Cities with the most break-ins

According to the FBI, burglaries accounted for approximately $4.8 billion in lost property in the U.S. last year. With almost 2.2 million burglaries committed, this means that the average loss per burglary was $2,185.

Some cities see more burglaries than others, and Yahoo! Homes is listing the top five here, reported by CNBC. Go to CNBC.com for the rest of the top 10:


All of the information here is based on recently released data from the FBI Uniform Crime Report. The FBI defines a burglary as the unlawful entry of a structure (such as a home or an office, but not a car) to commit a felony or theft. About 60 percent of burglaries in this report were forcible entry. The most recent report is based on 2011 data.

5. New York
Number of burglaries: 18,159

New York is the most populous city in the U.S. and one of the main cultural centers of the world. During the 1970s and 1980s the city was considered more afflicted by crime than many others, but it has been dropping steadily since the 1990s for reasons The New York Times said had baffled the experts as recently as 2011. Still, no city is immune, and New York was the site of 18,159 burglaries in 2011.

4. Phoenix
Number of burglaries: 18,666

According to the Census Bureau, the 2011 estimated population of Phoenix was approximately 1.5 million. Mirroring the trend across the nation, the city has seen a decline in its crime rate, particularly with respect to its once-epidemic rate of car theft. It experienced 18,666 burglaries in 2011.

3. Dallas
Number of burglaries: 18,727

Dallas is the center of the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington metropolitan area, an area which had a gross metropolitan product of $374 billion, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Of the 61,859 property offenses committed there in 2011, 18,727 were burglaries.

2. Chicago
Number of burglaries: 26,420

Chicago is the third most populous city in the U.S. Known as "Chi-Town" and "The Windy City," it has had a world-famous criminal element since the days of Al Capone, but like the rest of the country, the crime rate has been on the decline since the 1990s. Still, the city saw a whopping 118,239 property offenses in 2011, of which 26,420 were burglaries.

1. Houston
Number of burglaries: 27,459

Houston is best known as the location of NASA's Johnson Space Center and Mission Control Center. It also saw 108,336 property offenses in 2011, of which 68,596 were categorized as "larceny-theft" and 12,281 were motor vehicle thefts. The remaining 27,459 were burglaries, which puts the city at the top of the list. So if you live there, lock your doors when you go out at night.

Visit CNBC.com to see the rest of America's top 10 cities with the most burglaries.