Where Burglars Actually Get In — And What to Fix First

The short answer: the front door accounts for 34% of break-ins — more than any other entry point. Around 38% of unlawful entries involve no force at all, which usually means a door or window left open. Most break-ins happen in daylight, not at night. Fix the front door first, the sliding door second, ground-floor windows third.

What the data actually says

The FBI recorded 779,542 burglaries in 2024. Residences accounted for 405,776 of those — about 52%.

Three findings matter for what you should buy:

1. The front door is the most common way in — 34%

Not a back window. Not a basement hatch. The front door, in daylight, often after someone has knocked to check whether anyone is home.

2. Roughly 38% of entries involve no force at all

An unlocked door. An open window. No tools, no damage, no noise. This is the cheapest category of risk to eliminate and the one most people ignore.

3. More break-ins happen by day than by night

In 2024 the FBI logged 216,601 daytime residential burglaries against 174,053 nighttime. Burglars want an empty house, not a dark one — which is why 10am to 3pm is the peak window.

This changes what you should prioritise. Looking occupied matters more than looking fortified.

The order to fix things

Step 1 — Lock what you already have (free)

Given that nearly 40% of entries involve no force, the highest-return action costs nothing. Lock the door you leave unlocked. Close the window you leave cracked. Check the garage side door, which is the one most commonly forgotten.

Step 2 — Reinforce the front door ($20-40)

A security bar braced from the door to the floor. Longer screws in the strike plate so the plate anchors into the stud rather than the trim. Both are cheap, and the strike plate screws are a $3 fix that meaningfully changes how a door fails under a kick.

Step 3 — Sliding doors ($25-45)

The factory latch on a patio door is designed to resist wind, not force, and most panels can be lifted out of the track entirely. A bar in the track plus a pin lock closes both failure modes.

Step 4 — Add noise ($15-40)

120dB contact alarms on the front door and any ground-floor window that opens. No app, no hub, battery powered. The point is not to stop entry — it's to wake you and to tell whoever opened it that they've been noticed. Most opportunistic attempts end there.

Step 5 — Get earlier warning ($15-45)

A driveway alarm tells you someone is on the property before they reach the house. Thirty seconds of warning is a materially different situation from none.

Step 6 — Look occupied ($10-30)

Because most break-ins happen while you're at work: light timers, a radio on a schedule, a dummy camera at the door, no packages sitting on the step, and nothing on social media announcing that you're away.

What doesn't work

• A beware-of-dog sign with no dog. Burglars knock first. Silence answers the question.
• A key under the mat, in a fake rock, or on the door frame. These are the first three places checked.
• Alarm decals with no alarm. Deters the laziest opportunist only, and 83% of burglars reportedly check for a real system before attempting entry.
• A single expensive gadget. One product doesn't secure a house. Layers do.

What we're not going to tell you

You'll see the statistic that a burglary happens every 26 seconds. That figure comes from 2019 data and burglary has fallen substantially since — the FBI's 2024 numbers work out closer to one every 40 seconds, and about half of those are residential rather than commercial.

Still worth acting on. Not worth panicking about. We'd rather give you the real number.

The honest limit

Everything above alerts you and slows an intruder down. None of it calls anybody. If you're away often, or you want a response rather than a warning, that's a monitored system — a genuinely different product from anything on this page.

Sources: FBI Crime in the United States, 2024. Bureau of Justice Statistics.

Frequently asked

What is the most common entry point for burglars?
The front door, at 34% of break-ins. Ground-floor windows and sliding doors make up most of the remainder.

Do most burglaries happen at night?
No. FBI 2024 data shows 216,601 daytime residential burglaries against 174,053 at night. Burglars target empty houses, and houses are emptiest during work hours.

What is the cheapest effective home security upgrade?
Longer screws in your door strike plate, at about $3, followed by a door security bar at $20-40. Both address the most common entry point.

Do security systems actually deter burglars?
Evidence suggests homes without security systems are targeted significantly more often, and a large majority of burglars check for a system before attempting entry. Visible deterrence works on opportunists, which is most break-ins.