Study Does the Math: Robbing Banks Doesn't Pay

As the saying goes, crime doesn't pay, and when it comes to bank robbery, that's apparently true. The average per-person take from a US bank heist is a mere $4,330, according to a new study spotted by Gizmodo. The research heaps more rain on a would-be robber's parade, noting that after four heists, said criminal is more likely to find himself in jail than free, meaning a life spent rolling on a bed covered in Benjamins is probably truly just the stuff of Hollywood.

The study notes that British bank robbers fare a bit better, walking away with closer to $20,000 per person; having a bigger group and guns boosts the size of the loot, too, but it's still not enough to justify a stint in prison, let alone to retire on. Writing in the statistics journal Significance, the authors sum up their findings: "The return on an average bank robbery is, quite frankly, rubbish." (More bank robbery stories.)