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LIFESTYLE

Most Americans See Retail Theft as a Serious Problem Where They Live

The problem of shoplifting and retail theft is a major concern for Americans, and more than a fifth say stores have closed in their community because of the problem.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 52% of American Adults believe shoplifting and retail theft is a serious problem in the community where they live, including 21% who say it’s a Very Serious problem. Thirty-eight percent (38%) don’t think retail theft is a serious problem in their community, and another 10% are not sure. (To see survey question wording, click here.) LINK

Especially in California, crime has been cited as a cause of recent store closures. Twenty-three percent (23%) of American Adults say businesses in their community have closed recently because of the crime problem, while 53% have not had such closures in their community recently and another 25% are not sure.

The survey of 1,277 American Adults was conducted April 16-18, 2024, 2024 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. See methodology.

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Rasmussen Reports is a media company specializing in the collection, publication and distribution of public opinion information.

We conduct public opinion polls on a variety of topics to inform our audience on events in the news and other topics of interest. To ensure editorial control and independence, we pay for the polls ourselves and generate revenue through the sale of subscriptions, sponsorships, and advertising. Nightly polling on politics, business and lifestyle topics provides the content to update the Rasmussen Reports web site many times each day. If it's in the news, it's in our polls. Additionally, the data drives a daily update newsletter and various media outlets across the country.

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