The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) is the nation's primary source of information on criminal victimization conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau for the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). Each year, data are obtained from a nationally representative sample of about 90,000 households comprising nearly 160,000 persons on the frequency, characteristics and consequences of criminal victimization in the United States. Each household is interviewed twice during the year.
The survey enables BJS to estimate the likelihood of victimization by rape or sexual assault, robbery, aggravated and simple assault, theft, household burglary, and motor vehicle theft for the population as a whole as well as for segments of the population such as women, the elderly, members of various racial or ethnic groups, city dwellers, and other groups. The NCVS provides the largest national forum for victims to describe the impact of crime and characteristics of violent offenders.