Protecting people,
property and operations.
Commercial burglary, retail theft, parking-area security and unauthorized access: evidence and practical questions for business owners.
Research reviewed September 18, 2026. Years and data limitations are stated alongside each measure.
Nonresidential burglary
The FBI estimated 396,674 nonresidential burglaries in 2023, approximately 1,087 per day. This category includes stores and offices but is broader than businesses alone. It is a historical benchmark, not the latest national total.
FBI, UCR Summary of Crime in the Nation, 2023 · Figure 18, printed page 29. Official report preserved on the U.S. House of Representatives website.
Apply it to your property
Review closing procedures, exterior doors, delivery access and the areas left unoccupied after hours. Pair incident history with a walk-through to set patrol priorities.
Retail theft
The FBI estimated 1,149,336 shoplifting offenses in 2023, approximately 3,149 per day nationally.
FBI · Figure 17, printed page 28.
Separately, NRF’s 2025 study reports an 18% increase in average annual shoplifting incidents in 2024 versus 2023 among surveyed retailers. It is a retailer survey, not a census of U.S. crime. It cannot be directly compared with the FBI figures above.
NRF · The Impact of Theft & Violence 2025.
Vehicle entry in business parking areas
Theft of belongings from a vehicle differs from theft of the vehicle. No verified national business-parking-only total was identified in the sources reviewed. We therefore do not present an all-location vehicle figure as a business statistic.
For a useful site-level picture, record where incidents occur, the time, lighting conditions, damage and police-report references. Review parking access, camera coverage and reporting procedures alongside those records.
Unauthorized access & commercial trespass
No verified nationwide business-only trespass frequency was identified in the reviewed sources. A local incident log is more useful for tracking repeat unauthorized access at a specific property.
Set clear visitor and vendor procedures, identify restricted areas, and document concerns through the site’s approved reporting process. Escalation responsibilities should be clear to every officer.
Put the information to work
- Assess the site: review entrances, loading areas, parking, occupied hours and recent incidents.
- Plan the response: define who receives alerts and how staff access emergency instructions.
- Review results: track completed patrols, incident-report quality and unresolved corrective actions.
Sources & methodology
What these statistics represent
Nonresidential burglary is a location category; shoplifting is an offense category. Neither counts unique businesses victimized. The FBI figures reflect national estimates based on law-enforcement data. Unreported crime is not fully captured.
How daily averages are calculated
2023 totals are divided by 365 and rounded: 396,674 ÷ 365 = 1,087; 1,149,336 ÷ 365 = 3,149. These averages are not live counters, predictions or a risk estimate for your property.
Why these years?
The 2023 FBI report provides a directly verified nonresidential breakdown. More recent broad property-crime totals include residential incidents, so they are not substituted for business-specific figures here. The NRF comparison covers 2024 versus 2023 and remains separately labeled.