Is crime going up or down?

Reported crime in the U.S. fell sharply in 2025. The FBI’s national figures show violent crime down about 9% and murder down about 18% from 2024. The FBI says the violent crime rate and the murder rate fell by more than in any year since it began estimating them in 1936. A separate federal survey of crime victims and a sample of big-city police data point the same way. Here’s the evidence, what it leaves out, and how to check the trend where you’re looking.

Three sources, one direction

Police reports. The FBI collects crimes reported to police from agencies covering about 96% of the population. Its 2025 figures, released in August 2026, show property crime down 12% and car theft down 23%. The 2025 murder rate, 4.1 per 100,000, ties the lowest on record, set in the mid-1950s.

Victims. The Bureau of Justice Statistics asks a national sample of households about crimes against them, whether or not they told police. Its early 2025 estimates show property crime against households down 19%, and serious violent crime, which leaves out simple assault, down 25%.

Big cities, this year. The Council on Criminal Justice tracks police data from a few dozen large cities. In the first half of 2026, homicides were down another 18% from a year earlier, and car thefts down 20% (published July 2026).

What the trend leaves out

Not everything fell. In the same 2026 city sample, reported domestic violence rose 8% in the handful of cities that publish it, and shoplifting rose 4%. National numbers also hide local ones: a national decline can sit alongside increases in particular places.

Some years are hard to compare. In 2021 the FBI switched to a new reporting system, and agencies covering only about 65% of the population sent data that year. The FBI says 2021 isn’t reliable for trends. Our guide to why crime maps disagree explains that gap.

When the numbers arrive

National figures lag. The FBI publishes a full year’s data the following August or so, with an early look in late spring. Many police departments publish their own data monthly or even daily, which is the fastest way to see a local trend.

Checking the trend where you’re looking

• Compare at least three years, not one year to the next.
• Skip 2021 in national comparisons.
• Look at rates, not counts, if the population changed.
• Look at violent and property crime separately; they don’t always move together.

A trend describes events. It says nothing about the people who live there. Our guide to looking up crime data yourself lists where to find local numbers.

The crime rate layer shows the most recent rates we have for each area.