FBI Director Kash Patel said, “Collectively, law enforcement across the country—state, local travel and federal—has delivered for the American people the largest reduction in violent crime in U.S. history. Violent crime, and you’re talking rape, robbery, assault, all down double-digits across America.”
The nation’s violent crime rate fell 9.3% in 2025, marking the largest year-to-year decline since the FBI began estimating crime trends in 1936, according to newly released FBI data.
The decrease was broad. The estimated number of violent crime offences fell from 2024, with murder and nonnegligent manslaughter down 18.1%, robbery down 18.5%, rape down 7.6%, and aggravated assault down 7.2%.
The estimated murder rate fell to 4.1 per 100,000 inhabitants—the same rate recorded in 1955 and 1956 and the lowest since the FBI began keeping national estimates.
FBI Director Kash Patel called the decline a result of law enforcement agencies working together across jurisdictions.
“Collectively, law enforcement across the country—state, local, Tribal, and federal—has delivered for the American people the largest reduction in violent crime in U.S. history,” Patel said in an August 19, 2026, video message. “Violent crime, and you’re talking rape, robbery, assault, all down double-digits across America.”
The numbers offer a striking reversal from the increase in violent crime seen during the COVID-19 pandemic. They also represent the second consecutive year of substantial declines.
The FBI provided an early look at the historically low crime numbers in May when the Bureau’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program released estimates in a First Look: 2025 Crime Data report. The FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services Division recently redesigned and accelerated the crime data releases to get valuable information to our partners and the public faster and in a more user-friendly format.
“Collectively, law enforcement across the country—state, local, Tribal, and federal—has delivered for the American people the largest reduction in violent crime in U.S. history.”
The FBI estimates that 1,119,768 violent crime offenses occurred nationwide in 2025, producing a rate of 327.6 offenses per 100,000 inhabitants, down from 362.9 in 2024.
Property crime declined as well, falling an estimated 12.4%. Burglary decreased 15.8%, larceny-theft fell 9.8%, and motor vehicle theft dropped 22.7%.
The declines were reflected in several of the FBI’s long-term measures. The 2025 robbery rate of 49.4 per 100,000 was the lowest in 20 years, while the rape rate of 36.1 was the lowest since 2012. The murder rate was the lowest in the past 20 years.
The FBI estimates that law enforcement agencies made 413,991 arrests for violent crime offenses in 2025.
The FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program relies on data submitted by law enforcement agencies throughout the country.
The statistics provide more than a national tally of crimes. Through the National Incident-Based Reporting System, or NIBRS, participating agencies provide detailed information about offenses, victims, known offenders, relationships between victims and offenders, and locations.
That information helps law enforcement agencies and others identify patterns and understand how crime changes over time.
The 2025 statistics were compiled from data submitted by more than 17,000 state, county, city, Tribal, and university and college law enforcement agencies, representing nearly 97% of the U.S. population.
For the FBI, the data also reflect the Bureau’s continuing work with its law enforcement partners. Under Director Patel, the FBI streamlined requirements to bring on task force officers from partner agencies more quickly, and agents are now even more integrated with federal law enforcement agencies through Homeland Security Task Forces.
Those partnerships can be particularly important when offenders or criminal organizations operate across jurisdictional boundaries.
Patel emphasized that cooperation during remarks to law enforcement officers in New York earlier this month.
“We’re going to carry forward the mission of crushing violent crime and defending the homeland,” Patel said. “We are going to be relentless pursuers of justice. We are going to safeguard our communities. We are going to save our kids.”