Glossary
Arson
As the U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation defines it, in the words of its Crime in the United States, 2019: offense definitions.
Official definition
The FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program defines arson as any willful or malicious burning or attempting to burn, with or without intent to defraud, a dwelling house, public building, motor vehicle or aircraft, personal property of another, etc.
Data collection
Only the fires that investigation determined to have been willfully set are included in this arson data collection. Fires labeled as suspicious or of unknown origin are excluded from these data. Points to consider regarding arson statistics include:
The number of arsons reported by individual law enforcement agencies is available in Tables 8-11, arson trend data (indicating a year-to-year change) are in Tables 12-15, and arson clearance data (crimes solved) can be found in Arson Table 2 and Tables 25-28.
On this site
Agencies serving 96.4% of the population reported 32,752 arson offenses to the FBI in 2025. See the figures →
Every term: the glossary. The hub: Crime.
Sources
- Crime in the United States, 2019: offense definitions — U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation · retrieved September 27, 2026
Compiled automatically from Crime in the United States, 2019: offense definitions by a checked SQL query · Editor: Kian O'Connor · How this site is built
Data retrieved