The Cost of Crime

The size of crime's burden informs the prioritization of crime-prevention efforts and influences our legal, political, and cultural stance toward crime. This research quantifies crime's burden with an estimate of the annual cost of crime in the United States. While most existing studies focus on particular regions, types of crime, or cost categories, the scope of this article includes the direct and indirect cost of all crime in the United States. Beyond the expenses of law enforcement, criminal justice, and victim losses, the cost of crime includes expenditures on private deterrence, the implicit cost of fear and agony, and the opportunity cost of time lost due to crime. The estimated annual cost of crime, net of transfers from victim to criminal, is $1.7 trillion.