Robbery Cases in Boulder, CO Rose Rapidly in 2020
Driven by a surge in homicides and an increase in cases of aggravated assault, the U.S. violent crime rate rose in 2020, according to data from the FBI. One bright spot in the latest data, however, was a year-over-year decline in reported robberies.
Robbery is a crime in which force or the threat of force or violence is used to take, or attempt to take, anything of value from another person. The largest share of robberies in the United States are committed on streets or sidewalks. Handguns are the most commonly used weapon in robberies, and more often than not, among the cases where a suspect can be identified, the offender and victim are strangers to one another.
In the continuation of a multi-decade trend, the number of robberies committed in the U.S. fell from about 268,500 in 2019 to 243,600 in 2020, a 9% drop.
While cases of robbery are falling in much of the country, there are some exceptions. For example, in the Boulder metropolitan area, located in Colorado, the total number of reported robberies climbed by 69% – from 83 in 2019 to 140 in 2020. The resulting increase in the area’s population-adjusted robbery rate was one of the largest of any U.S. metro areas.
The reported robbery rate in Boulder rose by 17.5 incidents for every 100,000 people from 2019 to 2020. Despite the increase, however, the metro area’s robbery rate of 42.7 reported incidents per 100,000 people remains below the nationwide rate of 73.9 robberies per 100,000 people.
All crime data used in this story is from the FBI’s 2019 and 2020 Uniform Crime Reports. We considered all U.S. metropolitan areas for which the boundaries defined by the FBI match the boundaries as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau.
RankMetro area1-yr. increase in robbery rate (robberies per 100k people)Robberies per 100k people, 2020Total robberies in 2020Total robberies in 20191Rapid City, SD30.979.9115692Danville, IL18.9116.487743Gainesville, FL17.5107.63562974Boulder, CO17.542.7140835Merced, CA17.490.92522026Charleston-North Charleston, SC17.479.86545027Dubuque, IA17.326.72698Alexandria, LA17.1125.61901659Ithaca, NY15.934.5351910Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL15.771.226921111Owensboro, KY14.042.6513412Billings, MT14.072.413310613Sioux Falls, SD13.539.91097114Decatur, IL13.281.8847115Sioux City, IA-NE-SD12.154.7796116Greeley, CO11.540.41349317Grants Pass, OR11.438.8342418Bowling Green, KY11.145.7836219Cleveland, TN10.656.3715720Raleigh-Cary, NC9.947.367352121Enid, OK9.724.615922Yakima, WA9.365.816514223Eau Claire, WI9.324.7422624Cedar Rapids, IA9.342.31169025Bend, OR9.024.8503126Great Falls, MT8.634.3282127Lawton, OK7.584.21069628Madera, CA7.367.11059429Yuba City, CA7.279.513912630Idaho Falls, ID6.916.2251431Kennewick-Richland, WA6.843.813311132Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent, FL6.577.939535533Pittsfield, MA6.042.9534634Yuma, AZ5.824.9544135Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown, TX5.562.41,4241,26136Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA5.454.226624337Albany-Lebanon, OR5.023.7312438Wausau-Weston, WI4.912.3201239Hartford-East Hartford-Middletown, CT4.960.561456540Sierra Vista-Douglas, AZ4.826.2332741Bellingham, WA4.638.8907842Wilmington, NC4.461.518617143Tyler, TX4.240.1948344Norwich-New London, CT4.238.0665945Kingston, NY4.116.5292246Charlottesville, VA4.021.3473847Missoula, MT3.927.3332848Saginaw, MI3.849.2938649Grand Junction, CO3.736.3565050Janesville-Beloit, WI3.645.97569
Disclaimer: This content is distributed by The Center Square
