The study hypothesizes that the single most important determinant of crime is economic welfare or status. Although this is not synonymous with wealth, the latter is, according to the definition used by economists, a good proxy. By this definition wealth is the current discounted value of all current and future income streams. As such, it includes not only physical possessions and monetary savings but also future earnings. The independent variables in the study were the number of cars per household, the percentage of the population over 16 years old in full-time education, population density, the percentage of the population in the 16-24 age group, and the unemployment rate for the area. As the dependent variable, two measures of crime were used: the total number of notifiable offenses in the area and the total number of burglaries in the area. Data are presented by police districts for England and Wales. The results presented in this paper are tentative, since the study is not completed. The author concludes that there is evidence that the crime rate is greatly affected by the economic welfare of the population; more wealth in an area means less crime. It is equally clear that living conditions are important. The higher the population density, the higher the crime rate. Less important but nevertheless a consistent influence is the age structure. For the most general measure of crime there is a suggestion that education might be important, but there is no indication that unemployment is an independent factor in determining crime. Any influence it has may work through its impact upon the general level of wealth. 8 tables, 3 notes, and 25 references