Blue-collar crime is a term used in criminology to describe any crime committed by an individual from a lower social class, as opposed to white-collar crime, which is associated with crime committed by someone of a higher-level social class. While blue-collar crime has no official legal classification, it holds to a general net group of crimes. These crimes are primarily small scale, for immediate beneficial gain to the individual or group involved in them. This can also include personal related crimes that can be driven by immediate reaction, such as during fights or confrontations. These crimes include but are not limited to narcotic production or distribution, sexual assault, theft, burglary, assault, or murder.

Blue-collar crimes are often easier to detect, have a clear victim, and are without a doubt illegal to those observing the action. The phrase blue-collar crime is not a legal term but is often used to contrast illegal acts with white-collar crime. Blue-collar crimes are, for the most part, those that cause an immediate and highly visible injury to society, so theyre usually punished much more rapidly and severely than white-collar crime. Also, citizens of lower social class cannot generally afford high-quality legal assistance, which means they tend to suffer far more severe punishment than white-collar criminals.