Urban and Rural Victimization

Trends

Since 1995, serious violent victimizations in urban areas have decreased by approximately 72%. Other forms of 

victimization, including simple assault, personal theft, and household burglary have declined by 74%, 84%, and 52%, 

respectively. In comparison, serious violent victimizations in suburban and rural areas have decreased by 65% and 48%, 

while simple assaults have dropped 71% and 66%. On average, motor vehicle and household thefts have declined by about 

75% and 62% across urban, suburban, and rural areas.C

Did You Know?

Motor vehicle theft occurs 2.2 times 

more frequently in urban areas than 

rural areas.C

The rate of household burglary is 

greater in rural areas compared to 

suburban areas but lower than the rate 

of household burglary in urban areas.

C

2017 National Crime Victims’ Rights Week Resource Guide: Crime and Victimization Fact Sheets

While national-level crime statistics provide important information regarding overall crime trends, they cannot yet 

demonstrate differences in crime and victimization at the sub-national level. For instance, reporting local data through 

the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program is voluntary, making it difficult to isolate factors contributing to crime. 

The Bureau of Justice Statistics has recognized the need for sub-national victimization data, and is working to estimate 

crime at the state and local levels. Currently, results from the UCR and the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) 

indicate that cities with a larger population generally have higher crime rates than suburban or rural cities. While differences in crime rates may be related to population size, they may also be caused by other local factors.A For example, 

rural policing agencies may have organizational, resource-related, or technological differences compared to their urban 

and suburban counterparts, resulting in underreported crime and victimization.B For more about the UCR and NCVS, see 

the Crime and Victimization in the United States fact sheet in this series.

In 2014, victims from urban areas accounted for: 55% of all rapes and sexual assaults, 50% of robberies, and 31% of 

aggravated assaults. Victims from suburban areas accounted for 51% of all aggravated assaults. And victims from rural areas

accounted for: 10% of rapes and sexual assaults, 6% of robberies, and 18% of aggravated assaults.C

Household Victimization in Urban, Suburban, and Rural CommunitiesC

rate per 1,000 households

1995 1999 2003 2005 2007 2011 2013

300

1997 2001 2009

Urban

Suburban

Rural

Theft:

Urban

Suburban

Rural

Household Burglary:

Urban

Suburban

Rural

Motor Vehicle Theft:

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

Personal Victimization by Type of CommunityC

rate per 1,000 people

1995 1998 2001 2004 2007 2010

60

2013

Urban

Suburban

Rural

Simple Assault:

0 

60 

Urban

Suburban

Rural

Serious Violent Victimization:

Victimization by Location of ResidenceC

Rape/Sexual assault Robbery Aggravated assault

60% 55

50

31

35

10

43

6

51

18

Urban

Suburban

Rural
SOURCES

A Mark T. Berg and Janet L. Lauritson, “Telling a Similar Story Twice? NCVS/

UCR Convergence in Serious Violent Crime Rates in Rural, Suburban, and 

Urban Places (1973-2010),” Journal of Quantitative Criminology (2015)

B Ralph A. Weisheit, David Falcone, and Edward Wells,“Rural Crime and Rural 

Policing,” (National Institute of Justice, 1994), https://www.ncjrs.gov/

pdffiles/rcrp.pdf

C Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Crime Victimization Survey, Concatenated File, 1995 - 2014, (U.S. Department of Justice)

D GLSEN, “2013 National School Climate Survey: The Experiences of LGBT 

Youth in Our Nation’s Schools,” (2014), https://www.glsen.org/sites/

default/files/2013%20National%20School%20Climate%20Survey%20

Full%20Report_0.pdf

Residents of urban areas experienced the highest rates of 

victimization in 2014. While rates of violent victimization in 

urban areas were similar for both men and women (9.4 and 

9.3 per 1,000 individuals, respectively), the rate of violent 

victimization in suburban areas was about 23% lower for 

women than for men. Similarly, in rural areas the rate of 

victimization among women was about 32% lower than 

among men.C

In 2014, rates of victimization for 

different age groups were similar 

across urban, suburban, and rural 

communities. Notably, youth 

ages 15 – 17 in rural areas were 

victimized at a rate 3.9x greater

than youth of the same age in 

urban areas, and 4x greater than 

youth in suburban areas.C

In 2013, 12% of LGBTQ students in rural areas reported that they had been physically assaulted because of their sexual 

orientation—about 1.5x as many victims as in urban or suburban areas. Similarly, 8% of rural students who identified 

as gender nonbinary reported being physically assaulted, 

compared to 6% of urban and 5% of suburban students.D

Only 56% of victims of serious violent victimization in 2014 

reported their victimization to the police. Among urban and 

suburban locales, rape and sexual assault were the least 

reported form of violent victimization, averaging about 

30% each. Comparatively, 60% of rape and sexual assault 

victims in rural communities said that they had reported their 

victimization to the police.C

Current Data on Urban and Rural Crime

Violent Victimization by Locale and AgeC

rate per 1,000 people

Men Women

Serious Violent Victimization by Locale and SexC

rate per 1,000 people

Victims Who Reported Victimization to PoliceC

Urban 9.4

Rural

9.3

7.8 Suburban

10

5.3

7.8

6.0

Rape/

Sexual assault

Aggravated 

assault

Robbery

100% Urban

Suburban

Rural

30

59

73

29

69 63 60 55

44

Simple 

assault

38 41 44

100% Urban

Suburban

Rural

28 24

32 34

20

80

1819

35

24 24

12 – 14 15 – 17 18 – 20 21 – 24 25 – 34 35 – 49 50 – 64 50+

20 23 19 21 18 13

28

38

20

5 3 2

21

LGBT Students Who Were Victims of Sexual AssaultD

Sexual 

orientation

Gender 

expression

Urban Suburban Rural

15%

8.3

7.5

12.2

6.4

5.3

8.3