Texas ranks as worst state for porch pirates: study

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Have you been victim to porch pirates this holiday shopping season? You're not alone.

A new study ranked the Lone Star State as the worst state for porch pirate thefts.

The study from The Action Network found that 5% of Texans had a package theft in the last three months.

Following Texas, the next "worst states for porch pirates" include North Carolina, Florida, California, New York, South Carolina, Washington, Virginia, Kentucky and North Dakota.

According to security research company SafeWise, package thefts cost Americans about $16 billion in 2023. In Texas, there were over 1.5 million thefts in Houston last year and over 1.1 million thefts in Dallas-Fort Worth.

Texas is among the states with legislation to deter porch pirates. Package thefts can be charged as felonies with six months to 10 years of jail time, according to SafeWise.

The Better Business Bureau suggests using these strategies to deter porch pirates:

• Try to schedule a delivery when you know you will be home
• Consider shipping items to retailers with physical locations nearby
• Install a home security system with a video doorbell to deter thefts
• Set up a camera to alert when a package is delivered
• Use the option to require a signature before a package is delivered
• Opt-in to notifications for when a package is delivered

The Action Network study used data from Google, the FBI Crime Data Explorer and Security.org. The SafeWise study used FBI data, a third-party safety survey and its own survey data to calculate metro area porch thefts.