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Table 27

Percent of Offenses Cleared by Arrest or Exceptional Means

Additional Information About Selected Offenses

by Population Group, 2019

Population group Rape1 Robbery Aggravated assault Burglary Motor vehicle theft Arson2 Number
of
agencies
2017
estimated
population
Rape Assault
to rape-
attempts
Firearm Knife or
cutting
instrument
Other
weapon
Strongarm Firearm Knife or
cutting
instrument
Other
weapon
Hands,
fists,
feet, etc.
Forcible
entry
Unlawful
entry
Attempted
forcible
entry
Autos Trucks
and
buses
Other
vehicles
Structure Mobile Other
TOTAL ALL AGENCIES: Offenses known 119,685 5,132 88,254 20,003 24,580 106,806 198,807 124,593 215,897 187,481 547,328 370,786 63,150 490,712 103,692 61,374 13,898 7,484 11,599 15,008 297,524,524
Percent cleared by arrest 32.6 37.1 22.2 33.4 29.9 31.2 31.3 55.7 49.8 58.6 12.7 16.1 13.8 14.6 11.5 11.3 28.2 11.9 26.2
TOTAL CITIES Offenses known 88,292 3,949 75,357 17,763 21,499 95,340 159,141 101,850 166,451 138,261 408,259 274,872 50,068 397,870 83,253 42,616 10,796 5,503 9,337 10,779 201,853,210
Percent cleared by arrest 30.5 36.5 22.2 33.5 29.8 31.3 29.8 56.0 49.7 59.6 12.2 15.7 13.6 13.5 10.2 9.7 26.1 11.6 25.0
GROUP I (all cities 250,000 and over) Offenses known 33,188 1,711 44,436 10,177 11,610 53,419 88,231 49,605 78,235 46,133 168,552 92,058 19,692 178,229 47,578 16,622 4,009 2,493 4,068 85 59,934,909
Percent cleared by arrest 28.9 40.2 20.4 32.2 27.3 29.7 26.2 54.3 45.5 55.4 9.9 13.2 12.4 10.5 8.0 7.7 19.6 8.5 18.2
1,000,000 and over (Group I subset) Offenses known 12,546 764 16,464 4,994 5,369 23,927 25,861 21,817 30,032 23,625 57,736 26,054 6,503 50,136 26,303 5,665 1,037 610 1,746 10 25,098,940
Percent cleared by arrest 32.8 50.7 21.4 37.3 30.3 36.5 27.9 58.7 50.4 61.5 10.0 14.7 15.7 11.0 6.6 8.8 20.6 10.2 8.8
500,000 to 999,999 (Group I subset) Offenses known 10,325 497 16,644 3,082 3,999 15,677 35,987 15,873 28,332 11,609 62,019 36,689 7,484 69,756 11,421 6,861 1,424 993 1,231 26 18,474,842
Percent cleared by arrest 27.7 33.4 19.8 27.6 24.4 26.1 26.1 51.7 43.9 49.7 9.5 12.6 11.1 9.7 10.1 6.6 19.3 8.6 27.5
250,000 to 499,999 (Group I subset) Offenses known 10,317 450 11,328 2,101 2,242 13,815 26,383 11,915 19,871 10,899 48,797 29,315 5,705 58,337 9,854 4,096 1,548 890 1,091 49 16,361,127
Percent cleared by arrest 25.4 30.0 20.0 27.1 25.5 22.0 24.6 49.5 40.1 48.5 10.4 12.5 10.4 11.0 9.5 8.2 19.1 7.4 22.9
GROUP II (100,000 to 249,999) Offenses known 14,474 523 12,233 2,952 3,466 15,169 25,901 16,703 25,812 21,009 68,798 47,458 9,242 77,297 14,309 7,605 1,648 944 1,387 217 31,723,575
Percent cleared by arrest 30.3 37.1 22.2 31.7 30.0 30.0 30.3 54.8 49.1 57.7 11.6 14.5 13.9 12.7 11.1 8.2 28.3 13.5 31.5
GROUP III (50,000 to 99,999) Offenses known 12,159 562 7,633 2,123 2,742 11,810 16,439 12,244 21,550 19,240 55,976 41,623 6,900 53,739 9,618 6,310 1,451 713 1,369 467 32,634,179
Percent cleared by arrest 33.7 39.5 25.0 34.7 32.5 32.7 32.5 57.1 53.6 62.2 12.9 15.9 13.5 14.3 12.6 9.5 25.9 12.3 28.8
GROUP IV (25,000 to 49,999) Offenses known 10,143 343 5,182 1,155 1,668 6,920 11,654 8,865 14,678 14,382 42,003 32,822 5,570 36,425 4,918 4,557 1,172 476 938 827 28,786,886
Percent cleared by arrest 30.1 32.1 24.5 37.1 32.2 35.0 35.2 57.3 54.9 61.4 14.0 16.5 13.9 16.4 14.2 10.4 30.2 12.8 26.7
GROUP V (10,000 to 24,999) Offenses known 9,254 307 3,633 851 1,242 4,422 9,479 7,609 13,750 15,418 39,539 31,914 4,557 28,853 3,996 3,680 1,022 379 839 1,689 26,893,861
Percent cleared by arrest 32.9 32.6 29.6 40.7 36.4 36.0 40.6 61.4 57.0 63.6 15.4 18.7 16.0 20.1 16.5 13.2 32.0 16.9 34.7
GROUP VI (under 10,000) Offenses known 9,074 503 2,240 505 771 3,600 7,437 6,824 12,426 22,079 33,391 28,997 4,107 23,327 2,834 3,842 1,494 498 736 7,494 21,879,800
Percent cleared by arrest 30.2 25.0 30.6 42.8 40.6 42.1 43.3 62.3 56.3 64.1 17.4 20.8 15.9 23.6 17.4 17.8 34.1 17.7 29.6
METROPOLITAN COUNTIES Offenses known 22,906 838 11,922 2,076 2,783 10,750 32,006 18,502 39,281 36,805 102,625 70,609 10,659 76,646 16,402 14,638 2,198 1,557 1,695 1,905 72,761,754
Percent cleared by arrest 39.2 42.6 21.1 31.9 29.9 29.5 34.2 52.2 48.2 55.2 13.9 17.7 14.4 18.2 16.8 14.2 36.6 10.9 31.8
NONMETROPOLITAN COUNTIES Offenses known 8,487 345 975 164 298 716 7,660 4,241 10,165 12,415 36,444 25,305 2,423 16,196 4,037 4,120 904 424 567 2,324 22,909,560
Percent cleared by arrest 37.0 31.3 32.6 40.9 36.9 42.2 49.1 62.6 58.5 57.3 15.1 16.8 14.2 25.3 17.9 16.5 32.6 19.1 30.5
SUBURBAN AREA3 Offenses known 39,797 1,527 19,554 3,780 5,501 21,611 48,033 31,810 63,708 66,749 171,951 124,603 20,470 138,232 24,551 22,734 4,309 2,439 3,186 8,144 129,507,894
Percent cleared by arrest 36.5 37.1 22.9 34.9 32.3 33.6 35.8 55.7 51.4 59.3 14.4 18.1 14.4 18.0 15.8 13.8 35.3 12.4 30.8
  • 1 The figures shown in the rape column include only those reported by law enforcement agencies that used the revised Uniform Crime Reporting definition of rape. See the data declaration for further explanation.
  • 2 Not all agencies submit reports for arson to the FBI. As a result, the number of reports the FBI uses to compute the percent of offenses cleared for arson is less than the number it uses to compute the percent of offenses cleared for all other offenses. Agencies must report arson clearances by detailed property classification as specified on the Monthly Return of Arson Offenses Known to Law Enforcement to be included in this table; therefore, clearances in this table may differ from other clearance tables.
  • 3 Suburban area includes law enforcement agencies in cities with less than 50,000 inhabitants and county law enforcement agencies that are within a Metropolitan Statistical Area. Suburban area excludes all metropolitan agencies associated with a principal city. The agencies associated with suburban areas also appear in other groups within this table.

Data Declaration

Provides the methodology used in constructing this table and other pertinent information about this table.