Burglary, robbery, and larceny are three separate crimes that people routinely mix up. Larceny is taking someone else’s property without permission and intending to keep it. Robbery is taking property directly from a person using force or threats. Burglary is entering a building without authorization while intending to commit a crime inside, whether or not anything is ever actually stolen. The penalties climb sharply across those three because each adds a layer of danger: larceny threatens your property, robbery threatens your body, and burglary threatens the security of the spaces where people live and work.
What Counts as Larceny
Larceny is the simplest of the three and the foundation of theft law. It means taking someone else’s movable property without permission, with the intent to keep it permanently. In plain terms: you took something that wasn’t yours and didn’t plan to give it back.
Two elements catch people off guard. First, the property has to actually move. Even shifting a bicycle a few feet counts. Second, the intent matters at the moment of taking. Borrowing a neighbor’s lawnmower without asking is rude, but it isn’t larceny unless you never intended to return it. The opposite is also true: picking up a wallet off a café table planning to keep the cash completes the crime the instant you walk away with it.
Most states draw the line between misdemeanor and felony larceny based on the dollar value of what was taken. Thresholds range widely across the country, from as low as $200 in one state to $2,500 in others, with the most common cutoff sitting around $1,000. Below the threshold, you’re looking at a misdemeanor carrying up to a year in a local jail. Above it, the charge becomes a felony (often called “grand theft”), and prison time enters the picture. Certain items including firearms, motor vehicles, and controlled substances are automatically treated as felony theft regardless of their dollar value.
What Makes Robbery Different
Robbery is larceny’s violent cousin. It takes every element of theft and adds a direct, in-person confrontation. A person commits robbery by committing a theft while inflicting serious bodily injury, threatening someone with immediate serious bodily injury, or committing another serious felony in the process. The victim doesn’t have to be physically hurt. Pointing a finger inside a jacket pocket and demanding “hand it over” can qualify if the victim reasonably believes a weapon is involved.
The property has to be taken from a person or from their immediate presence, meaning close enough that they could have kept it if not for the force or intimidation. Snatching a phone from someone’s hand on the sidewalk is robbery. Stealing that same phone off an empty park bench while nobody is around is larceny. That distinction between face-to-face confrontation and a quiet taking is the entire dividing line.
Because robbery puts a person in danger, it’s almost universally charged as a felony. Federal data from the U.S. Sentencing Commission puts the average federal robbery sentence at 110 months, or just over nine years. When a firearm is involved and triggers an additional weapons conviction, the average jumps to 162 months. Even without a weapon, the average sits around 76 months, roughly six years.1United States Sentencing Commission. Robbery Offenses State sentences vary, but robbery consistently ranks among the most harshly punished property-adjacent crimes because courts treat it as a crime against the person, not just against property.
What Burglary Actually Requires
Burglary is the most misunderstood of the three because it doesn’t actually require stealing anything. The crime is complete the moment someone enters a building without permission while intending to commit a crime inside. A person who breaks into a warehouse planning to steal tools but gets caught before touching anything has still committed burglary. Someone who enters a house intending to assault the occupant, not to steal a single item, has also committed burglary.
The law is protecting the security of the space itself. When you lock your door at night, you have a reasonable expectation that nobody will break in. Burglary law exists because violating that expectation is treated as inherently dangerous, since any unauthorized entry creates an unpredictable situation where violence can erupt.
“Occupied structure” is broader than most people expect. The category covers any structure or vehicle adapted for overnight accommodation or for conducting business, whether or not anyone is actually inside at the time. A house, a business office, a boat with sleeping quarters, even a camping trailer can qualify. The key is the structure’s purpose, not whether someone happens to be home.
Penalties scale based on how dangerous the situation was. Entering an empty commercial building is treated less severely than breaking into an occupied home. If someone is inside the building during the entry, the charge typically jumps to a higher degree. If the burglar carries a weapon or assaults someone during the break-in, the offense reaches its highest classification. Across most states, burglary penalties range from a few years for third-degree offenses involving unoccupied structures to life imprisonment for first-degree burglary of an occupied dwelling with a weapon.
Side-by-Side Comparison
Once you line them up, the differences become clear:
- Larceny means taking someone’s property without permission, intending to keep it. No force, no breaking in. The victim doesn’t need to be present. Penalty depends mainly on the value of the stolen goods.
- Robbery means taking property directly from a person using force or threats of immediate harm. The victim is always present and always confronted. Treated as a violent felony regardless of the dollar amount.
- Burglary means entering a building without authorization while intending to commit any crime inside. Nothing needs to be stolen. No victim needs to be present. The crime targets the security of the structure, not the property inside it.
A single incident can involve all three. Someone who breaks into a house (burglary), finds the homeowner inside and threatens them with a knife (robbery), and takes their jewelry (larceny) has committed three distinct crimes in one event. Prosecutors can and do stack those charges.
How Severity Climbs Within Each Crime
All three crimes can be charged at different severity levels depending on the circumstances. These “degrees” or “grades” determine whether you’re facing months in county jail or years in state prison.
For larceny, the value of the stolen property is the primary driver. Felony theft thresholds across the states range from $200 to $2,500, and what counts as a misdemeanor in one state can be a felony next door. Beyond dollar value, the type of property matters. Stealing a firearm or a vehicle is typically charged as a felony regardless of what it’s worth on the open market.
For robbery, the baseline is already a felony. Aggravating factors push the degree higher: using a deadly weapon, inflicting physical injury, targeting a vulnerable victim, or robbing certain locations like a bank or pharmacy. Armed robbery in most states carries significantly longer mandatory minimum sentences than unarmed robbery. Federal sentencing data confirms the pattern, showing sentences nearly double when a firearm conviction is added to the robbery charge.1United States Sentencing Commission. Robbery Offenses
For burglary, the grading depends primarily on three questions: Was the structure a dwelling or a commercial building? Was anyone inside? Did the burglar carry a weapon or hurt someone? Breaking into an empty storage unit sits at the bottom of the scale. Breaking into an occupied home while armed sits at the top, often carrying penalties equivalent to violent felonies like assault. Nighttime entry, while no longer a universal aggravating factor the way it was under old common law, still increases the severity of charges in some jurisdictions.
Related Crimes People Mix In
Several offenses sit next to larceny, robbery, and burglary and get swept into the same conversation. The distinctions matter because a charge can shift from one to another based on small factual differences.
Larceny by Trick
Standard larceny means taking property without any consent. Larceny by trick means getting someone to voluntarily hand over their property by lying to them. The victim consents to giving up possession, but that consent was obtained through fraud. A classic example: you tell a friend you need to borrow their car for an errand, fully intending to sell it. They gave you the keys willingly, but you deceived them about your intentions.
Embezzlement
Embezzlement flips the possession question entirely. Where larceny begins with no right to the property, embezzlement begins with lawful possession. An employee given access to company funds, a trustee managing someone’s estate, or a financial advisor handling client accounts all have legitimate custody. The crime occurs when they convert that property to their own use. The starting point of lawful access is what separates embezzlement from every form of larceny.
Receiving Stolen Property
You don’t have to be the one who stole something to face charges. Knowingly buying, possessing, or concealing property that someone else stole is a separate crime in every state. The prosecution has to prove you knew or should have known the property was stolen, which is why suspiciously low prices and sketchy sales circumstances matter so much in these cases.
Robbery vs. Extortion
People sometimes confuse robbery with extortion, but the timing of the threat separates them. Robbery requires an immediate threat: hand over the wallet right now or get hurt right now. Extortion involves a threat of future harm, like “pay me by Friday or I’ll release those photos,” or “give me a cut of your business or something bad will happen next month.” Both are serious felonies, but the urgency of the danger in robbery drives its harsher treatment in most jurisdictions.