Chart assignment

Charts to read and discuss

Read each chart, then answer its questions. Every chart shows its source and date; open it for a table of the numbers and the data to download.

  1. Which states have the most burglaries?
  2. Are U.S. roads getting safer per mile driven?

Chart 1 of 2 · Crime

Which states have the most burglaries?

The interactive chart needs JavaScript. The numbers are on the chart's page.

In 2025 New Mexico had the highest burglary rate, about 415 per 100,000 people, followed by Oklahoma (368), Washington (319) and Nevada (318). New Hampshire (52), Maine (80) and Connecticut (82) had the lowest; the U.S. rate was about 195. Rates count only the police agencies that reported to the FBI; in 2025 those covered only about 80 to 85% of residents in a few states, such as Florida and Mississippi. Since 2021, when the FBI began taking only its newer NIBRS reports, state rates don't line up exactly with earlier years.

Questions to discuss

  1. In one sentence of your own, what does this chart show?
  2. Find the biggest change or difference in the chart. What might explain it?
  3. Who collected these numbers, and how recent are they? What else would you want to know before drawing a conclusion?

Source: FBI Crime Data Explorer, Uniform Crime Reporting Program (Public domain (U.S. government work); source FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program) · Data as of Dec 31, 2025

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Chart 2 of 2 · Road safety

Are U.S. roads getting safer per mile driven?

The interactive chart needs JavaScript. The numbers are on the chart's page.

In 2024 there were 1.19 deaths for every 100 million miles driven, down from 3.35 in 1980. The lowest rate was 1.08 in 2014; it jumped to 1.34 in 2020, when people drove less but deaths rose. Miles driven are the Federal Highway Administration's estimates.

How to read this chart

Each point is the number of people killed in traffic crashes for every 100 million miles Americans drove that year. Dividing by miles driven turns a count into a rate, so years when people drove more or less can be compared fairly.

Questions to discuss

  1. About what fraction of the 1980 rate is the rate in the latest year?
  2. In 2020 people drove less, but the rate went up. What could explain that?
  3. Why is deaths per mile a fairer way to compare years than the total number of deaths?

Source: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) and FHWA Highway Statistics (table VM-2) (Public domain (U.S. government work)) · Data as of Dec 31, 2024

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