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Home > NYGC > NYGSA > Measuring the Extent of Gang Problems

National Youth Gang Survey Analysis

Measuring the Extent of Gang Problems

Number of Gangs

Respondents provided information regarding the number of active youth gangs in their jurisdictions during each survey year.

(Annual maximum number reported in 2002–2005)

  • Larger cities and suburban counties are more likely to report higher numbers of gangs compared with smaller cities and rural counties in 2002–2005.
  • The total number of reported gangs varies greatly across larger cities and suburban counties.
  • Most smaller cities and rural counties with gang problems report 3 or fewer gangs.
  • Fewer than 1 in 5 larger cities and suburban counties report more than 30 gangs.
Annual Maximum Number of Gangs, 2002–2005
Number of Gangs Larger Cities Suburban Counties Smaller Cities Rural Counties
No Data Reported 2.7% 9.6% 9.2% 5.9%
3 or Fewer 13.0 26.0 48.3 56.3
4–6 20.5 19.2 26.7 23.5
7–15 30.8 21.4 12.9 10.9
16–30 15.4 8.9 2.9 3.4
More Than 30 17.6 14.9 0.0 0.0

Analysis for this section pertains only to law enforcement agencies reporting gang problems. Please see the Prevalence of Youth Gang Problems section.

Trends in the Estimated Number of Gangs in the United States

The number of estimated gangs per survey year is compared with the 10-year average.

  • Annual estimates of the total number of gangs in the 10-year survey period have averaged around 25,000.
  • Relative to the 10-year average, annual estimates of the total number of gangs in the United States have deviated within a range of approximately 20 percent.
  • Earlier estimates of the total number of gangs were uniformly above the 10-year average, whereas recent estimates were generally below the average.

The bar chart is entitled “Estimated Total Gangs: Percent difference from the 10-year average.” Displayed horizontally are years 1996 to 2005 and displayed vertically are percentages from -25 to 25. The percent difference from the 10-year average is presented as the data points. The heading entitled “Trends in the Estimated Number of Gangs in the United States” includes bullet points which describe the trends in this bar chart.

Analysis for this section pertains only to law enforcement agencies reporting gang problems. Please see the Prevalence of Youth Gang Problems section.

Number of Gang Members

Respondents provided information regarding the number of active youth gang members in their jurisdictions during each survey year.

(Annual maximum number reported in 2002–2005)

  • Larger cities and suburban counties are more likely to report higher numbers of gang members compared with smaller cities and rural counties in 2002–2005.
  • The total number of reported gang members varies greatly across larger cities.
  • Larger cities and suburban counties accounted for approximately 80 percent of the estimated number of gang members in 2005.
  • Most smaller cities and rural counties report 50 or fewer gang members.
  • Approximately 1 in 5 larger cities report more than 1,000 gang members.
Annual Maximum Number of Gang Members, 2002–2005
Number of Gang Members Larger Cities Suburban Counties Smaller Cities Rural Counties
No Data Reported 7.6% 26.2% 24.6% 23.5%
50 or Fewer 17.6 27.9 52.5 54.6
51–200 28.1 18.3 14.6 21.0
201–500 15.6 12.0 8.3 0.8
501–1,000 12.7 5.0 0.0 0.0
More Than 1,000 18.5 10.6 0.0 0.0

Analysis for this section pertains only to law enforcement agencies reporting gang problems. Please see the Prevalence of Youth Gang Problems section.

Trends in Estimated Total Gang Membership in the United States

The number of estimated gang members per survey year is compared with the 10-year average.

  • Annual estimates of total gang membership in the 10-year survey period have averaged around 750,000.
  • Relative to the 10-year average, annual estimates of total gang membership in the United States have deviated slightly, within a range of about 10 percent.
  • Earlier estimates of total gang membership were generally above the 10-year average, whereas recent estimates were generally below the average.

The bar chart is entitled “Estimated Total Gang Membership: Percent difference from the 10-year average.” Displayed horizontally are years 1996 to 2005 and displayed vertically are percentages from -15 to 15. The percent difference from the 10-year average is presented as the data points. The heading entitled “Trends in Estimated Total Gang Membership in the United States” includes bullet points which describe the trends of this bar chart.

Analysis for this section pertains only to law enforcement agencies reporting gang problems. Please see the Prevalence of Youth Gang Problems section.

Gang-Related Homicides (Percentage)

Respondents provided information regarding the number of homicides involving youth gang members that occurred in their jurisdictions per survey year.

(Annual maximum number reported in 2002–2005)

  • More than half of the larger cities experienced one or more gang-related homicides in 2002–2005.
  • Conversely, more than half of the suburban counties, and more than 75 percent of smaller cities and rural counties, recorded no gang-related homicides.

The bar chart is entitled “Annual Maximum Number of Gang-Related Homicides, 2002–2005.” Displayed horizontally are the four area types—larger cities, suburban counties, smaller cities, and rural counties—and displayed vertically are percentages from 0 to 90. The categories “No Date Reported”, “Zero”, and “1 or more” are presented as the data points. The heading entitled “Gang-Related Homicides (Percent)” includes bullet points which describe this bar chart.

Analysis for this section pertains only to law enforcement agencies reporting gang problems. Please see the Prevalence of Youth Gang Problems section.

Gang-Related Homicides (Number)

Respondents provided information regarding the number of homicides involving youth gang members that occurred in their jurisdictions per survey year.

(Annual maximum number reported in 2002–2005)

  • Larger cities and suburban counties are more likely than smaller cities and rural counties to report multiple gang-related homicides.
  • Approximately 1 in 10 larger cities reported an annual maximum of 10 or more gang-related homicides, and 1 in 5 larger cities reported an annual maximum of 3 to 9.
  • In the other three areas, those reporting 1 or more gang-related homicides over the three-year period most frequently reported an annual maximum of 1 or 2.
Annual Maximum Number of Gang-Related Homicides, 2002–2005
Number of Gang-Related Homicides Larger Cities Suburban Counties Smaller Cities Rural Counties
No Data Reported 4.9% 10.6% 2.1% 8.4%
Zero 36.2 59.4 80.4 75.6
1–2 28.3 15.9 12.5 13.4
3–9 19.6 10.3 5.0 2.5
10 or More 11.1 3.8 0.0 0.0

Analysis for this section pertains only to law enforcement agencies reporting gang problems. Please see the Prevalence of Youth Gang Problems section.

Gang-Related Homicides in the Largest Cities

The number of gang-related homicides per survey year is compared with the 10-year average.

  • Reports of homicides in general, and gang-related homicides in particular, are predominantly concentrated in the largest cities across the United States—approximately two-thirds of all homicides in the Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) and approximately three-fourths of all gang-related homicides recorded in the NYGS occurred in cities with populations over 50,000 annually between 2002 and 2004.
  • In 2005, more than half of the nearly 1,000 combined homicides in Los Angeles and Chicago were considered to be gang-related.
  • In 2005, the reported number of gang-related homicides was slightly below the 10-year average of about 800.

The bar chart is entitled “Gang-Related Homicides in Cities With Populations of 100,000 or More: Percent Difference From the 10-Year Average.” Displayed horizontally are years 1996 to 2005 and displayed vertically are percentages from -40 to 40. The percent difference from the 10-year average is presented as the data points. The heading entitled “Gang-Related Homicides in the Largest Cities” includes bullet points which describe the trends of this bar chart.

Analysis for this section pertains only to law enforcement agencies reporting gang problems. Please see the Prevalence of Youth Gang Problems section.

Table of Contents

Suggested citation: National Youth Gang Center (2007). National Youth Gang Survey Analysis. Retrieved [date] from http://www.iir.com/nygc/nygsa/