The FBI reports roughly 800,000 residential burglaries annually in the United States. Of those, approximately 60 percent involve forcible entry — meaning the burglar did not find a conveniently unlocked door or window; they forced their way in. And the method in the overwhelming majority of forced entries is not picking a lock or bypassing an alarm. It is kicking in a door.
That single fact reshapes how you should think about residential entry point security. The lock on your door is rarely the weak point. The door frame almost always is.
The Anatomy of a Kick-In
When a burglar kicks in a door, the lock cylinder typically stays intact. What fails is the strike plate — the metal plate on the door frame that the bolt extends into. In most residential construction, that strike plate is held in place by two or three half-inch screws that bite only into the door casing trim, not into the structural framing behind it.
The framing lumber behind your trim is the actual load-bearing element. A strike plate anchored with 3-inch screws that penetrate through the trim and into that framing requires a dramatically different amount of force to defeat. Independent testing by security researchers and locksmiths has demonstrated this repeatedly — the same door that fails in one kick with standard hardware can require 15 or more kicks with proper frame reinforcement.
First fix, no tools required: Go buy a box of 3-inch #10 wood screws. Remove each existing screw from your strike plates and deadbolt strike plates. Replace them with the 3-inch screws driven into solid framing. Cost: about four dollars per door. Time: 20 minutes.
Lock Grades and What They Mean
ANSI/BHMA publishes standards for residential lock hardware. Grade 1 is the highest residential grade — tested to withstand 250,000 open/close cycles and a specific impact test. Grade 2 is what most builder-grade hardware ships with. Grade 3 is the bottom of the market.
The brand name on the lock matters less than the grade. A Kwikset in Grade 1 outperforms a Schlage in Grade 3. That said, for deadbolts specifically:
Schlage B-series deadbolts (particularly the B60N and B62N) are the standard recommendation at the Grade 1 level. They are widely available, reasonably priced, and have a strong security cylinder as standard. ANSI Grade 1 certified.
Medeco and Mul-T-Lock cylinders are the step up for high-security applications. They use security pins and patented keyways that resist picking and bump attacks significantly better than standard cylinders. The key control is also better — duplication requires authorization. The tradeoff is cost: a Medeco deadbolt is $100-180 versus $40-70 for a Schlage B-series.
For most residential applications, a Grade 1 Schlage deadbolt with proper frame reinforcement is the right answer. The high-security cylinder is an additional layer worth considering for primary entry points.
Door Frame Reinforcement Products
If replacing strike plate screws is the free fix, door frame reinforcement products take it further. Companies like Door Armor and Door Jamb Armor make steel reinforcement kits that wrap around the door frame, distributing kick force across a much larger surface area. These run $50-100 per door and require no carpentry skill — they’re designed to install over the existing trim with provided hardware.
The door itself matters too. Hollow-core interior doors are common and provide minimal resistance to forced entry — they are sometimes used on bedrooms or home offices in older construction. Solid-core or solid-wood exterior doors are the baseline standard. Steel-core doors with reinforced frames are the highest residential tier.
Windows: The Overlooked Entry Point
Approximately 23 percent of residential burglaries involve window entry. Factory window locks are designed to keep windows closed, not to resist forced entry. The mechanisms are typically thin zinc or aluminum castings that snap off easily.
Secondary blocking: a cut wooden dowel or commercial window security bar in the track of a sliding window prevents it from being forced open even if the factory lock is defeated. For double-hung windows, a pin lock — a simple metal pin through the sash frames — accomplishes the same thing. Cost is zero to minimal.
Window security film (applied to the glass) does not prevent breakage but dramatically slows forced entry through broken glass — the film holds the shattered glass together, requiring repeated strikes that draw attention and cost time. 3M Safety Series film is the widely-cited residential option.
Lighting and Deterrence
Burglars select targets. They look for concealment, low visible risk, and signs of absence. Motion-activated lighting covering entry points, gate access, and dark side yards removes the concealment element. LED solar-powered motion lights have reached a quality and price point ($20-40 per unit) where there is no longer a meaningful cost argument against installing them.
Camera visibility is a separate deterrent layer. Visible cameras change the cost-benefit calculation for opportunistic burglars. Whether or not they are actually monitored, their presence signals that entry will be documented.
The Layered Approach
No single measure is sufficient. The practical stack:
- Strike plate reinforcement with 3-inch screws — immediate, nearly free
- Grade 1 deadbolt on all exterior entry doors
- Secondary blocking on windows and sliding doors
- Motion-activated lighting at entry points
- Visible camera coverage
- Monitored alarm (SimpliSafe and Ring both offer this at reasonable cost points)
Each layer raises the time, effort, and risk required for entry. Opportunistic burglars — which is the majority — will move to an easier target. The layered approach is not about making your home impenetrable; it is about making it more work than the house next door.
Sources:
- FBI Uniform Crime Report, Burglary statistics — https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/
- ANSI/BHMA lock grading standards — https://www.bhma.org/standards/
- UL Listed lock certification database — https://iq.ulprospector.com/
- Door security research, University of Utah Physical Security Lab — https://security.utah.edu/
Related reading: Lock Picking 101: What Every Homeowner Should Know and How to Evaluate Your Home Physical Security.