Survey: 37% of apartment renters reported package theft in past year
With Prime Day and other July online sales events here, apartment dwellers are at an increased risk of porch piracy.
Results of a new survey from security systems company Vivint released exclusively to Chain Store Age reveal that 37% of apartment renters have been victims of porch piracy, with one-in-four suspecting that a neighbor stole their package. The average number of packages stolen in the past year per renter is two, according to the survey.
Twenty-five percent of apartment renters said they have had a package stolen following Prime Day, signaling that criminals are taking advantage of increased e-commerce activity.
Millennials and Gen Z, typically younger generations who do not own a home and rent an apartment instead, have been hit the hardest by package theft, as 42% and 37% reported stolen deliveries in the past year, respectively. November saw the highest number of theft incidents (27%), and Friday was the most common day (16%) for packages to go missing.
Seasonal shopping spikes also played a major role. Black Friday topped the list as the biggest target for theft, with nearly four-in-10 (39%) renters reporting losing a package during the holiday shopping event. Prime Day ranked second.
The cities that saw the largest increases in apartment package theft compared to last year were Chicago (+24%), El Paso, Texas (+20%), Mesa, Ariz. (+19%) and Bakersfield, Calif. (+18%). Package theft at apartments decreased the most in Aurora, Colo. (-11%), Oakland, Calif. (-11%), Colorado Springs, Colo. (-7%) and Denver, Colo. (-3%).
Designed to streamline package management and deter theft, smart lockers eliminate the need for building staff to handle deliveries and help prevent unattended packages from piling up. However, only 22% of renters said their building had a smart locker system, and almost half (45%) wished it did.
Although 84% of renters with smart lockers believe they help reduce theft, only 18% reported using them for every delivery. Still, some use is better than none at all. Renters without smart locker access were 34% more likely than those who had access to experience package theft.
[READ MORE: McAfee: Prime Day event also prime time for scammers]
Vivint surveyed 1,003 apartment renters to explore how package theft, security systems, and trust in neighbors are shaping their apartment rental experience. The data was collected in May 2025.
The full report can be found here.
