

Ritesh
Updated · May 28, 2023
Updated · May 19, 2023
Ritesh Kumar has a seemingly deep obsession with anything web, tech and SEO (in no particular order)... | See full bio
Performing background checks has become an essential practice for individuals and organizations alike. 96% of organizations said they conduct at least one background check on their job candidates.
89% of these organizations do this to protect their employees, customers, and communities. This is a result of countless news about workplace shootings and other violence.
This article lists background check statistics illustrating the importance of thorough background screening in today’s society. More insights and information can be found below.
There are available statistics on various background checks, ranging from criminal background check statistics to human resources and finance. We will tackle them all in the following sections.
Criminal background check refers to the background screening relating to any crime. Many people have a criminal history.
Failure to do a background check on these people often results in violence, theft, and other illegal activities within the organization or community.
Here are some criminal background check statistics worth knowing:
(The Sentencing Project)
1 in 3 Americans, or around 70 to 100 million, has a criminal record. When performing a background check, these people will likely have a red flag on applying for a job or a gun permit.
Due to this, many Americans may face challenges in securing a job or firearms. The background check will reveal their criminal history and could negatively impact their selection chances.
(Giffords)
In the U.S., states that lack universal background check laws for gun purchases have a higher incidence of crime guns being transported across state lines than states requiring background checks for all gun sales.
Individuals who cannot pass background checks in their home state can seek to purchase firearms in states with less restrictive laws. They can transport these firearms to their home state for illegal use.
(Giffords)
Since unlicensed gun sellers don’t do background checks, many people can buy guns easily. Criminals can have access to firearms without being assessed. It makes it easier for them to commit violent crimes.
Giffords Law Center reveals that 80% of all firearms used in criminal activities are bought from unlicensed sellers. Meanwhile, 96% of inmates already prohibited from owning guns when convicted of gun offenses also obtained firearms from these sellers.
(Giffords)
An estimated 22% of U.S. gun owners obtained firearms without a background check. This is millions of Americans owning guns each year with no questions asked.
It has then been a source of controversy and debate regarding gun control and the prevention of firearm-related crimes.
(Giffords)
Since the start of the federal background check requirement in 1994, over 3 million people have been denied a permit to purchase guns. Over 35% of these rejections involved people convicted of felony offenses.
This data suggests that conducting background checks helps identify and prevent potentially dangerous individuals from obtaining firearms.
(Statista)
The Federal Firearms Licensees (FFLs) used the background checks done by National Instant Criminal Background Checks System (NICS) to decide a buyer’s eligibility to own firearms.
These are the reasons for federal denials resulting from NICS background checks and their corresponding number of rejections:
Reason for Denial |
Number of Denials |
Convicted of a misdemeanor punishable by more than two years or a crime punishable by more than one year: |
1,065,341 |
Fugitive from justice |
211,631 |
Unlawful user or addicted to a controlled substance |
198,702 |
Misdemeanor crime of domestic violence conviction |
178,091 |
State prohibitor |
121,763 |
Under indictment/information |
98,175 |
Protection/restraining order for domestic violence |
72,152 |
Adjudicated mental health |
65,088 |
Illegal/unlawful alien |
40,510 |
Federally denied person file |
6,402 |
Dishonorable discharge |
1,579 |
Renounced US citizenship |
111 |
(Giffords)
According to the FBI’s quality control evaluations, background checks are accurate approximately 99.3% to 99.8% of the time.
This shows that background checks effectively prevent people not allowed by law to own guns from getting them.
(Urban)
Criminal background checks are essential for employment. Of the 72% of companies that performed background checks in 2017, 82% screened applicants for their criminal histories.
(Forbes)
Based on the article by Forbes, ¾ of employees have stolen from their company. This implies that employee theft is prevalent in organizations. Background checks are essential to prevent these kinds of instances.
(Hayes International)
In the 2022 Hayes International Retail Theft Survey, out of 26 large retail companies and 22,182 stores, 44,834 employees were arrested. These companies recovered $50 million from these employees. This data is higher than the 2021 report by 14.7%.
Criminal background checks can somehow diminish this kind of employer monetary loss.
A background check in a job application is an integral step in employment. Human resources often conduct this to their applicants for various reasons. Here are a few data surrounding human resource background checks:
(Screen and Reveal)
Only 63% of organizations conduct background checks for all employees, while 32% do it for full-time employees. 2% of HR professionals said that they only run background checks for high-level employees, office workers, and those who will handle sensitive information.
(HR.com)
A survey conducted by HR.com in 2021 revealed that organizations primarily run background checks for full-time employees. Here’s how many organizations conduct background checks per employee type:
(SHRM.org)
A large percentage of employers perform background checks during the recruitment process. It helps them evaluate the candidate’s qualifications, past work experiences, and criminal history before hiring the applicant.
Society for Human Resource Management revealed the following data in 2019:
(Statista)
The job application process takes a while. Mostly, this is because background checks also take time.
This is why in 2018, 41% of employees were willing to wait for one week to less than ten days to complete the background check process. 22% can wait up to 2 weeks, while only 20% can wait for two weeks or more.
(Short Lister)
Most companies run background checks on applicants to decrease the chance of possible illegal activities. Here’s the breakdown of the reasons:
(AccuSource)
46% of reference and credential verifications indicated a discrepancy between the information applicants put in their resumes and what the screening revealed.
This is why background checks are essential. It ensures that candidates have provided accurate information during the hiring process.
(StandOut CV)
In 2022, 42.5 million Americans admitted to falsifying information on their resumes during job applications.
This highlights the prevalence of dishonesty in the job application process. It raises concerns about the reliability of candidate information during recruitment.
(StandOut CV)
Most job applicants have lied on their resumes about previous work experience. This is likely because many applicants are young and need more experience. It becomes challenging for them to land a job accepting applicants without knowledge.
Based on StandOut CV, these are the typical lies applicants tell on their resumes:
False Information |
Percentage of Applicants |
Previous work experience |
55.4% |
Skills |
43.1% |
College degree |
41% |
Employer references |
40.3% |
Personal details |
39.5% |
High school details |
39.2% |
Salary information |
33.6% |
Job specifics software/equipment skills |
33.5% |
(StandOut CV)
16.9% of applicants used phony job reference services. This involves creating fake employers and paying actors to pose as references.
The average cost of references is around $145 each, showing the extent to which applicants are willing to go for a position in the organization.
Background checks are essential in the finance industry. Insider threats are prevalent in this industry, with over 1/3 of insiders targeting money in an electronic form.
With a loss of $100,000, banking and financial services is among the top sectors for workplace theft in 2022. Here are some statistics involving finance background checks:
(Carnegie)
Between 1996 and 2018, 237 reported incidents of insider misconduct impacted finance and insurance organizations. This statistic highlights the need for background checks to prevent these occurrences in the future.
Here’s a breakdown of the insider incidents in finance and insurance organizations:
(Carnegie)
The Software Engineering Institute blog stated that almost 98% of insiders working in the finance and insurance industry were primarily motivated by financial gain. This shows the significant role of financial incentives in driving insider misconduct in the industry.
Here’s the data for insider motivation for committing fraud:
Background checks are essential in various aspects of our lives. This helps lessen potential risks for individuals, organizations, and multiple communities.
These background check statistics show that they are essential in preventing individuals with criminal tendencies from gaining access to firearms.
We can also see that background checks are becoming common in hiring processes. Many organizations incorporate this in pre-employment to prevent bad hires and keep their employees and customers safe.
The most common types of background checks are criminal history and identity verification. These are done mainly to avoid future criminal activities in the workplace.
This depends on your location, but generally, a background check goes as far back as seven years.
The typical red flags in a background check include criminal record, inconsistency in information, multiple periods of unemployment, short-lived jobs, missing relevant past jobs, suspicious credit history, negative references, and refusing background checks.
Ritesh
Ritesh Kumar has a seemingly deep obsession with anything web, tech and SEO (in no particular order). He has more than five years of experience in the background check industry, promoting and collaborating with all the major brands in the space. He is currently the co-founder of LookupAPlate.com - A free tool to report bad drivers and look up license plates. Talk to him about Google algorithmic updates, and he can go on and on till the sheep come home.
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