I think it depends where in the US one lives. One of the towns I shop in is fairly small and that would pretty much be the same situation with them.
When we moved here 23 years ago, we needed some parts for something. I was working part time, and my husband was working full-time. The folks at the store said they would hang the bag on the door knob and to just slip the money in an envelope under the door. they did and we did, and welcome to a small town in the southern middle Tennessee. There are places where honesty still prevails, we just don’t hear about it very often.