*  Sexual Assault: One in 5.26 of us worry about this terrifying crime. One in 541.1 women actually become victims of rape or sexual assault in a year (1 in 1,008 people overall).

    * Murder: For this most final of all crimes, our worry seems egregiously out of proportion. One in 5.26 of us worry about being murdered, but the odds a person will be murdered in a year are just 1 in 18,690.

Of course, worry is often more psychological than logical; the sheer awfulness of crimes like rape and murder no doubt contribute to high levels of dread despite relatively low levels of victimhood. And your actual chances of becoming a crime victim depend on a range of factors, from where you live to how old you are to whether you hang out with nuns or drug dealers.

While it’s not productive to spend every waking moment worrying about crime, neither does it make sense to ignore it completely. Taking steps to prevent crime, like installing alarms, hiding valuables, and answering the front door with caution, don’t just reduce your chances of being a crime victim. According to a 2009 study at the London School of Economics, such measures can also alleviate the feeling that crime is impairing one’s quality of life.

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