Rasmussen Poll: 52% Say Shoplifting a Serious Problem

More than half of Americans say shoplifting and retail theft is a serious problem in their community, including 21% who say it is a very serious problem, according to the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey.

In the survey, 38% don't consider retail theft to be a serious problem in their community, and another 10% are not sure.

According to the latest shoplifting report, New York (up 64%) and Los Angeles (up 61%) had the largest increases in reported shoplifting among the study cities from mid-year 2019 to mid-year 2023. Experts say most shoplifting is organized crime, not petty theft.

In California, retail theft is a big problem, and crime has been cited as a cause of recent store closures.

In the Rasmussen survey, 23% of American adults say businesses in their community have shuttered recently because of the crime problem, while 53% have not had such closures in their community recently and another 25% are unsure.

Losses from shoplifting may result in businesses increasing prices for consumers. Seventy-eight percent of Americans are concerned about higher prices caused by shoplifting, including 45% who are very concerned. Just 19% are unconcerned.

Majorities of every political category — 89% of Republicans, 69% of Democrats, and 77% of unaffiliated voters — are at least somewhat concerned about higher prices caused by shoplifting.

Republicans (61%) are more likely than either Democrats or the unaffiliated (both 48%) to consider shoplifting and retail theft a serious problem in the community where they live, Rasmussen noted.

Adults under 40 are more likely than their elders to say businesses in their community have closed recently because of the crime problem. Americans 65 and older are most concerned that shoplifting could cause higher consumer prices.

More men (56%) than women (48%) say shoplifting and retail theft is a serious problem in their community. Men under 40 are most likely to say businesses in their community have closed recently because of the crime problem.

Majorities of every racial group — 74% of whites, 85% of blacks, 86% of Hispanics, and 79% of other minorities — are at least somewhat concerned about higher prices caused by shoplifting. Blacks and Hispanics are more likely to say businesses in their community have closed recently because of the crime problem.

Adults with children at home are more likely to say shoplifting and retail theft is a serious problem in their community.

Among those who say shoplifting and retail theft is a very serious problem in their community, more than half (54%) say businesses in their community have closed recently because of the crime problem.

The survey of 1,277 American adults was conducted April 16-18 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC.