Where Have All the Bank Robbers Gone?

Stealing from a bank has long been portrayed as the ultimate score for robbers. While Hollywood still portrays bank heists as the ultimate criminal jackpot, real-world data tells a starkly different story: FBI statistics show bank robberies have plummeted by 85% since their 1992 peak.

Below, we assess the most commonly cited reasons.

Theory 1: Not a Big Enough Payout

Perhaps the biggest reason people don’t rob banks anymore is that it doesn’t yield much money, and what little they get buys far less than it used to.

In the late 1960s, a bank robbery netted about $5,200 ($46,000 in 2025). In 2019, the average dropped to $4,200.

Theory 2: Fewer Targets

An Investopedia analysis shows that the decline in average haul isn’t because banks hold less cash—a widely held view. In fact, with massive industry consolidation, from about 24,000 banks and credit unions in 1992 to about 9,125 today, each remaining institution holds more money on average, even adjusting for inflation.

Working with data from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and U.S. Federal Reserve, while adjusting for inflation, we find that in 1992, the peak of bank robbing, banks held about $8 million each in 2025 dollars; today, data as of the fourth quarter of 2024 shows that would be closer to about $10 million, or about a 20% increase in real terms.

A key data point seems to be not the value of what’s held at the bank but that the number of potential targets has shrunk: not only has the number of banks shrunk since 1992 by 62%, but the job of bank teller is a dying occupation, as ATMs have become ubiquitous. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows that the number of full-time tellers has dropped by half since 2007 (from about 340K to 173K), with a further 15% decline expected in the next decade.

Theory 3: Easier To Get Caught

Federal data shows a consistent clearance rate of between 55% and 60% over time for bank robberies. That ranks it second behind murder, so you’re less likely to be caught for almost any other crime that would net you someone else’s funds.

“The likelihood of catching a bank robber on or near the scene is higher than for other crimes,” a U.S. Department of Justice analysis points out. “This is because most bank robberies are reported very quickly, most occur during daylight hours, many have multiple witnesses, and some produce photographic images that can be used to canvas the surrounding area for suspects.”

Theory 4: Tougher Prison Sentences

Not only is it harder to evade jail time, but your sentence will likely be longer. In the U.S., bank robbery is typically a federal offense. According to the U.S. Sentencing Commission, the average sentence for bank robbers in 2021 was 10.25 years, while those convicted under federal statutes of engaging in all forms of robbery had average sentences of 8.75 years.

Theory 5: Better Alternatives

Today, criminals don’t need to sweat it out in a bank lobby, watching the clock tick while a nervous teller fumbles with cash drawers as sirens wail in the distance—they can empty bank accounts remotely.

A single successful romance scam can net hundreds of thousands of dollars. Cryptocurrency fraudsters have stolen billions. And crucially, there’s no hidden dye pack to trigger, letting anyone in sight instantly know what you’ve just done.

The Bottom Line

Bank robbery is becoming a relic of a bygone era, taken down not necessarily by better policing, but by market forces that have changed the game. The era of the bank robbery is ending not through some dramatic police crackdown, but through simple economics—replaced by crimes that offer everything the old-fashioned heist promised but never delivered.