WASHINGTON, D.C. – Crime in the United States continued to fall in 2024, according to two new federal reports from the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, with declines in both violent and property offenses even as some states had higher-than-average crime rates.
Crime data often lags by months or even years at the national and subnational levels. Updated national data for 2025 is expected later this year from the FBI’s National Incident-Based Reporting System and the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics’ National Crime Victimization Survey, the two primary sources used in these reports.
Nationally, the rate of violent offenses reported to police declined 5.8%, from 393.9 per 100,000 people in 2023 to 370.8 in 2024, according to the first report, which examined data collected by law enforcement. Property offense rates fell 9%, from 2,019.7 to 1,835.1 per 100,000 people in 2024, according to the same report.
In 2024, 14 states had violent crime rates above the national average, led by New Mexico, followed by Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana and California, according to the report. Sixteen states also had property crime rates above the national average in 2024, with the highest rates in New Mexico, Colorado, Washington, Louisiana and Oregon.
Among violent offenses, homicides saw one of the steepest decreases. The homicide rate dropped 16%, from 6.1 per 100,000 people in 2023 to 5.1 in 2024, according to the report. Rates of rape, robbery and aggravated assault also declined.
Property offenses also decreased across multiple categories. Burglary and larceny-theft rates fell, and motor vehicle theft saw the largest drop, declining 18% from 2023 to 2024, according to the report.
The second report, from the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics, examined crime trends over a 10-year period using both law enforcement data and victim survey data.
Because many crimes go unreported, the bureau’s National Crime Victimization Survey captures both reported and unreported nonfatal offenses, which, together with law enforcement data, offers a more comprehensive analysis of crime in the United States.
The victimization survey data shows a more uneven trend over the past decade. Violent crime rates rose from 2015 to 2018, declined through 2021, then increased in 2022 before leveling off through 2024, with no statistically significant changes in recent years, according to the report.
By contrast, police-reported data shows relatively stable violent crime rates over that same period and a long-term decline in property crime, which fell 28% between 2015 and 2024, according to the report.
The two reports’ findings also align with other analyses pointing to a broader national decline in crime since the peak during the COVID-19 pandemic.
A recent report from the Council on Criminal Justice, a nonpartisan think tank, found homicides declined 21% in 2025 compared with 2024 and are down 44% from their peak in 2021. If national data for 2025 shows a similar pattern, the U.S. homicide rate could fall to its lowest level in more than a century.
Still, many crime data experts and researchers caution that there is no single explanation for the nationwide decline. Changes in policing strategies, criminal justice policies, economic conditions, technology and local violence prevention efforts may all play a role.
Stateline reporter Amanda Watford can be reached at ahernandez@stateline.org.
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