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, less than half the 1991 peak of about 798 and the lowest since at least 1985. The rate rose in 2020 and 2022 but has fallen since. 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.

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Key facts

Measure: Violent crimes per 100,000 people. Written from the data below.

  • The latest figure, for 2025, is 329.3.
  • That is down 42% from 570.3 in 1985.
  • The highest was 798.1 in 1991.
  • It is the lowest in the data, which go back to 1985.

Source and date

Source
FBI Crime Data Explorer, Uniform Crime Reporting Program
License
Public domain (U.S. government work); source FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program
Data as of
Published

Citation

Chartly. “Is violent crime in the U.S. going up or down?” Chart. Data: FBI Crime Data Explorer, Uniform Crime Reporting Program, https://cde.ucr.cjis.gov/LATEST/webapp/#/pages/explorer/crime/crime-trend (data as of December 31, 2025). https://chart.ly/charts/us-violent-crime-rate (accessed October 15, 2026).

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The data

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The file has the numbers in this table, with the source, license and date. Please credit the source and Chartly.

Year Violent crimes per 100,000 people
1985 570.3
1986 633.6
1987 624.9
1988 630.2
1989 680.5
1990 749.8
1991 798.1
1992 785.4
1993 764.1
1994 740.4
1995 720.6
1996 658.8
1997 644.9
1998 603.8
1999 545.8
2000 534.4
2001 529.5
2002 512.9
2003 493.7
2004 478.6
2005 483
2006 486.9
2007 477.9
2008 463.7
2009 436.8
2010 408.1
2011 390.1
2012 390.7
2013 378.2
2014 373.7
2015 384.6
2016 399.5
2017 397.5
2018 384.8
2019 381
2020 399.3
2021 360.9
2022 398.2
2023 385.6
2024 363.4
2025 329.3

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