Glossary
Burglary
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 burglary as the unlawful entry of a structure to commit a felony or theft. To classify an offense as a burglary, the use of force to gain entry need not have occurred. The UCR Program has three subclassifications for burglary: forcible entry, unlawful entry where no force is used, and attempted forcible entry. The UCR definition of “structure” includes an apartment, barn, house trailer, or houseboat when used as a permanent dwelling, office, railroad car (but not automobile), stable, or vessel (i.e., ship).
On this site
Agencies serving 96.4% of the population reported 649,280 burglary offenses to the FBI in 2025. See the figures →
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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
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