The study went beyond previous research by: (1) gender disaggregating the Uniform Crime Report index-crime rates (homicide, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny-theft) across U.S. cities; (2) focusing explicitly on the effects of structural disadvantage variables on the index-offending rates of females; and (3) comparing the effects of the structural variables on female rates with those for male rates. To provide more theoretically appropriate indicators, it used alternative measures of structural disadvantage such as gender-specific poverty and joblessness and included controls for age structure and structural variables related to offending. The structural sources of high levels of female offending closely resembled those influencing male offending, but the effects tended to be stronger on male offending rates. From a policy perspective, identifying and remedying the macrosocial factors influencing female crime also will contribute substantially to reducing male crime. Notes, tables, references