AP Statistics chart assignment

Chart 1 of 1 · Crime

Is violent crime in the U.S. going up or down?

Down, over the long run. Police reported about 329 violent crimes per 100,000 people in 2025, about 59% below the 1991 peak of about 798, and the lowest since at least 1985. The rate rose in 2020 and 2022, then fell in 2023, 2024 and 2025. In 2021 the FBI stopped taking its old summary reports and accepted only its newer, more detailed system (NIBRS); many police departments hadn't switched yet, so agencies covering only about 77% of Americans reported, against 88 to 98% in other years, and 2021's number is less certain. Rates count only the agencies that reported, so they differ a little from the FBI's national estimates, and the FBI widened its definition of rape in 2013.

Source: FBI Crime Data Explorer, Uniform Crime Reporting Program (Public domain (U.S. government work); source FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program) · Data as of Dec 31, 2025

How to read this chart

Each point is the number of violent crimes police reported for every 100,000 Americans that year. The line starts at zero, so its height shows the true size. In 2021 the FBI changed how it collects reports and fewer police departments sent numbers, so that year is less certain than the others.

Questions

1. Find the year with the highest rate. About how much lower is the rate in the latest year?
2. Many people say they think crime is rising. How could that belief and this chart both seem true to different people?
3. Why might a change in how crimes are counted, like the one in 2021, make one year hard to compare with the rest?

Chart and numbers: chart.ly/charts/us-violent-crime-rate · More free charts at chart.ly