Porch pirates statistics

The biggest shopping period is almost upon us, with a little over half the population saying they will shop the pre-holiday sales, but should they be worried about the safety of those items?

Almost one in four (23%) adults say they had a package stolen in the last 12 months, according to a recent survey conducted by Finder. This equates to about 59.7 million adults.Graphic source
82% of those who had a package stolen claimed it had a value of at least $50, meaning looking at porch pirates pilfering products worth $5.2 billion at a minimum*.Graphic source
And if you’ve had a product stolen in the past, you’re probably worried about that happening again, with a combined 65% expressing at least some worry about their holiday purchases this year — 17% of which is extreme concern.Graphic source
But under three-fifths of those who’ve dealt with package thieves in the past say they plan to mitigate further thefts with “security of package” insurance.Graphic source

Wild West for package thefts

If you live in one of the Pacific (32%) states (Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington), you’re 40% more likely to report having a package go missing in the last 12 months than the average US resident (23%).

On the other side of the coin, just 17% of those living in New England said they had a package go missing.Graphic source

Women far more likely to report having a stolen package

Women (27%) are far more likely than men (18%) to say they had a package stolen in the last 12 months and are also slightly more likely (66%) than men (64%) to be concerned about their holiday purchases in 2023.Graphic source
Close to two-thirds (57%) of stolen items reported by men were valued at over $100, compared to less than half (47%) for women, which could explain why men (63%) are a little more likely than women (57%) to say that they’re either going to insure their packages, buy a security system or both.Graphic source

Younger generations more likely to fall victim to porch pirates

With 68% of Generation Z saying they will be hunting for bargains this holiday season, it is no surprise they’re also the generation most likely to say they were the victim of a porch pirate in the last 12 months at 37%. Just 9% of boomers said they had a package stolen in the last year.Graphic source
Gen Y was the generation that reported the most items that were stolen, with a value of more than $100, a combined 57%.Graphic source

How can you protect yourself against porch pirates?

If you will be shopping the sales this year and want to protect your purchases, rather than using your debit card, check if your credit card offers purchase protection. Purchase protection can protect your item from a range of misadventures, from it being stolen, lost or damaged in transit. All three major card issuers — Visa, MasterCard and American Express — offer some form of protection depending on your card. So, check out the terms and conditions to see if you’re covered.

• Methodology

  Finder’s Consumer Confidence Index is an ongoing quarterly nationally representative survey, so far polling more than 10,000 American adults, asking questions relating to household finances. First collected October 4-19, 2022, with following iterations running between January 9 to February 17, 2023, April 11-20, 2023, July 6-18, 2023 and most recently, October 11-30, 2023.

  Our data is based on an online survey of 2,033 US adults commissioned by Finder and conducted by Qualtrics/SAP from October 11-30, 2023, with representative quotas for gender, age and states.

  We assume the 2,033 participants in our survey represent the US population of 260.9 million Americans at least 18 years old, according to the July 2022 US Census Bureau population estimate. This assumption is made at the 95% confidence level with a 2% margin of error.

  A full list of questions can be found on Finder’s Consumer Confidence Index.

  We define generations by birth year according to the Pew Research Center’s generational guidelines, though we’ve combined baby boomers and the Silent Generation into a single group for sampling ease:

  • Gen Z — any adults born post-1997
  • Gen Y — 1981–1996
  • Gen X — 1965–1980
  • Baby boomers — anyone born pre-1964

  We define geographical regions as defined by the US Census Bureau.

  *To get the cost of stolen items, we took the minimum value from each range and multiplied that by the number of respondents in that bracket. E.g., 31% of the 59.7 million stolen packages (18 million) were valued between $50 – $99. $50 multiplied by 18 million is $918 million.

Written by

Richard Laycock

Editorial & PR Lead

Richard Laycock is Finder’s NYC-based lead editor & insights editor, spending the last decade data diving, writing and editing articles about all things personal finance. His musings can be found across the web including on NASDAQ, MoneyMag, Yahoo Finance and Travel Weekly. Richard studied Media at Macquarie University, including a semester abroad at The Missouri School of Journalism (MIZZOU). See full bio