Michigan Reports 234 Identity Theft Cases per 100,000 People – 19.3% Below the National Average

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Article courtesy of GBG.

• Southern states dominate identity theft rankings, with Georgia and Florida taking the top spots.
• South Dakota has the lowest rate with just 91.38 reports per 100,000 residents, five times lower than Georgia.
• Massachusetts and Delaware are the only Democratic-voting states to feature in the top five for identity theft rates. 

A new study has revealed that Georgia has the highest rate of identity theft in the U.S., with over 500 reports per 100,000 residents.

The study, conducted by personal injury lawyers GBG, analyzed FBI crime data to determine which states had the highest and lowest rates of identity theft per 100,000 residents in 2024.

Michigan’s findings

Out of the top 10, Michigan ranks 20th with 234.54 identity theft reports per 100,000 people, which is 19.3% below the national average of 290.8 reports per 100,000 people. The state recorded 23,783 total cases in 2024.

While well below average, Michigan’s rate is 53.1% lower than Georgia’s leading 500.45 reports per 100,000 people, but 156.7% higher than South Dakota’s 91.38 reports per 100,000 people, the safest in the country.

The top 10 states with the highest identity theft rates

The statistics show that Georgia reported 55,955 identity theft cases in 2024 and the total rate per 100,000 residents stands at 500.45 – 72.1% above the national average.

Florida ranks second with 495.63 reports per 100,000 residents (70.5% above the national average), representing 115,840 total cases. In Nevada, the total number of identity theft reports was 14,631, while the rate per 100,000 residents came to 447.78 – 54.0% above the national average, placing it third nationwide.

Massachusetts ranks fourth with 27,141 reports and a rate of 380.33 per 100,000 residents – 30.8% above the national average. Delaware completes the top five with 3,942 reports, equating to 374.74 per 100,000, 28.9% above the national average.

Texas ranks sixth with 372.26 reports per 100,000 residents – 28.0% above the national average, followed by California with 354.20 reports per 100,000 residents, 21.8% above the national average. These two states reported the highest total number of cases at 116,484 and 139,665 respectively.

The southern state of Louisiana ranked eighth with 347.80 reports per 100,000 residents – 19.6% above average. Illinois and Maryland rounded out the top ten with rates of 338.53 (16.4% above the national average) and 319.16 per 100,000 residents (9.8%), respectively.

The 10 states with the lowest identity theft rates

On the opposite end of the scale, the study found much lower rates of identity theft in less populated states. South Dakota has the lowest rate in the nation with just 91.38 reports per 100,000 residents – 68.6% below the national average, more than five times lower than Georgia.

Vermont ranks second-lowest with 100.39 reports per 100,000 residents (65.5% below the national average) and just 651 total reports. Alaska ranks third-lowest with 105.39 reports per 100,000 residents (63.8%) and 780 total cases.

West Virginia and North Dakota complete the bottom five with rates of 113.96 (60.8% below the national average) and 116.00 (60.1%) per 100,000 residents, respectively. Both states reported fewer than 2,020 total cases despite their different geographic locations.

A spokesperson from GBG commented on the findings, saying:

“Regular monitoring of financial account and credit reports is advised for people living in high-risk states. It is important to be aware if you are able to using credit freezes, and ensure rapid reponse to any suspicious activity as this can make a substantial difference in preventing identity theft.

“Spending money online is part of our everyday and summer can especially be a peak time for scammers to strike. That’s especially true for those who book a trip through unfamiliar platforms or in a rush, as they may find it harder to spot the red flags that indicate a scam so being conscious of this is very important.”

Methodology:

Using the FBI’s Crime Data Explorer (CDE), the rate of identity theft crimes reported by the population per 100,000 population was scraped for each US state. These rates were then aggregated by determining the median rate across each month from January 2019 to December 2023.

Additionally, the percentage change in crime rate between each two successive months was calculated, and the median of these was found – this allowed the states to be ranked by the median increase in identity theft crimes per month, over the past 5 years.