Where Does WA Rank in Retail Theft? You Won’t Be Surprised

A Forbes study releasd in late 2024, and a new Capital One Shopping study compiling data for the entire year shows WA State has the worst retail theft rate in the US.

  WA state's rate is 48 percent higher than it should be, based on population

The total average of stolen goods for every resident of our state adds up to $346, well above the national average of $173. The data also showed that for every 100,000 in population, there were 2,306 larceny (theft-retail theft) incidents in 2023.

The Capital One data shows that number has actually increased, using a business metric, they say for every 100,000 business in WA, there were a reported 3,510 incidents reported.

The Forbes study shows Oregon ranks 23rd. while CA is 10th along the west coast. But the Capitol One data also showed,  using the per-business metric, Oregon ranked 4th . Meanwhile, Idaho ranked 50th just ahead of Wyoming, who was 51st.

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The US Chamber of Commerce says annually, retail theft amounts to about $2.7 billion in business losses.

Critics of the legislature and state officials say soft-on-crime theft policies, and revolving door justice (especially in the Puget Sound area) have led to a steady rise in retail theft, and many of the crimes are repeated by a smaller group of offenders. Many of them never end up in jail.