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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Source and date
- Data as of
- Published
The data
| 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 |