Physical security spans household victimization, workplace safety, facility screening and the protection workforce. The measures below distinguish U.S. household estimates, employer-reported cases, fatal work injuries and selected federal-facility tests.
Key Physical Security Statistics
These figures summarize the most useful physical security measures in the supplied official sources:
- In 2023, U.S. households experienced 13.6 million property victimizations according to the National Crime Victimization Survey estimate.
- In 2023, the U.S. household property-victimization rate was 102.2 per 1,000 households.
- In 2023, about 10.2 million U.S. households experienced one or more property victimizations.
- In 2023, 7.66% of U.S. households experienced one or more property crimes.
- In 2023, burglary or trespassing occurred at a rate of 13.1 per 1,000 U.S. households.
- Between 2019 and 2023, the U.S. burglary-or-trespassing rate fell from 17.2 to 13.1 per 1,000 households.
- Between 2019 and 2023, the U.S. motor-vehicle-theft rate rose from 3.9 to 6.1 per 1,000 households.
- In 2023, private industry reported 2.6 million nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses in the United States.
- From 2022 to 2023, private-industry nonfatal injuries and illnesses fell 8.4% in the United States.
- In 2023, the private-industry total-recordable-case rate was 2.4 per 100 FTE workers.
- In 2023, there were 5,283 fatal work injuries in the United States.
- In 2023, violent acts caused 740 work fatalities in the United States.
- In 2023, homicides caused 458 work fatalities in the United States.
- In 2023, FPS contract guards detected prohibited items in 14 of 27 covert tests at selected federal facilities.
- In fiscal year 2024, FPS spent almost $1.7 billion on contract guards.
- In fiscal year 2024, FPS contract-guard spending represented about 76% of its budget.
- In 2024, FPS oversaw about 13,000 contract guards protecting about 9,000 federal facilities.
Contents
- Household property victimization
- Burglary, trespassing and vehicle-theft trends
- Workplace injury and illness data
- Workplace violence and fatality statistics
- Federal facility screening and guard coverage
- Physical security performance and operational exposure
Household Property Victimization Statistics
The Bureau of Justice Statistics’ Criminal Victimization, 2023 uses the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), which measures nonfatal victimization and separates incident rates from household prevalence. Its broad property-crime grouping includes burglary/trespassing, motor-vehicle theft and other household theft.
| Measure | 2019 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| Property victimizations | 12.8 million | 13.6 million |
| Property-victimization rate | — | 102.2 per 1,000 households |
| Households with one or more property victimizations | — | About 10.2 million |
| Household prevalence | — | 7.66% |
Source: Criminal Victimization, 2023. The NCVS figures are estimates, and household categories can overlap, so rows should not be summed without care.
Other theft was the largest named household category in 2023, affecting 8,574,200 households, or 6.43% of U.S. households. The comparable 2019 count was 7,901,380 households, but this is a prevalence measure distinct from burglary, trespassing and motor-vehicle theft.
These figures describe the scale of reported survey victimization rather than the performance of any particular camera, alarm or access-control product. They are useful for sizing exposure, but they do not establish that a security device caused a particular outcome.
Burglary, Trespassing and Vehicle-Theft Trends
The NCVS provides both household counts and rates for physical-security events that are especially relevant to perimeter protection, entry control and vehicle protection.
| 2023 household measure | Count | Share or rate |
|---|---|---|
| Burglary or trespassing | 1,343,180 households | 13.1 per 1,000 households; 1.01% |
| Burglary alone | 905,000 households | Included in combined category |
| Trespassing | 467,920 households | Included in combined category |
| Motor-vehicle theft | 749,950 households | 6.1 per 1,000 households; 0.56% |
Source: Criminal Victimization, 2023. The burglary-or-trespassing count combines categories, while the percentage is household prevalence rather than an incident rate.
The five-year comparison shows different directions across event types. Burglary or trespassing declined from 17.2 per 1,000 households in 2019 to 13.1 in 2023, while motor-vehicle theft increased from 3.9 to 6.1 per 1,000 households.
The household share experiencing burglary or trespassing declined from 1.38% in 2019 to 1.01% in 2023. The motor-vehicle-theft share increased from 0.37% to 0.56%, although BJS says the 2022–2023 change was not significant.
Workplace Injury and Illness Data Relevant to Physical Security
The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SOII) is employer-reported data. It measures physical-safety outcomes and operational exposure, not direct effectiveness of security devices.
| Private-industry measure, United States | 2023 result |
|---|---|
| Nonfatal injuries and illnesses | 2.6 million cases |
| Total-recordable-case rate | 2.4 per 100 FTE workers |
| Injury rate | 2.2 per 100 FTE workers |
| Illness rate | 19.0 per 10,000 FTE workers |
| Days-away-from-work cases | 946,500 |
| Job-transfer-or-restriction cases | 581,000 |
Source: Employer-Reported Workplace Injuries and Illnesses—2023.
Private-industry nonfatal injuries and illnesses fell 8.4% from 2022 to 2023. Within the 2023 total, illness cases fell 56.6% to 200,100, and respiratory illness cases fell 72.6% to 100,200; days-away-from-work cases fell 20.1% from 2022 to 946,500.
Industry exposure varied substantially in the 2023 SOII results:
- Health care and social assistance recorded 562,500 total cases in 2023.
- Retail trade recorded 353,900 total cases in 2023.
- Transportation and warehousing had a total-recordable-case rate of 4.5 per 100 FTE workers in 2023.
- Couriers and messengers recorded 77,000 cases and a rate of 9.2 per 100 FTE workers in 2023.
These industry figures are not a single security-risk index. They show where employers reported injury and illness exposure, while the case definitions and reporting process remain those of SOII.
Workplace Violence and Fatality Statistics
The BLS Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) counts fatal work injuries using multiple source documents. In 2023, the United States recorded 5,283 fatal work injuries, with a fatality rate of 3.5 per 100,000 FTE workers.
| 2023 CFOI measure | Result |
|---|---|
| Fatal work injuries | 5,283 |
| Fatal work-injury rate | 3.5 per 100,000 FTE workers |
| Violent-act fatalities | 740 |
| Homicide fatalities | 458 |
| Homicides as a share of violent-act fatalities | 61.9% |
| Transportation-incident fatalities | 1,942 |
| Transportation incidents as a share of all fatalities | 36.8% |
Source: Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries—2023. The denominators differ by row, so the percentages should not be treated as shares of one common total unless stated.
Protective-service occupations recorded 276 fatal injuries in 2023, at a rate of 8.2 per 100,000 FTE workers. Fatalities in these occupations fell 17.6% from 2022 to 2023.
CFOI also identifies demographic and occupational exposure patterns. Women accounted for 8.5% of all occupational fatalities and 18.3% of workplace homicide fatalities in 2023, while workers ages 55 to 64 recorded 1,089 fatalities, or 20.6% of occupational fatalities.
Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations recorded 337 fatal work injuries in 2023. Falls, slips and trips caused 25.2% of fatalities in that group, and contact incidents caused 24.9%.
Federal Facility Screening and Guard Coverage
The Federal Protective Service (FPS) provides a large-scale example of physical-security coverage. In fiscal year 2024 context, FPS was responsible for protecting about 9,000 federal facilities, overseeing about 13,000 contract guards and spending almost $1.7 billion on contract guards.
Contract-guard spending represented about 76% of the FPS budget in FY 2024. These are agency-scale resource and coverage measures, not a private-sector adoption rate or a measure of household security-device ownership.
The Government Accountability Office conducted 27 covert tests at 14 selected federal buildings in early 2024. FPS contract guards detected prohibited items in 14 tests and failed to detect them in 13 tests; the items were a baton, pepper spray or a multipurpose tool with a knife.
Source: Federal Protective Service: Actions Needed to Address Critical Guard Oversight and Information System Problems and Federal Facility Security: Preliminary Results Show That Challenges Remain in Guard Performance and Oversight.
The 2024 result is about 52% of the selected tests, calculated from 14 of 27. GAO describes the sample as selected and nongeneralizable, so this percentage must not be presented as a national guard-performance rate.
Physical Security Performance and Operational Exposure
Historical test results provide context but require careful qualification. FPS internal covert testing in 2010 identified prohibited items in 18 of 53 tests, or about 34% of tests; GAO notes that test procedures, item types and facility selection can differ between periods.
| Test context | Detected | Total tests | Reported or derived share |
|---|---|---|---|
| FPS internal testing, 2010 | 18 | 53 | About 34% |
| GAO covert tests, early 2024 | 14 | 27 | About 52% |
Source: Federal Protective Service: Actions Needed to Address Critical Guard Oversight and Information System Problems. The comparison is historical and not directly comparable.
The federal security governance structure is also broader than the FPS guard workforce. The Interagency Security Committee was composed of 66 federal agencies in the 2023 report context, but that membership count is not a facility-security adoption rate.
Taken together, the evidence covers exposure, staffing, spending, screening trials and outcomes across different systems. Household NCVS estimates, employer-reported SOII cases, CFOI fatalities and GAO selected-facility tests should remain separate measures when evaluating physical-security needs or performance.