Popular ideas about crime victimization among the elderly are (1) the elderly have higher rates for criminal victimization than other age groups; (2) the physical and financial consequences of victimization are greater for the elderly than for other age groups; and (3) the psychological consequences of victimization are greater for the elderly than for other age groups. Empirical evidence does not support these beliefs; however, although there is relatively low crime victimization among the elderly, the high fear of crime among the elderly has been empirically established. The best explanations to date attribute these high levels of fear to feelings of personal vulnerability or the feeling that the consequences of victimization would be too great. There are a number of empirically determined predictors of high levels of fear in the elderly including nighttime, large urban areas, bad neighborhoods, communities with low integration, age-integrated public housing, low income, low education, poor health, being female, being black, being unmarried, living alone, and engaging in avoidance behaviors. Future research should seek more information on the personality and affective correlates of very fearful and less fearful persons in similar environmental and demographic circumstances and should include experimental testing of the current explanations of fear. Improvements in conceptual and methodological quality would also advance research. Fifty-eight bibliographic entries are provided.