Common Types of Crimes: Against People, Property, and Public Order

The common types of crimes in the United States fall into four broad groups: offenses against people, offenses against property, offenses against public order, and financial crimes. Within each group, specific offenses are ranked by severity as infractions, misdemeanors, or felonies, and that ranking drives everything from potential jail time to whether the offense follows you on a background check. In 2024, the FBI recorded roughly 1.2 million violent crime offenses, nearly 6 million property crime offenses, and close to 900,000 fraud incidents nationwide.¹

How Crimes Are Classified by Severity

Before the categories themselves, the tier system. Every offense sits somewhere on a three-step ladder, and where it lands controls the punishment.

Infractions are the least serious. They are not criminal offenses in most states and carry no jail time. Traffic tickets, jaywalking, and littering are typical examples, with penalties limited to a fine and court costs.
Misdemeanors are more serious than infractions but less serious than felonies. A misdemeanor can result in up to one year in jail along with fines. Petty theft, simple assault, and a first-offense DUI in most states fall here.
Felonies are the most serious classification and typically carry prison sentences of more than one year, up to life imprisonment. Many states subdivide felonies into degrees, with first-degree offenses drawing the harshest penalties. Murder, armed robbery, and arson are all felony-level crimes.

Where a specific offense sits often depends on the circumstances. A theft of low-value merchandise might be a misdemeanor, while stealing a car is almost always a felony. Repeat offenses can also bump a charge into a higher tier.

Crimes Against People

These offenses target a person’s body, safety, or physical freedom. The FBI groups the most serious of them under “violent crime,” which includes murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault.¹

Assault and Battery

Assault is an intentional act that makes someone reasonably fear they are about to be physically harmed. You do not have to actually touch the person for it to count. Battery, which many states treat as a separate offense, is the actual unwanted physical contact, whether a shove, a punch, or any other harmful touch. Some states combine the two into a single “assault and battery” charge. Simple assault is usually a misdemeanor, while aggravated assault, which involves a weapon or causes serious injury, is typically a felony.

Homicide: Murder and Manslaughter

Homicide is any situation in which one person causes the death of another. Not every homicide is a crime. Justifiable homicides, such as a law enforcement officer using deadly force against someone committing a violent felony, are classified separately.² Criminal homicide breaks down into two main categories:

Murder is an intentional, premeditated killing. First-degree murder involves planning and deliberation. Second-degree murder is intentional but not planned in advance.
Manslaughter is a killing that happens with less blame than murder. Voluntary manslaughter typically involves a killing in the heat of passion after provocation, where the person did not plan to kill but acted on intense emotion. Involuntary manslaughter covers deaths caused by recklessness or criminal negligence, like fatally running a red light while texting.

Murder is always a felony, and first-degree murder carries the heaviest possible sentences, including life imprisonment. Manslaughter charges are also felonies in most states, but with considerably shorter sentences.

Sexual Offenses

Sexual assault covers a range of offenses involving sexual contact or acts committed without the other person’s consent. This includes situations where the victim is forced, threatened, unconscious, impaired by drugs or alcohol, or otherwise unable to consent. Rape is the most severe form. Most states treat sexual assault as a felony, and a conviction almost always requires registration as a sex offender. Specific definitions and degree structures vary by state, but the core element across all of them is the absence of consent.

Domestic Violence

Domestic violence is not a single crime but a category of offenses, including assault, battery, stalking, and threats, committed against a spouse, intimate partner, former partner, or household member. Federal law defines a domestic violence offender broadly to include anyone who injures, harasses, or intimidates a spouse or intimate partner.³ Charges can be misdemeanors or felonies depending on severity. A conviction also triggers federal consequences: under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g), anyone convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence is prohibited from possessing firearms.

Kidnapping and False Imprisonment

Kidnapping involves confining someone and moving them from one place to another against their will, typically with the intent to hold them for ransom, commit another crime, or cause harm. False imprisonment is a related but less severe offense that involves confining someone without moving them. The key difference is the movement: kidnapping requires it, false imprisonment does not. Both are generally felonies, though false imprisonment is treated as the less serious of the two.

Crimes Against Property

Property crimes involve taking, damaging, or destroying someone else’s belongings, and they made up the bulk of reported crime in 2024. Larceny-theft alone accounted for an estimated 3.3 million incidents, with shoplifting representing more than 1.2 million of those.¹

Theft and Shoplifting

Theft, also called larceny, is taking someone else’s property with the intent to keep it permanently. The value of what was stolen usually determines the severity. Petty theft of low-value items is a misdemeanor in most states, while grand theft of higher-value property crosses into felony territory. The dollar threshold between the two varies by state but commonly falls somewhere between $500 and $1,000.

Shoplifting is a specific type of theft involving merchandise taken from a retail store. It covers more than just walking out the door with unpaid goods. Concealing items, switching price tags, and transferring merchandise into different packaging all qualify. Shoplifting is the single most common form of larceny reported to the FBI.¹

Burglary

Burglary is entering a building without permission with the intent to commit a crime inside, usually theft. The traditional common-law definition required a nighttime break-in of someone’s home, but modern statutes have expanded it to cover any structure at any time of day. What separates burglary from trespassing is the intent: the person entered the building planning to commit a crime, not just to wander in uninvited. In 2024, roughly 780,000 burglaries were reported, split nearly evenly between residential and commercial locations.¹

Robbery

Robbery sits at the intersection of property crime and violent crime because it involves taking something from another person through force or the threat of force. That element of intimidation or violence is what separates robbery from ordinary theft. Snatching a purse off someone’s arm, holding up a cashier, or demanding a wallet while displaying a weapon all qualify. Robbery is always a felony, and armed robbery draws especially steep sentences. Streets and highways are the most common locations, followed by commercial establishments and residences.¹

Arson

Arson is intentionally setting fire to property. At common law, arson only covered burning down someone else’s home. Modern statutes are far broader, reaching any structure and even your own property if you burn it for insurance money or endanger others. Federal law makes it a crime to damage any property used in interstate commerce by fire or explosion, carrying up to 20 years in prison and at least 5. If someone is injured, the maximum jumps to 40 years with a 7-year minimum. Most states also classify arson in degrees based on whether the building was occupied and whether anyone was hurt.

Vandalism

Vandalism is intentionally damaging or defacing property that belongs to someone else. Graffiti, breaking windows, slashing tires, and keying cars are everyday examples. Most minor vandalism is a misdemeanor, but destruction causing significant financial damage can be charged as a felony. Unlike burglary or robbery, vandalism does not require any intent to steal; the crime is the damage itself.

Crimes Against Public Order

Public order offenses do not always have a specific victim the way assault or theft does. Instead, they disrupt community safety or create conditions that endanger people more broadly.

Drunk Driving

Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, called DUI or DWI depending on the state, is one of the most frequently charged crimes in the country. Every state sets the legal blood alcohol limit at 0.08% for drivers 21 and older. A first offense is typically a misdemeanor, with penalties that range from a few days in jail and a fine of $500 to $2,000, to license suspension for 90 days or more. Repeat offenses and cases involving very high blood alcohol levels or injuries ratchet up quickly into felony territory, with mandatory prison time and multi-year license revocations.

Public Intoxication and Disorderly Conduct

Public intoxication laws make it an offense to be visibly drunk or impaired in a public place when your condition threatens your own safety or the safety of others. In some states, simply being very drunk in public is enough. Others require evidence that you were causing a disturbance or creating a danger.

Disorderly conduct is a broader catch-all covering behavior that disrupts public peace. Fighting, making excessive noise, blocking traffic, using threatening language, and refusing to disperse when police issue a lawful order can all fall under the charge. Both offenses are misdemeanors. Some states fold public intoxication into their disorderly conduct statute rather than treating it as a standalone crime.

Drug Offenses

Possessing, selling, or manufacturing illegal drugs is a crime under both federal and state law. Federal law organizes controlled substances into five schedules based on their potential for abuse and whether they have accepted medical uses.⁴ Schedule I substances like heroin carry the harshest penalties, while Schedule V drugs have the lowest restrictions. Marijuana creates a patchwork: it remains a Schedule I substance under federal law, but many states have legalized or decriminalized it to varying degrees. The severity of a drug charge depends heavily on the substance, the quantity, and whether the person intended to sell or distribute it versus simply possessing it for personal use.

Financial Crimes

Financial crimes, sometimes called white-collar crimes, revolve around deception for monetary gain. They do not involve physical force, but the damage can be enormous. The FBI recorded nearly 900,000 fraud offenses in 2024, affecting close to a million victims.¹

Fraud

Fraud is deliberately deceiving someone to gain money or something else of value. It takes dozens of specific forms: insurance fraud, tax fraud, wire fraud, healthcare fraud, and many others. The common thread is a knowing misrepresentation that the victim relies on to their detriment. Fraud can be charged as a misdemeanor for small amounts or a serious felony for large-scale schemes.

Credit card fraud is among the most common varieties. Federal law prohibits using counterfeit or unauthorized “access devices,” which include credit cards, debit cards, account numbers, and PINs, to obtain anything of value. Possessing 15 or more counterfeit or unauthorized access devices is a standalone federal offense even without using them.⁵

Identity Theft

Identity theft involves using someone else’s personal information, like their name, Social Security number, or financial account details, to commit fraud. Common schemes include opening credit accounts in another person’s name, filing fraudulent tax returns, and making unauthorized purchases. Federal law makes it a crime to knowingly use another person’s identification to commit or aid any unlawful activity.⁶

When identity theft occurs alongside another felony, a separate charge of aggravated identity theft adds a mandatory two-year prison sentence that must run consecutively, meaning it stacks on top of whatever sentence the underlying felony carries. Courts cannot reduce the sentence for the original felony to offset this addition, and probation is not an option.⁷

Embezzlement

Embezzlement is stealing money or property that was entrusted to you. What separates it from ordinary theft is the relationship: the embezzler had lawful access to the assets before taking them. A bank teller skimming cash from the drawer, a financial advisor siphoning client funds, or a nonprofit treasurer redirecting donations into a personal account are all classic examples. Embezzlement can be a misdemeanor or felony depending on the amount involved.

Forgery

Forgery is creating or altering a document with the intent to deceive someone. Signing someone else’s name on a check, fabricating a contract, and altering a prescription all qualify. The crime is complete once the false document is made with fraudulent intent. You do not have to successfully use the forgery to be charged.

Cybercrime

As more of daily life has moved online, so has criminal activity. The federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act makes it a crime to intentionally access a computer without authorization or exceed authorized access to obtain financial records, government data, or other protected information. The law also covers knowingly transmitting malicious code that damages a computer system and using unauthorized access to further a fraud.⁸ Cybercrimes frequently overlap with other financial offenses. A hacker who breaches a company’s database to steal customer credit card numbers, for example, could face charges under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, the access device fraud statute, and identity theft laws at the same time.

1
Federal Bureau of Investigation. UCR Summary of Reported Crimes in the Nation 2024
2
Federal Bureau of Investigation. Offense Definitions
3
Library of Congress. Defining Domestic Violence
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 21 U.S. Code 812 – Schedules of Controlled Substances
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 1029 – Fraud and Related Activity in Connection with Access Devices
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 1028 – Fraud and Related Activity in Connection with Identification Documents, Authentication Features, and Information
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 1028A – Aggravated Identity Theft
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 1030 – Fraud and Related Activity in Connection with Computers