U.S. Crime Rates, 1979–2025

In —, the violent crime rate was — per 100,000 people, a — — from — and — below its — peak. The property crime rate is — below its — peak.

Charts and table show
Violent crime rate
—
per 100,000 people in —
— vs — · — from — peak
— offenses (—)
Property crime rate
—
per 100,000 people in —
— vs — · — from — peak
— offenses (—)
Homicide rate
—
per 100,000 people in —
— vs — · — from — peak
— homicides (—)
Index crime rate (violent + property)
—
per 100,000 people in —
— vs — · — from — peak
— offenses (—)

Changes are from the year before. Green marks a decline, red an increase. Offense counts appear under each rate.

By offense · rate per 100,000 people

Each chart has its own scale, so compare shapes rather than heights. Violent offenses are in the first color, property offenses in the second.

Homicide

— per 100k · — in —

Rape

— per 100k · — in — (revised definition)
Legacy definitionRevised definition, from 2013

Robbery

— per 100k · — in —

Aggravated assault

— per 100k · — in —

Burglary

— per 100k · — in —

Larceny-theft

— per 100k · — in —

Motor vehicle theft

— per 100k · — in —

How far each offense has fallen from its peak · by rate

Percent below each offense's highest year since 1979, to the latest year. Rape is left out because its definition changed in 2013.

Year by year · rate per 100,000 people

Year Index crime Violent Homicide Rape (revised) Rape (legacy) Robbery Agg. assault Property Burglary Larceny-theft Vehicle theft
About this data
  • National figures from the FBI's Crime Data Explorer. 1979–2003 come from the Summary Reporting System; 2004 onward are the FBI's Crime in the United States estimates.
  • A rate is offenses per 100,000 residents, which adjusts for population growth (about 220 million in 1979, about 342 million in 2025).
  • Index crime is violent crime (homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault) plus property crime (burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft). Arson is not included.
  • In 2013 the FBI broadened its definition of rape. The legacy series runs 1979–2024 and the revised series 2013–2025. Violent and index crime totals use the revised definition from 2013, which adds a small break in those series.
  • 2021 was the FBI's first year accepting data only through NIBRS. Participation dropped sharply, so 2021 estimates carry more uncertainty than other years.
  • Clearance rates run 1995–2025 and count offenses cleared by arrest or by exceptional means. A clearance in one year can be for an offense from an earlier year. The 1995–2019 averages are simple means of each year's rate; for the revised rape definition the average covers 2013–2019, and the legacy rape series ends in 2016.
  • State figures for 2023–2025 are the FBI's state estimates and use the revised rape definition. 2010–2022 state totals and rates come from the FBI's Table 5 (Crime in the United States by State) for each year (Table 3 for 2016, Table 4 for 2021), with index crime added as violent plus property and Puerto Rico left out; each year's state populations add up to the national figure. 2021 comes from the FBI's Table 4 for 2021–2022, which gives the adjusted 2021 estimates published alongside the 2022 data; its state populations add up to 332.0 million, slightly more than the 331.9 million in the national series on the Crime rates tab, so the 2021 state figures and the national 2021 rate are not from the same release. For 2010–2012 the FBI tables give rape only under the old definition, so those years show no rape figure, and violent and index crime for those years include rape under the old definition, which adds a small break in 2013. For 2013–2016 the rape figures are the revised-definition column. The FBI notes limited data for Iowa in 2018; Alabama, Maryland and Pennsylvania in 2020; and Florida, Illinois, Maryland and Pennsylvania in 2022, so some of those states' figures drop sharply in those years. They are shown as published. D.C. is a single city, so its rates are not comparable to whole states; the state summary lists it apart. The dashed U.S. line on the state ranking comes from the national series on the Crime rates tab.
  • City figures cover cities of 200,000 or more, 2010–2025. The 2010–2018 figures come from the FBI's Table 8 for each year (Table 6 for 2016), with arson left off and rates worked out from the counts. Rape for 2010–2012 is only available under the old definition, so those years show no rape figure; 2013–2016 cities that still reported under the old definition also show none. The FBI left some totals out of its tables, so Chicago has no violent crime total for 2010–2013, Tucson (2010–2012) and Toledo (2010–2014) have no property crime total, and four North Carolina cities have no violent crime total for 2017–2018. Older files name Nashville and Savannah differently; they are matched to their current names. Akron, Birmingham, Montgomery and Shreveport appear only in earlier years, when they were above 200,000, and Aurora, Illinois only in 2013–2018. The 2019 file gives counts only, so its rates are worked out here as offenses ÷ population × 100,000, rounded to one decimal — the same method that reproduces the FBI's published rates for 2020 exactly. Boston and Albuquerque have no 2019 property crime total, so those rows are flagged as likely incomplete. The 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2023 files have no State column; states there are matched by city name to the 2020, 2024 and 2025 files, choosing the closest city in population and year where names repeat (Columbus, Glendale). 2021 lists far fewer cities, since many large departments, including New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, did not report during the FBI's switch to NIBRS. Rows with property crime missing, zero or under 300 per 100,000 (Chicago 2020, Savannah 2024–2025, Worcester 2024) are flagged as likely incomplete and left out of the highest and lowest comparisons. Some single figures, such as Oakland's 2023 violent crime rate and Mobile's in 2021, are far out of line with the years around them; they are shown as reported.