The felony classes for burglary are set by each state, and almost every state sorts the offense into either numbered degrees (first, second, third) or lettered classes (A, B, C, sometimes down to E). The top tier covers armed entry into an occupied home or a burglary where someone is hurt, and can carry up to life in prison. The bottom felony tier covers unarmed entry into an empty commercial building with intent to steal, and typically runs one to five years. Where a specific charge lands depends on a short list of facts about the entry itself.
How Burglary Is Graded
Two labeling systems dominate. Some states use numbered degrees, with first degree being the most serious. Others use letters, with Class A (or Class 1) at the top. A few states use descriptive names like “aggravated burglary” and “simple burglary.” The label is cosmetic; the logic underneath is the same everywhere: more dangerous circumstances mean a higher class and a longer sentence.
The Model Penal Code, which shaped burglary statutes in most states, uses a two-tier baseline. Burglary is a second-degree felony when it happens in a dwelling at night, when the person inflicts or attempts to inflict bodily injury, or when the person is armed with a deadly weapon or explosives. Every other burglary is a third-degree felony.1University of Pennsylvania Law School. Model Penal Code (MPC) Most states have added a first-degree tier above that baseline for the worst combinations of facts, and a handful recognize four levels.
For states that use letter grades, the federal felony scale under 18 U.S.C. ยง 3559 is a useful reference point for what the letters usually mean. Federally, Class A carries a maximum of life or death, Class B means 25 years or more, Class C covers 10 to 25 years, Class D covers 5 to 10 years, and Class E covers one to five years.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 3559 – Sentencing Classification of Offenses State ranges track the same descending shape, though the exact numbers shift.
What Pushes a Burglary Into a Higher Class
The gap between a bottom-tier felony and one that carries decades comes down to a small set of facts about the entry. Prosecutors focus on the same aggravators nearly everywhere.
Whether the Building Was a Home
Residential burglary is treated more seriously than commercial burglary in most states, even when no one is home. When someone is home, the charge climbs to the top tier available, because the risk of a violent confrontation is the reason for the higher class in the first place.
Whether a Weapon Was Present
Being armed with a deadly weapon or explosives during a burglary is a second-degree felony under the Model Penal Code,1University of Pennsylvania Law School. Model Penal Code (MPC) and most states push it further, up to first degree. The weapon does not have to be used or displayed. Carrying it during the entry is enough.
Whether Anyone Was Hurt
If someone is injured during the burglary, or if the defendant attempts to injure someone, the charge lands in the most serious felony category in virtually every state. It does not matter whether the injury was intentional or happened in a struggle.
Whether It Happened at Night
The common law treated nighttime burglary as worse than daytime burglary, and that distinction survives. Under the Model Penal Code, a dwelling burglary committed at night is a second-degree felony.1University of Pennsylvania Law School. Model Penal Code (MPC) Residents are more likely to be home and asleep, so a dangerous encounter is more likely.
What the Person Intended to Do Inside
Entering to commit a violent felony like assault or arson results in a higher class than entering to steal. Some states also draw a line between burglary with intent to commit a felony and burglary with intent to commit a lesser offense such as petty theft.
Penalty Ranges by Class
Exact numbers vary by state, but the pattern across the country is consistent enough to sketch reliably.
- First-degree or Class A/B burglary. Armed entry into an occupied home, or any burglary where someone is injured. Typically 10 to 25 years in prison, with some states authorizing life. Maximum fines commonly run from $10,000 to $30,000 or more.
- Second-degree or Class C burglary. Residential burglary without aggravating factors, or commercial burglary involving a weapon. Commonly 5 to 15 years.
- Third-degree or Class D/E burglary. Unarmed entry into an unoccupied commercial building with intent to steal. The lowest felony tier, typically 1 to 5 years.
Some states set floors that a judge cannot go below. Others give judges wide discretion within the class range. A few states let certain low-level burglaries of unoccupied, non-residential structures be charged as misdemeanors, but that is uncommon.
How Prior Convictions Change the Sentence
A prior record can move a burglary charge well past the normal ceiling for its class. About half the states have three-strikes or habitual offender laws, and residential burglary is a qualifying “strike” under many of them. A second strike can double the standard sentence for the current class, and a third can trigger 25 years to life even where the underlying charge would otherwise carry only a few years.
Federal law goes further for the most serious pattern: a person convicted of two or more serious violent felonies faces mandatory life imprisonment for a subsequent serious violent felony.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 3559 – Sentencing Classification of Offenses Even outside formal strike laws, most states let judges impose enhanced sentences on defendants with prior burglary convictions. A first-time offender charged with third-degree burglary might see probation. Someone with two prior burglary convictions facing the same charge could receive the statutory maximum.
What Counts as Burglary in the First Place
The classes only apply if the conduct is actually burglary, and the crime is narrower than people often think. Burglary is entering a building or structure without permission while intending to commit a crime inside. The intended crime is usually theft, but it can be assault, arson, or any other offense. The criminal intent has to exist at the moment of entry. Someone who wanders into an unlocked garage out of curiosity commits trespass; someone who enters that same garage planning to steal tools commits burglary.
Entry does not require breaking anything. Walking through an unlocked door or slipping through an open window counts. Under the Model Penal Code framework followed in many states, burglary applies to any building or occupied structure, and the intended offense does not have to be a felony.
Burglary is also not robbery. Robbery is taking property from a person by force or threats and requires a victim in front of you. Burglary requires no confrontation. The offense is complete the moment the entry happens with the required intent, whether or not anything is taken and whether or not anyone is inside. That distinction matters for classification, because burglary statutes grade the entry itself, not what the person ends up doing after they are in the building.