Violent crime victims
From the Bureau of Justice

Violent crime includes murder, rape and sexual assault, robbery, and assault.

Age

In general, the younger the person, the more likely they were to experience a violent crime.

In 2000--

• Persons age 12 to 24 sustained violent victimization at rates higher than individuals of
  all other ages.
  
  
• Persons age 16-19 were raped or sexually assaulted at rates significantly greater than
  persons age 50 to   64.
  
  
• Persons age 16 to 19 were about twice as likely to be robbed than persons age 25 to 34 and about ten times as likely as persons age 65 or older.

The FBI's Uniform Crime Reports show that most homicide victims were relatively young. In 1999, 63% of persons murdered were under age 35, and about 12% were under age 18.

The elderly, persons age 65 or older, experienced less violence and fewer property crimes than younger persons between 1992-97.

• Property crime, not violence, provided the highest percentage of crime against persons age 65 or older.
  
  
• Elderly persons (age 65 or older) were victims of an annual average 46,000 purse snatchings or pocket pickings, 166,000 nonlethal violent crimes (rape, sexual assault, robbery, aggravated and simple assault), and 1,000 murders 1992-97.
  
  
• Robbery accounted for a quarter of the violent crimes against persons age 65 or older, but less than an eighth of the violent crimes experienced by those age 12-64.

Race

Overall, when comparing whites, blacks, and all persons of other races, blacks had the highest violent crime victimization rates.

In 2000--

• Per every 1,000 persons in that racial group, 35 blacks, 27 whites and 21 persons of others races sustained a violent crime.
• Blacks were violently victimized and robbed at the highest rates of racial categories considered.
  
  
• Black and white persons experienced statistically similar rates of simple assault.

According to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reports, in 1999 about 50% of murder victims were white, 47% were black, and 3% were Asians, Pacific Islander, and Native Americans.

In 1998, per 1,000 persons age 12 or older in each racial group, 110 American Indians, 43 blacks, 38 whites, and 22 Asians were victims of violence

On average each year between 1993 and 1998, homicide rates fell 5% for whites, 7% for blacks, and 8% for persons of other races.

Blacks were more likely than whites to be victimized by a carjacking (6 versus 2 per 10,000 respectively) 1992-96.

Between 1993-98, American Indians experienced violence at rates more than twice that of blacks, 2 1/2 times that of whites, and 4 1/2 times that of Asian.

Ethnicity

During 2000--

• 690,470 Hispanic persons age 12 or older were victims of rape, sexual assault, aggravated assault and simple assault.
  
  
• Violence against Hispanics age 12 or older most often took the form of simple assault (59%).
  
  
• Hispanic persons age 12 or older experienced 11% of all violent crime and made up 10% of the population.
  
  
• Hispanics were victims of rape and sexual assault at rates lower than non-Hispanic whites, blacks and American Indians.
  
  
• Hispanic and non-Hispanic blacks were robbed at similar rates.
  
  
• Hispanics were victims of aggravated and simple assault at rates similar to non-Hispanic whites and blacks.

Trends, 1993-2000 --

• The rate of victimization against Hispanics fell 56% from 63 to 28 victimizations per 1,000.
  
• The rate of violence against Hispanics fell most for females, those age 35 to 49 , divorced or separated persons, those in households with incomes between $15,000 and $24,999, and those in rural areas.

Gender

For violent offenses, males have been victimized at higher rates than females, but the rates are getting closer.

In 2000

Males were victimized at rates 42% higher than females. Rape and sexual assault were the exception to the gender pattern; females were raped or sexually assaulted at a rate many times that of males in 2000.

According to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reports, most murder victims were male, 75% in 1999.

Men were more likely than women to be the victim of a carjacking (3 men and 2 women per 10,000 persons).

Annual household income

In general, the higher the annual household income, the less likely one was to experience a violent crime.

In 2000--

• Persons in households with incomes less than $7,500 annually experienced the highest rate of violence of all income categories (60 per 1,000 persons).
  
  
• Persons in households earning greater than $75,000 annually were victims of violent crime and aggravated assault at rates about a third that of persons with lower incomes.

Marital status

Persons who never married had the highest rates of violent crime victimization when compared to persons of all other marital statuses.

In 2000

Those who never married became violent crime victims at more than 4 times the rate of married persons and more than 6 times the rate of widowed persons.

Property crime victims

    Property crime includes burglary, motor vehicle theft and property theft.

Age

When compared with other age groups, persons age 65 or older were disproportionately affected by property crimes.

Between 1992 and 1997--

• Annually on average, 2.5 million property crimes against persons ages 65 or older occurred.
  
• More than nine in ten crimes against the elderly and less than four in ten crimes against persons age 12 to 24 were property crimes.

Race

Blacks experienced property crimes, regardless of the type of property crime, at rates higher than whites.

In 2000--

• Per 1,000 persons in each category, 212 black and 173 white households were victims of a property crime overall; 48 black and 29 white households were burglarized.
  
  
• Persons of all other races experienced overall property crime, burglary and property theft at rates lower than blacks, but were victims of motor vehicle theft at rates similar to blacks.

Ethnicity

Property crime rates, motor vehicle theft rates an theft rates in general were higher for Hispanic than non-Hispanic households.

Hispanic households experienced property crime regardless of the type, at rates higher than non-Hispanic households in 2000.

Hispanic households were over twice as likely to have a motor vehicle stolen than non-Hispanic households.

Annual household income

In general, lower income households were more likely to experience burglaries than were higher income households, while higher income households were more likely to experience theft than lower income households.

During 2000--

• Household income was unrelated to motor vehicle theft rates.
  
  
• Burglary rates increased as annual household income decreased.