Abstract
The natural gas boom in the United States had positive impacts on counties located above these critical shale layers. These positive impacts include potential increases in wages, decreases in unemployment rates, and increases in tax-paying citizens. However, alongside these positive impacts came reports in media outlets such as The New York Times of increases in crime rates. We examine the validity of these reports by estimating the effect of fracking on crime. Specifically, we compare property crime rates in every fracking county in the United States to their non-fracking neighboring counties, while also controlling for relevant factors. Using a difference-in-differences model, we find a significant effect of fracking on aggregate property crime rates across the United States.
