An all-time high 56% of Americans say crime in their area has increased over the past year, according to a Gallup Poll released Friday.
Another 28% think there is less crime in their area than last year and 14% think the level has stayed the same, the polling company reported.
“The 56% of U.S. adults who report an increase in crime where they live marks a five percentage-point uptick since last year and is the highest by two points in Gallup’s trend dating back to 1972,” Gallup said.
The company also found that 78% of adults perceive more national crime over the same period, tying for the highest since 1993. And 13% perceive less crime nationally and 14% believe it has stayed the same.
Gallup said the latest shares of adults reporting increases are “well above” the averages of 44% for local crime and 67% for national crime since the company started polling both questions simultaneously in 1989.
The shares of Republicans, Democrats and independents who see local crime worsening have all increased in the annual poll since 2020. But more Republicans and independents than Democrats see crime worsening since President Biden took office.
This year, 73% of Republicans and 51% of independents see local crime worsening, compared with 41% of Democrats.
Majorities from all three say national crime has worsened since last year: 95% of Republicans, 74% of independents and 61% of Democrats expressed this sentiment.
Gallup conducted the randomized national telephone survey of 1,019 adults Oct. 3-20. The margin of error was plus or minus 4 percentage points at a 95% confidence level.
