The Bureau of Justice Statistics’ (BJS) National Crime
Victimization Survey (NCVS) is an annual data collection
designed to gather information about nonfatal personal
crimes and household property crimes in the United States.
The main purpose of the NCVS is to accurately measure
the number and type of criminal victimizations that occur
each year to persons age 12 or older. Victimization rates are
most commonly used in NCVS reports to describe changes
in the level of personal and household crime over time
and the levels of crime experienced by different population
subgroups. However, prevalence rates also may be used
to describe changes in the level of crime over time and
differences between subgroups.
This report discusses victimization rates and prevalence rates
and the value of each type of indicator for understanding
criminal victimization. Using NCVS data, the report displays
and compares trends in the victimization and prevalence
rates from 1993 to 2010. It also analyzes the differences
between victimization and prevalence rates for various
types of crime and demographic groups using data from the
2010 NCVS.