A recent story sparked controversy last week when a Connecticut man was arrested for finding a bag full of $5,000 in cash in a parking lot and keeping it. He was charged three months later with larceny.
Every state has laws requiring the return of money or property if it is possible to identify the owner, doing otherwise is considered theft.
This inspired BestCasinoSites.net to survey 6,610 Americans across the country to see who would risk it all and keep $1,000 if they found it on the floor, and who would hand it in to the police.
Overall survery results were that 47% of Americans would keep money found on the street if no one saw them.
Out of the women surveyed, 47.4% revealed they would keep the money, only a tiny fraction higher than the men that were asked (46.6%) and those who didn’t classify their gender (44.1%)
CITY | Hand it Over % | Keep it % | |
1 | Detroit, Michigan | 38% | 62% |
1 | Mephis, Tennessee | 38% | 62% |
1 | New Orleans, Louisiana | 38% | 62% |
2 | Baltimore, Maryland | 41% | 59% |
3 | Las Vegas, Nevada | 42% | 58% |
4 | El Paso, Texas | 43% | 57% |
4 | Oakland, California | 43% | 57% |
5 | Austin, Texas | 47% | 53% |
5 | Arlington, Texas | 47% | 53% |
5 | Washington, D.C. | 47% | 53% |
Out of the Americans asked, 62% of those from Detroit (Michigan), Memphis (Tennessee) and New Orleans (Louisiana) would rather keep the money than hand it into the police.
Interestingly, those in Boston (Massachusetts), Fresno (California), Minneapolis (Minnesota), San Jose (California) and Denver (Colorado) were all evenly split at 50% either way.
Portland ranked in the bottom half of the list, with 52% turning the money in and 48% keeping it.
CITY | Hand it Over % | Keep it % | |
1 | Jacksonville, Florida | 62% | 38% |
2 | Los Angeles, California | 61% | 39% |
2 | Tulsa, Oklahoma | 61% | 39% |
2 | Atlanta, Georgia | 61% | 39% |
3 | Miami, Florida | 59% | 41% |
3 | Houston, Texas | 59% | 41% |
3 | Phoenix, Arizona | 59% | 41% |