Fear of Crime in the U.S.

In addition to exploring how demographic characteristics influence fear of crime, the survey asked respondents about several broader experiences and attitudes that may be related. These include general worries, perceptions of neighborhood disorder, views about social groups, and neighborhood conditions. The full survey wording and list of items included in these measures are available in the supplemental methodology report.

Figure 10 shows the relationship between these measures and fear of the selected offenses. The results were generally consistent across offenses. General worries, such as concerns about personal health or losing a job, along with neighborhood disorder, such as litter and visible drug use, had the strongest associations with specific crime fears.

Neighborhood disorder was more strongly associated with fear of in-person victimization, including home break-ins, sexual assault, and murder, than with fear of online theft or identity theft. This suggests that visible signs of disorder in a person’s neighborhood may be more closely tied to worries about crimes that could occur in or near their physical surroundings.

Other measures showed little relationship with fear of crime. Anti-immigrant sentiment, measured through views such as whether immigrants are responsible for many social problems, generally had no association or very weak associations with fear of the selected crimes. The same was true for racial resentment, measured through views such as whether Black people should “try harder” rather than attributing racial inequality to broader social barriers. Neighbor visibility, which captures whether people recognize and interact with their neighbors, in ways such as saying hello, also showed no association or only very weak associations with any offense-specific fears.

Collective efficacy, which reflects shared community values and willingness to help neighbors, was negatively associated with fear of the selected offenses. In other words, respondents who reported higher levels of collective efficacy tended to report lower levels of fear. However, these relationships were generally weak or very weak.