Stealing may be viewed very differently under the law depending on the value of what is taken.
But how much theft is a felony?
In the United States, theft can be charged as either a minor offence or a serious crime, largely based on how much was stolen.
Stealing a neighbour’s purse worth $300 in one state might only be a misdemeanour with a small fine or brief jail time, but in another state that same act could count as a felony with potential prison time.
A felony is a category of serious crime.
Legally, a felony is defined as a criminal act severe enough that it is punishable by more than one year of imprisonment (and in some states can even carry the death penalty for the most extreme offences).Â
This contrasts with a misdemeanour, which is a less serious offence usually punishable by no more than a year in a local jail.
Felonies encompass the gravest offences.
This is not only violent crimes like murder or rape, but also certain serious non-violent crimes such as major fraud or significant theft.
Being convicted of a felony typically carries harsh consequences.
Beyond a lengthy prison sentence, a person can face heavy fines and long-term restrictions on their rights and opportunities.
For example, felons often lose the right to vote or possess firearms, and they encounter difficulties securing employment or housing due to their criminal record.
There is no single national rule for the dollar amount that makes a theft a felony.
Each state in the USA sets its own felony theft threshold, which is the monetary value above which a theft is charged as a felony rather than a misdemeanour.
This means the exact cutoff can differ greatly from one state to another.
In some states, stealing anything above a few hundred dollars is enough to be a felony, while in others the threshold is set in the thousands.
The majority of U.S. states have a felony theft threshold in the range of about $1,000 to $1,500.
On the lower end, there are states with thresholds under $1,000.
The highest felony theft limits in the nation are found in Texas and Wisconsin, where stealing $2,500 or more is a felony.
Anything below those amounts in those states would be a misdemeanour theft charge.
There table below shows the state-by-state variation:
| State | Felony Theft Threshold |
| Alabama | $500 |
| Alaska | $750 |
| Arizona | $1,000 |
| Arkansas | $1,000 |
| California | $950 |
| Colorado | $2,000 |
| Connecticut | $1,000 |
| Delaware | $1,500 |
| District of Columbia | $1,000 |
| Florida | $750 |
| Georgia | $1,500 |
| Hawaii | $750 |
| Idaho | $1,000 |
| Illinois | $500 |
| Indiana | $750 |
| Iowa | $1,500 |
| Kansas | $1,500 |
| Kentucky | $1,000 |
| Maine | $1,000 |
| Maryland | $1,500 |
| Massachusetts | $1,200 |
| Michigan | $1,000 |
| Minnesota | $1,000 |
| Mississippi | $1,000 |
| Missouri | $750 |
| Montana | $1,500 |
| Nebraska | $1,500 |
| Nevada | $1,200 |
| New Hampshire | $1,000 |
| New Jersey | $200 |
| New Mexico | $500 |
| New York | $1,000 |
| North Carolina | $1,000 |
| North Dakota | $1,000 |
| Ohio | $1,000 |
| Oklahoma | $1,000 |
| Oregon | $1,000 |
| Pennsylvania | $2,000 |
| Rhode Island | $1,500 |
| South Carolina | $2,000 |
| South Dakota | $1,000 |
| Tennessee | $1,000 |
| Texas | $2,500 |
| Utah | $1,500 |
| Vermont | $900 |
| Virginia | $1,000 |
| Washington | $750 |
| West Virginia | $1,000 |
| Wisconsin | $2,500 |
| Wyoming | $1,000 |
These variations show that how much theft is a felony truly depends on where you are.
There is a tremendous range from as low as $200 up to $2,500 across different states.
It’s worth noting that these dollar thresholds have not been static over time.
Many states have raised their felony theft thresholds in recent years, largely to keep pace with inflation and to recalibrate what counts as a ‘serious’ theft in today’s economy.
Since the year 2000, 37 states have increased the minimum value that triggers a felony charge.
For example, states like Alaska and Louisiana have bumped up their thresholds multiple times in the past decade.
These reforms recognise that the prices of goods rise over time.
By raising the threshold, states aim to ensure that felony charges are reserved for thefts that are truly significant, rather than tagging relatively small thefts as major crimes.
Advocates for reform often argue that ‘the punishment should fit the crime’, meaning minor shoplifting shouldn’t ruin someone’s life with a felony record.
However, not all states update their laws frequently.
A few still have very outdated limits that haven’t changed in decades, which leads to extremely low felony thresholds.
The debates around whether to raise or lower these thresholds involve weighing various social and criminal justice consequences.
While the value of stolen property is the main determinant of whether a theft is a felony, other circumstances can upgrade a theft charge to a felony regardless of the amount.
Here are some common aggravating factors that can make a theft a felony:
A person with prior theft convictions can face felony charges for a new theft even if the stolen amount is below the usual felony threshold.
Some jurisdictions treat a repeat petty thief as a felon due to their criminal history.
If someone keeps committing small thefts again and again, the law may escalate the charge to a felony on a subsequent offense to reflect the repeat behaviour.
If any force, violence, or intimidation is involved in taking property, the crime is no longer mere ‘theft’.
It becomes robbery, which is inherently a felony.
Even grabbing a $20 item from someone’s hands using force is typically charged as a robbery rather than a simple shoplifting.
The presence of a weapon, or even just gesturing as if one has a weapon, will elevate the incident to a felony because of the danger to people, regardless of the value stolen.
The law treats the protection of persons as paramount, so any theft from a person with threat or harm is a serious crime.
Certain items and circumstances carry automatic felony charges due to their nature, independent of value.
For example, theft of a firearm is almost always a felony, even if the gun is not very expensive.
Stealing a motor vehicle (grand auto theft) is also typically a felony regardless of the car’s value.
Likewise, theft of controlled substances (such as a quantity of drugs), livestock or cattle in agricultural states, or items of particularly high cultural or historical value can be classified as felonies by statute.
Also, if a theft occurs as part of another crime like burglary (breaking into a building to steal), it will usually be charged as a felony because burglary itself is a serious offence.
The law recognizes these scenarios as more serious because they either pose greater risks or involve property considered especially important or sensitive.
Having a very low monetary threshold for felony theft can lead to several problems.
Here are some key downsides of a low felony theft limit:
When the felony threshold is set too low, people can end up being charged and treated as felons for relatively minor thefts.
This is often viewed as disproportionate.
A felony charge brings the possibility of significant prison time and a lifelong criminal record for what might have been, say, a $300 or $400 theft.
Those felony consequences can heavily impact a person’s life.
They might face difficulty getting a job or renting a home, all for a small-scale offence.
Many states with low thresholds have not updated them in decades, meaning the law hasn’t kept up with the changing value of money.
The result is that what constituted a major theft 40 years ago might be a trivial amount today, yet the old law still treats it as a serious felony.
New Jersey’s $200 benchmark from 1978 is a prime example.
Obviously, $200 in the late 1970s could buy a lot more than $200 today.
Because the price of goods has risen while the threshold stayed the same, more and more low-level thefts end up crossing the felony line simply due to inflation.
In effect, the punishment for a given theft becomes harsher over time without lawmakers ever explicitly deciding so.
A low felony theft limit means a larger number of low-level offenders get caught in the net of felony prosecution and sentencing.
This can have a detrimental effect on those individuals and on society at large.
Someone who commits a one-time petty theft might be charged as a felon and sent to prison alongside serious criminals.
Once they have a felony record, their prospects worsen.
It becomes much harder to find employment or stable housing, increasing the chances that they may return to crime.
In the context of drug addiction-related theft, experts note that harsh theft laws often push vulnerable offenders into a costly cycle of crime rather than help them.
Additionally, filling prisons with low-level thieves is costly for taxpayers and contributes to prison overcrowding.
There’s also a fairness issue: those with felony records from small thefts face lifelong stigma and loss of rights, which many view as an overreach for the crime committed.
On the other hand, setting the felony theft threshold very high also comes with potential downsides.
Critics of high thresholds argue that they might inadvertently encourage theft or make it harder to deter and punish serious thieves.
Key concerns about a high felony theft limit include:
If thieves know that stealing just under a certain amount will only be treated as a misdemeanour, they might take advantage of that.
Professional criminals can be very savvy about these laws.
Organised shoplifting rings and repeat thieves often adjust their tactics to stay below the felony threshold on purpose.
For example, if the cutoff is $1,000, a thief might consistently steal merchandise worth $900 each time, thus ensuring that if caught, they face the lighter misdemeanour penalties.
This loophole behavior means a high threshold could effectively set an upper limit for ‘acceptable’ theft in the eyes of criminals, as long as they don’t cross that line.
Relatedly, when the threshold is high, a person could commit multiple thefts that each stay under the felony amount and only rack up misdemeanour charges, even though their cumulative theft might be large.
This can be frustrating for businesses and police.
In states like California, authorities have encountered habitual shoplifters hitting store after store, stealing just below $950 each time.
To address this, California recently passed a law allowing prosecutors to aggregate multiple theft incidents by the same suspect to reach the felony threshold total.
If someone steals $300 from three different retail shops, the law can add those amounts together so that the offender can be charged with a felony for the combined thefts.
This kind of legal change became necessary because, under a high threshold, repeat offenders were otherwise escaping felony charges despite causing significant overall losses. It shows that a high limit might inadvertently let some serious thieves off the hook unless special measures are taken.
With a high felony threshold, there’s also a perception of injustice to victims when sizable thefts are charged only as misdemeanours.
For example, if a state’s limit is $2,500, an offender could steal merchandise worth $2,400, yet legally that remains a misdemeanour offence.
Some members of the public and business owners feel this is too lenient, as the punishment may not reflect the seriousness of the loss.
Retailers especially point out that theft, even below felony levels, can hurt their bottom line in a big way.
If the law only issues minor penalties to thieves who contribute to these huge losses, critics argue there isn’t enough deterrent.
In high-threshold jurisdictions, prosecutors might be forced to repeatedly deal with the same thieves committing misdemeanours over and over.
The concern is that the deterrence effect of the law is weakened when people know they can steal quite a large amount and still avoid the serious consequences of a felony charge.
How much theft is a felony?
This ultimately depends on the law of the state in question, and as we’ve seen, the answers vary.
The amount of theft that constitutes a felony is a policy choice that reflects how a society balances justice and mercy for property crimes.
If you live in the US, it’s wise to be aware of your own state’s law.
Stealing a certain amount could mean a minor charge in one state or a major felony in another.
Regardless of the threshold, any theft is illegal and comes with consequences.
The felony designation simply raises the stakes significantly.
Lawmakers continue to refine these laws, aiming to ensure that serious thieves face appropriate punishment, while those who commit smaller offenses aren’t over-penalised.
The evolving nature of these thresholds shows an ongoing effort to make the punishment fit the crime in a fair and sensible way.
