Consumer Behavior

Nebraska home to highest number of dishonest consumers

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March 27, 2025

When it comes to being the home of the most dishonest consumer Nebraska leads the way.

Yet consumer dishonesty is happening everywhere and in a range of activities, according to a Total Odds study which found over two-fifths of Americans have witnessed a shopper stealing and didn't say a word.

Nearly one in five Americans admit to entering produce codes wrong intentionally to get a cheaper price and one in six have purposely not scanned an item at self-checkout, according to a blog post on the study's findings.

One in 10 Americans admit to purposely using an expired, incorrect or fake coupon while shopping for a discount, and the same ratio applies to consuming an item while shopping and not paying for it. One in 12 admit to swapping price stickers on an item while shopping.

Nebraska, Illinois and Oregon residents are the most dishonest shoppers in the U.S., according to the study, while Montana, North Dakota and New Jersey residents are the most honest shoppers in the U.S.

In Nebraska 55% of residents admitting to dishonest shopping behaviors and in Illinois 53% of the residents admit to dishonest shopping.

Additional findings include:

• Americans admit to being the most dishonest while shopping at Walmart and Target.
• 89% of Americans think inflation or "greedflation" has caused shoppers to be more dishonest.
• 81% of Americans think the presence of self-checkout has increased theft.