US Records Sharpest Decline in Violent Crime Since 1936, Homicides at Historic Low

In 2025, the United States recorded the largest annual decline in crime since the FBI began national estimates in 1936.

Recently released data from the federal agency show that violent crime fell by 9.7% in a single year. This demonstrates that the decline that began after the peak of the pandemic period has continued and accelerated significantly.

The most pronounced change was seen in homicides. The number of homicides fell by 18.1%, while the homicide rate declined by 18.5%, dropping to 4.1 cases per 100,000 residents.

The FBI estimates that this figure is similar to levels recorded in 1955 and 1956, and is the lowest ever recorded since the agency began publishing national data.

The decline also affected other categories of violent crime. Robberies fell by 18.5%, rapes by 7.6%, and aggravated assaults by 7.2%.

Property crime also recorded a significant decline, falling by 12.4% overall.

Motor vehicle thefts fell by 22.7%, burglaries by 15.8%, and larceny by 9.8%.

The report also highlights that this trend was not limited to a particular area. According to the FBI, the decline was observed across all population categories included in the analysis, from major urban centers to small cities, suburbs, and rural counties.

Cities with between 500,000 and 999,999 residents experienced the largest decline in violent crime, with a drop of 15.3%.

In this group of cities, homicides fell by 27.4%, robberies by 22.8%, and aggravated assaults by 12.6%.

The published document represents the FBI’s final assessment of crime levels in the United States during 2025.

The data were reported by 17,075 law enforcement agencies, covering more than 96% of the US population. In addition, all police departments in cities with more than one million residents submitted data for each of the year’s 12 months.

The figures are expected to open a new political debate in the US over the causes of this substantial decline.

The fact that the trend has continued over an extended period and across different areas makes it difficult to attribute it solely to a single president, policing method, or local policy.

The decline in homicides began in 2022, during Joe Biden’s administration, and continued in the years that followed.

President Donald Trump, who after returning to the White House has made crime one of the top priorities on his agenda, has attributed part of the decline to his administration’s policies and federal interventions in cities such as Washington and Memphis.