with our findings that both Black Americans and older Americans are also more likely to closely follow local news in general.
Black Americans also are more likely than White or Asian Americans to say reducing crime should be a top political priority for the president and Congress in 2024.
Lower-income Americans (36%) are slightly more likely than middle-income (30%) or upper-income (27%) adults to see news about violent crime at least weekly. Republicans and Democrats, including independents who lean toward either party, see violent crime news in their local community at similar rates (31% and 33%, respectively).
Americans’ interest in different aspects of crime news
Americans express interest in several aspects of local crime, although they are more interested in some than others.
For example, half of U.S. adults say they are extremely or very interested in what local officials are doing to address crime (50%). Smaller shares are as interested in underlying causes of local crime (41%) and broader patterns in local crime (36%). Many also express high levels of interest in details about crimes, such as what happened and why (47%), and tips about how to stay safe (44%).
Across the board, Black Americans express higher interest than other racial and ethnic groups in all aspects of local crime news. For example, six-in-ten Black Americans are extremely or very interested in what local officials are doing to address crime and tips about how to stay safe.
Republicans (including independents who lean Republican) are somewhat more interested in the details of local crimes than are Democrats and Democratic leaners. About half of Republicans (51%) say they are extremely or very interested in such details, while 44% of Democrats say the same. Meanwhile, Democrats are more interested than Republicans in the underlying causes of local crime (46% vs. 39%).
Some demographic groups are particularly likely to say they are interested in tips about how to stay safe from local crime:
- Women: Half of U.S. women are extremely or very interested in this information, versus 37% of men.
- Black and Asian adults: Majorities of Black (60%) and Asian (57%) Americans say they are highly interested in tips about how to stay safe from crime, compared with fewer than half of Hispanic (46%) and White (39%) Americans.
- Americans with lower incomes: Those with lower incomes are more likely to be highly interested in tips about how to stay safe than those with higher incomes (47% vs. 38%).
Ease of finding local crime news
Not all of the information Americans want from their local crime news is easy for them to find.
For instance, 85% of Americans are at least somewhat interested in news about what local officials are doing to address crime, but just 22% of this group says it’s very or somewhat easy to stay informed about it. Nearly twice as many (41%) say they find it very or somewhat hard to stay informed about what local officials are doing to address crime.
Similarly, among those who are interested in the underlying causes or broader patterns in local crime, more people say it is hard than easy to stay informed about these aspects of crime coverage.
Americans who are interested in details about crimes, meanwhile, are slightly more likely to say this information is easy to find (35% easy vs. 31% hard). And those who want tips about how to stay safe are far more likely to say this is easy (43%) rather than difficult (15%) to find.
