Guide
Is crime falling in the U.S.?
Over the long run, yes. Police reported about 329 violent crimes per 100,000 people in 2025, 59% below the 1991 peak, and property crime was 71% below its 1991 peak. In 2025 alone, violent crime fell 9.4%, murder fell 17.3% and property crime fell 12.2% from the year before, as police reported them to the FBI.
Figures update themselves from 8 charts; newest data as of December 31, 2025.
Violent crimes per 100,000 people, 2025
329
Down 9.4% from 2024; 798 at the 1991 peak
Murders per 100,000 people, 2025
4.3
Down 17.3% from 2024; 10.3 at the 1991 peak
Property crimes per 100,000 people, 2025
1,552
Down 12.2% from 2024; 5,388 at the 1991 peak
Violent crime since 1985
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Violent crime is murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault. Police reported about 798 of them per 100,000 people in 1991, the most in this record, and about 329 in 2025, the lowest rate since at least 1985.
The rate fell through the 1990s and 2000s, rose in 2020 and again in 2022 (2021's number is less certain; see below), then fell in 2023, 2024 and 2025.
Murder since 1985
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The murder rate peaked at about 10.3 per 100,000 people in 1991 and was 4.3 in 2025, the lowest rate since at least 1985. It jumped from 5.2 in 2019 to 6.8 in 2020, the biggest one-year rise from 1985 to 2025, stayed near that level in 2021 and 2022, then fell in 2023, 2024 and 2025.
Property crime since 1985
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Property crime is burglary, theft, car theft and arson, by far the most common crimes police record. The rate was about 1,552 per 100,000 people in 2025, against 5,388 at its 1991 peak, 3.5 times as high. Unlike violent crime, it kept falling through the late 2010s and in 2020.
Where violent crime is highest
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National rates hide big differences. In 2025, District of Columbia had the highest violent crime rate of the 50 states and D.C., about 806 per 100,000 people, and Maine the lowest, about 95. The murder rate ranged from 16.7 in District of Columbia to 1.2 in New Hampshire.
Among the 89 biggest cities whose police reported a full year, Memphis, TN (1,853), Detroit, MI (1,654) and Oakland, CA (1,475) had the highest violent crime rates, and St. Louis, MO the highest murder rate (51.3). A city's rate depends on where its borders fall, so compare cities with care.
- How has crime changed in your state since 1985? →
- Which states have the most violent crime? →
- Which states have the highest murder rates? →
- Which big U.S. cities have the most violent crime? →
- Which big U.S. cities have the highest murder rates? →
- Each big city's crime rates since 1985 →
- Each state in charts →
The numbers
Each year, newest first. A dash means no figure.
| Year | Violent crimes per 100,000 people | Murders per 100,000 people | Property crimes per 100,000 people |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 329.3 | 4.3 | 1,552.1 |
| 2024 | 363.4 | 5.2 | 1,766.8 |
| 2023 | 385.6 | 6.1 | 1,950.5 |
| 2022 | 398.2 | 6.9 | 1,998.5 |
| 2021 | 360.9 | 6.9 | 1,762.2 |
| 2020 | 399.3 | 6.8 | 1,955.3 |
| 2019 | 381.0 | 5.2 | 2,109.0 |
| 2018 | 384.8 | 5.2 | 2,206.8 |
| 2017 | 397.5 | 5.4 | 2,372.4 |
| 2016 | 399.5 | 5.4 | 2,469.1 |
| 2015 | 384.6 | 5.0 | 2,495.2 |
| 2014 | 373.7 | 4.5 | 2,591.8 |
| 2013 | 378.2 | 4.6 | 2,759.3 |
| 2012 | 390.7 | 4.8 | 2,881.3 |
| 2011 | 390.1 | 4.8 | 2,925.7 |
| 2010 | 408.1 | 4.8 | 2,963.4 |
| 2009 | 436.8 | 5.1 | 3,076.7 |
| 2008 | 463.7 | 5.5 | 3,252.3 |
| 2007 | 477.9 | 5.8 | 3,316.1 |
| 2006 | 486.9 | 5.9 | 3,397.1 |
| 2005 | 483.0 | 5.9 | 3,518.3 |
| 2004 | 478.6 | 5.7 | 3,599.4 |
| 2003 | 493.7 | 5.9 | 3,704.0 |
| 2002 | 512.9 | 5.9 | 3,737.7 |
| 2001 | 529.5 | 5.9 | 3,801.5 |
| 2000 | 534.4 | 5.8 | 3,751.7 |
| 1999 | 545.8 | 5.9 | 3,872.6 |
| 1998 | 603.8 | 6.6 | 4,212.6 |
| 1997 | 644.9 | 7.2 | 4,494.7 |
| 1996 | 658.8 | 7.8 | 4,553.0 |
| 1995 | 720.6 | 8.7 | 4,796.6 |
| 1994 | 740.4 | 9.2 | 4,752.4 |
| 1993 | 764.1 | 9.8 | 4,814.1 |
| 1992 | 785.4 | 9.7 | 5,089.3 |
| 1991 | 798.1 | 10.3 | 5,388.4 |
| 1990 | 749.8 | 9.7 | 5,227.0 |
| 1989 | 680.5 | 8.9 | 5,211.5 |
| 1988 | 630.2 | 8.5 | 5,045.9 |
| 1987 | 624.9 | 8.4 | 5,090.1 |
| 1986 | 633.6 | 8.7 | 5,015.3 |
| 1985 | 570.3 | 8.1 | 4,780.0 |
What these numbers can and can't tell you
These are crimes police recorded and reported to the FBI. Many crimes, especially thefts and assaults, are never reported to police, so the rates show reported crime, not all crime.
Rates count only the police agencies that reported, so they differ a little from the FBI's national estimates. In 2021 the FBI stopped taking its old summary reports and accepted only its newer 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 numbers are less certain. The FBI also widened its definition of rape in 2013.
The FBI revises earlier years as more reports come in, and this guide always shows the latest figures. When the FBI publishes a new year, the charts update themselves, and so does every number on this page.
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Sources
FBI Crime Data Explorer, Uniform Crime Reporting Program (Public domain (U.S. government work); source FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program), data as of December 31, 2025, in these charts:
- Is violent crime in the U.S. going up or down?
- How has the U.S. murder rate changed since 1985?
- How much has property crime fallen in the U.S.?
- Which states have the most violent crime?
- Which states have the highest murder rates?
- Which big U.S. cities have the most violent crime?
- Which big U.S. cities have the highest murder rates?
- How has crime changed in your state since 1985?