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Crime in America remains one of the most misunderstood topics in public policy. Despite decades of available data, public perception often contradicts statistical reality.
The past ten years of federal crime statistics reveal a complex story that challenges common assumptions about safety in America.
How America Counts Crime
The federal government relies on two major programs to measure crime, each with distinct methodologies and purposes.
One reflects the official view processed by the justice system. The other captures the full societal experience of crime, whether victims report it or not.
The FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program
The most widely cited source of crime statistics is the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program. Established in 1930, the UCR collects data on crimes reported to law enforcement agencies. It is a voluntary program, but participation is extensive. Data comes from over 18,000 federal, state, county, and city agencies, covering the vast majority of the U.S. population.
The UCR’s primary objective is to generate reliable statistics for law enforcement administration and management. Traditionally, the program has focused on Part I crimes, broken into two categories:
Violent Crimes: Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault.
Property Crimes: Burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson.
The FBI has been transitioning from its legacy Summary Reporting System to the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS). NIBRS captures detailed, incident-level data on 52 different offense types, providing a much richer picture of circumstances, victims, and offenders involved in each crime. The legacy system was officially phased out in 2021, marking a significant shift in how the nation records crime statistics.
The National Crime Victimization Survey
The second primary source is the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), managed by the Bureau of Justice Statistics. The NCVS is a large-scale annual household survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau that interviews approximately 240,000 individuals in 150,000 households about their experiences with crime.
The NCVS measures what researchers call the “dark figure of crime” – offenses that are not reported to police. This is its key distinction from the UCR. The scale of unreported crime is immense. In 2022, only an estimated 41.5% of violent crimes and 31.8% of household property crimes were reported to authorities.
The survey collects information on nonfatal personal crimes (rape or sexual assault, robbery, aggravated and simple assault) and household property crimes (burglary/trespassing, motor vehicle theft, and other theft). It includes victim characteristics, offender details, and reasons why victims chose not to report crimes to police.
Why the Numbers Differ
The UCR and NCVS are designed to be complementary, but their different methodologies mean their findings can sometimes diverge. This was starkly illustrated in 2022, when UCR data suggested a drop in violent crime while NCVS data showed a significant increase.
Scope and Purpose: The UCR serves law enforcement administration, while the NCVS measures the full scope of crime and victimization.
Population Coverage: The UCR includes crimes against all persons (including children under 12) and commercial establishments. The NCVS is a household survey that interviews persons age 12 and older and excludes crimes against businesses, as well as crimes against people who are homeless or institutionalized.
Crime Definitions: The programs define some crimes differently. The UCR’s definition of burglary includes unlawful entry of any structure to commit a felony or theft, whereas the NCVS defines burglary as entry of a residence by a person who had no right to be there. The NCVS also measures crimes like simple assault and sexual assault, which the UCR does not track in the same way. The UCR tracks homicides and commercial crimes, which the NCVS does not.
The Reporting Gap: This is the most significant factor. The NCVS consistently records a much higher overall volume of crime because most offenses are never reported to police. In 2022, only 21.4% of rape/sexual assaults and 36.8% of simple assaults were reported to law enforcement.
The 2021 NIBRS Transition: The FBI’s mandatory transition to NIBRS in 2021 was a major disruptive event. Because not all law enforcement agencies were ready to submit data in the new format, participation temporarily plummeted. The 2021 UCR data missed information from nearly 40% of police agencies, including major departments in New York City and Los Angeles. This created a data vacuum, making 2021 UCR figures less reliable for year-over-year comparisons and fueling public confusion.
Comparison of Crime Measurement Systems
| Feature | FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program | Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) NCVS |
|---|---|---|
| Data Source | Data on crimes reported to and recorded by over 18,000 law enforcement agencies | A large, nationally representative survey of ~150,000 U.S. households asking about crime experiences |
| Primary Purpose | To provide reliable statistics for law enforcement administration, operation, and management | To measure the full scope of victimization, including crimes not reported to police, and to understand victim characteristics |
| What’s Measured | Primarily crimes reported to police | Both reported and unreported crimes |
| Key Crimes Covered | Murder, Rape (revised definition), Robbery, Aggravated Assault, Burglary, Larceny-Theft, Motor Vehicle Theft, Arson | Rape/Sexual Assault, Robbery, Aggravated and Simple Assault, Burglary/Trespassing, Motor Vehicle Theft, Other Theft |
| Key Crimes Excluded | Simple assault (only arrest data collected), sexual assault (as defined by NCVS), crimes not reported to police | Homicide (surveys living victims), Arson, commercial crimes, crimes against children under 12 |
| Population Covered | Entire U.S. population, including crimes against children, businesses, and institutions | Civilian, noninstitutionalized population age 12 and older. Excludes homeless persons and those in institutions |
| Key Strengths | Provides geographic data at the national, state, and local agency level. Tracks homicide rates. Reflects the official workload of the justice system | Captures the “dark figure of crime.” Provides detailed information on victims, offenders, and reasons for not reporting |
Violent Crime: A Decade of Turbulence
The story of violent crime in the United States over the past decade is one of turbulence against a backdrop of historic calm. While the long-term trend since the early 1990s has been a dramatic and sustained decline, the period from 2015 to 2024 was marked by concerning increases, followed by an unprecedented spike in 2020 and an equally remarkable reversal in the years since.
By 2022, the national violent crime rate was near a 50-year low, but the path to that point was anything but smooth.
Overall Trends
After decades of decline, violent crime rates saw a period of increase between 2014 and 2016 before stabilizing. The most significant event of the last decade was the major disruption of 2020. In that year, the estimated number of violent crimes rose by 5.6%, the first national increase in four years.
This spike appears to have been a temporary shock to the system rather than the start of a new upward trend. In the years that followed, violent crime began to fall again. Preliminary data from the FBI for 2024 shows a significant nationwide decrease in reported violent crime of 4.5% compared to the previous year.
The Homicide Spike and Recovery
Nowhere was the volatility of the last decade more apparent than in the nation’s homicide rate. The central event was the staggering 29.4% increase in murder and nonnegligent manslaughter in 2020 – the largest single-year jump ever recorded in the U.S. This surge pushed the homicide rate to a level not seen in years, and it remained elevated through 2021 and 2022 compared to the pre-pandemic baseline.
The reversal that followed has been just as dramatic. The homicide rate fell substantially in 2023 and continued to plummet in 2024. Preliminary FBI data for 2024 indicates a remarkable 14.9% decrease in murder from 2023. This historic decline suggests that the 2020 spike was an acute reaction to the unique societal pressures of that year, and that the long-term trend of decreasing lethal violence may be reasserting itself. Some estimates suggest homicide rates are on pace to return to 2015 levels.
Different Paths for Different Crimes
A closer look at the components of violent crime reveals that it is not a monolith. Different offenses followed very different paths. The 2020 spike was not a uniform rise in all violence but was overwhelmingly driven by increases in interpersonal conflict, while crimes with a financial motive, like robbery, declined.
Aggravated Assault: This is the most common form of violent crime reported in the U.S. It was a primary driver of the overall violent crime rate increase in 2020, jumping by 12.1%. This suggests that the societal stresses of the pandemic manifested heavily in serious, non-lethal confrontations. Since that peak, the trend has reversed, with aggravated assault rates falling by an estimated 3.0% in 2024.
Robbery: In stark contrast to homicide and assault, robbery has been on a more consistent downward trajectory. The opportunities for this type of street crime, which often involves strangers in public or commercial spaces, were likely reduced by pandemic-related lockdowns and changes in social patterns. The number of robberies fell by 9.3% in 2020 and continued to decline, with an estimated 8.9% drop in 2024.
Rape: This crime is notoriously underreported, making official statistics particularly challenging to interpret. According to the NCVS, only about one in five rapes or sexual assaults are ever reported to police. The FBI updated its definition of rape in 2013 to be more inclusive, which complicates direct comparisons with earlier years. With those caveats, the available UCR data shows a 12.0% decrease in reported rapes in 2020, followed by a further 5.2% decrease in 2024.
Violent Crime Rate Trends, 2015-2024
| Year | Total Violent Crime Rate | Murder Rate | Aggravated Assault Rate | Robbery Rate | Rape Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 373.7 | 4.9 | 237.8 | 102.2 | 39.3 |
| 2016 | 397.5 | 5.4 | 248.5 | 102.9 | 40.9 |
| 2017 | 394.9 | 5.3 | 248.9 | 98.6 | 41.7 |
| 2018 | 383.4 | 5.0 | 247.1 | 86.1 | 44.0 |
| 2019 | 380.8 | 5.1 | 250.2 | 81.8 | 43.6 |
| 2020 | 398.5 | 6.5 | 279.7 | 73.9 | 38.4 |
| 2021 | 387.0 | 6.8 | 272.3 | 65.5 | 42.4 |
| 2022 | 380.7 | 6.3 | 268.2 | 66.1 | 40.0 |
| 2023 | 374.0 | 5.5 | 265.5 | 65.5 | 35.9 |
| 2024 (Prelim.) | 361.3 | 4.7 | 257.5 | 59.7 | 34.0 |
Rates per 100,000 people. Sources: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program and Crime Data Explorer publications. Rates for 2015-2022 are based on final reports. The 2023 rate is estimated based on analysis of FBI data. The 2024 rate is calculated from preliminary percentage changes. The FBI’s definition of rape was revised in 2013. The 2021 data should be interpreted with caution due to the NIBRS transition.
Property Crime: Long-Term Decline with Notable Exceptions
While violent crime often dominates headlines, property crime is far more common in the United States. The story of property crime over the last decade is one of a remarkably steady and long-term decline, punctuated by a significant anomaly: a surge in motor vehicle thefts that began during the pandemic.
This divergence highlights how different types of property crime can be driven by very different economic and social opportunity structures.
Continuing Decline
The big picture for property crime is overwhelmingly positive. The national property crime rate has been falling for decades, even more steeply than the violent crime rate. Between 1993 and 2022, the rate fell by an estimated 59%. This downward trend continued through the last decade.
In 2020, a year marked by so much other disruption, the collective estimate for property crimes still dropped by 7.8%, marking the 18th consecutive year of decline. The most recent preliminary data for 2024 continues this powerful trend, showing a further 8.1% decrease in reported property crime nationwide.
Motor Vehicle Theft: The Pandemic Exception
The most significant exception to the story of declining property crime has been motor vehicle theft. While other property offenses fell, motor vehicle theft bucked the trend and rose sharply by 11.8% in 2020. This surge continued in the years that followed, with rates remaining elevated through 2023.
This divergence suggests that the pandemic created a unique set of opportunities and incentives for this specific crime. Experts point to factors like soaring used car values and supply chain disruptions for new vehicles and parts, which dramatically increased the black-market value of stolen cars and components like catalytic converters.
As quickly as it emerged, this trend appears to be reversing. Preliminary data for 2024 shows a dramatic turnaround, with reported motor vehicle thefts falling by a substantial 18.6%. This rapid rise and fall within a four-year window serves as a case study in how quickly crime patterns can shift in response to market forces and targeted law enforcement efforts.
Larceny and Burglary Trends
The two most common property crimes, larceny-theft and burglary, have largely followed the overall downward trend, and their decline drives the national average.
Larceny-Theft: As the most frequent property crime, its trajectory has a major impact on the overall rate. Reported incidents fell by 10.6% in 2020 and by another 5.5% in 2024, continuing a decades-long decline. However, national averages can sometimes mask specific, localized trends. While overall larceny is down, some city-level data has shown recent increases in shoplifting, a specific type of larceny that has drawn significant media and policy attention.
Burglary: This offense has seen one of the steepest long-term drops of any crime, falling by an astonishing 75% between 1993 and 2022. The decrease continued over the last decade, with a 7.4% drop in 2020 – likely aided by more people being home during pandemic lockdowns – and a further 8.6% decline reported for 2024.
Property Crime Rate Trends, 2015-2024
| Year | Total Property Crime Rate | Burglary Rate | Larceny-Theft Rate | Motor Vehicle Theft Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 2,487.0 | 469.0 | 1,775.8 | 220.1 |
| 2016 | 2,450.7 | 436.2 | 1,745.5 | 236.9 |
| 2017 | 2,362.2 | 396.6 | 1,721.2 | 237.4 |
| 2018 | 2,199.5 | 342.9 | 1,631.9 | 229.6 |
| 2019 | 2,109.9 | 340.5 | 1,549.5 | 220.0 |
| 2020 | 1,958.2 | 314.2 | 1,398.0 | 246.0 |
| 2021 | 1,832.3 | 271.1 | 1,288.7 | 272.5 |
| 2022 | 1,954.4 | 269.8 | 1,398.6 | 282.7 |
| 2023 | 1,845.8 | 246.5 | 1,321.7 | 277.6 |
| 2024 (Prelim.) | 1,696.3 | 225.3 | 1,248.9 | 226.0 |
Rates per 100,000 people. Sources: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program and Crime Data Explorer publications. Rates for 2015-2022 are based on final reports. The 2023 and 2024 rates are estimated based on preliminary percentage changes. The total property crime rate does not include arson.
Geographic Variations: Crime Across America
National crime statistics are a statistical abstraction. No one lives in “the nation.” An individual’s actual experience of safety and risk is determined almost entirely by their state, their community, and their neighborhood. Breaking down the national averages reveals a country of vast contrasts, where crime rates can differ dramatically from one region to another and even from one city to the next.
This immense local variation is a key reason why national headlines about crime can feel disconnected from personal reality.
Regional Patterns
The FBI divides the country into four regions, and the data consistently shows a clear geographic pattern in crime rates. The Northeast generally has the lowest rates for both violent and property crime, while the West often has the highest. The differences are substantial.
In 2022, the property crime rate in the West was 36.7% higher than in the rest of the country, and its violent crime rate was 27.1% higher. This long-standing regional divide underscores that broad cultural, economic, and demographic factors likely play a significant role in shaping public safety outcomes.
State-Level Contrasts
The contrasts become even more stark at the state level. In 2022, New Mexico and Alaska reported violent crime rates of over 700 incidents per 100,000 residents. In the same year, Maine, New Hampshire, and Connecticut all had rates below 200 per 100,000. This means a resident of New Mexico was statistically more than seven times as likely to be a victim of a reported violent crime as a resident of Maine.
These state-level differences also mean that the national trend is simply an aggregate of many different local stories. While the national violent crime rate showed a net decline between 2019 and 2023, this was not a universal experience. During that period, violent crime rates actually decreased in 32 states but increased in 18 states and the District of Columbia.
This highlights why a citizen’s perception of crime can reasonably conflict with national statistics. Their local reality may be trending in the opposite direction.
For 2023, the states with the highest reported violent crime rates included the District of Columbia, New Mexico, Alaska, Arkansas, and California. The states with the lowest rates were Maine, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Wyoming.
Urban vs Rural Crime
It is a long-established fact that crime rates, particularly for violent offenses, are significantly higher in urban areas than in suburban or rural communities. According to the NCVS, in 2021 the urban violent victimization rate (24.5 per 1,000 people) was more than double the rural rate (11.1 per 1,000). The gap is especially pronounced for crimes like robbery, which are often associated with the population density and anonymity of city life.
In 2024, the robbery rate in metropolitan counties was more than ten times higher than in non-metropolitan counties.
However, the urban-rural gap is more nuanced than just the quantity of crime. It also involves the type of crime and the resources available to victims. While overall rates are lower, rural areas face unique challenges.
Crimes like domestic violence and sexual assault are believed to be even more severely underreported in rural communities. Factors such as geographic isolation, a lack of shelters and support services, transportation barriers, and social stigma in close-knit communities can make it incredibly difficult for victims to seek help.
This means the official statistical gap between urban and rural crime may be narrower than it appears, and the nature of vulnerability is profoundly different. A one-size-fits-all approach to public safety policy is unlikely to succeed when the challenges in a dense city are so different from those in an isolated rural county.
What Drives Crime Rates
Understanding why crime rates rise and fall is far more challenging than simply tracking the numbers. Crime is a complex social phenomenon influenced by a web of interconnected factors. The dramatic fluctuations of the past decade, particularly the 2020 spike, have spurred intense debate among researchers, policymakers, and the public about the primary drivers of crime.
The evidence suggests that the story of the last decade is less about a single cause and more about the powerful impact of a system-wide shock – the COVID-19 pandemic – layered on top of ongoing debates about economic pressures and the role of the criminal justice system.
The Pandemic’s System-Wide Impact
The timing of the 2020 crime spike is the most compelling evidence of its primary driver. The abrupt surge in violence coincided exactly with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the profound societal disruptions that followed.
Researchers point to a cascade of factors: public health measures like lockdowns and stay-at-home orders, school closures that eliminated crucial support systems for at-risk youth, widespread economic instability and job loss, and the temporary shutdown of many community services and government agencies.
The nature of the crime shift in 2020 further supports this conclusion. The increase was not uniform across all crime types. Instead, it was concentrated in interpersonal violence like homicide and aggravated assault, while opportunistic street crimes like robbery actually declined.
This pattern suggests a shift away from financially motivated crime and toward violence fueled by the immense stress, confinement, and social breakdown of the pandemic. The increase was not evenly distributed. Analysis shows that the national spike was largely driven by a relatively small number of large U.S. cities that already had high crime rates prior to 2020. Most municipalities saw little change.
This reframes the debate about public safety, suggesting that investments in public health, mental health services, and economic stability are not just social programs – they are fundamental crime prevention strategies.
Economic Pressures and Inequality
There is a well-established theoretical link between economic hardship and crime. However, recent research adds significant nuance to this relationship, suggesting it is not just poverty, but the distribution of resources that matters most.
The theory of relative deprivation posits that when individuals perceive themselves as unfairly disadvantaged compared to others, it can foster feelings of resentment and frustration that may lead to criminal behavior.
This provides a powerful lens through which to view recent trends. The pandemic did not just cause economic hardship; it dramatically exacerbated existing inequalities in income, housing, and health outcomes. Research has found that the interaction of poverty (resource scarcity) and inequality (unequal distribution) is a significantly better predictor of homicide rates than either factor is on its own.
This complicates the simple idea that “a good economy means less crime.” A society can be growing wealthier overall, but if that wealth is concentrated and inequality is rising, it can still create the conditions for increased violence. This suggests that policies aimed at reducing crime must address not only absolute poverty but also the destabilizing effects of extreme economic disparity.
Criminal Justice Policy Debates
The role of policing and criminal justice policy in driving crime rates is one of the most politically contested topics in the nation. Following the murder of George Floyd in 2020 and the subsequent protests, debates over police reform, funding, and prosecutorial discretion intensified.
Some narratives have blamed the 2020 crime spike on reforms such as changes to bail laws, the election of so-called “progressive prosecutors,” or calls to “defund the police.” However, empirical analyses often contradict these simple causal claims.
Research has shown that the homicide spike was a widespread national phenomenon in 2020, affecting cities with a wide range of prosecutorial policies and police budgets, including those with traditional “tough-on-crime” approaches.
California’s Proposition 47 Case Study
A detailed case study of California’s Proposition 47 provides valuable insight. Passed in 2014, Prop 47 reclassified certain lower-level drug and property offenses from felonies to misdemeanors, leading to significant reductions in the state’s jail and prison populations.
A comprehensive analysis by the Public Policy Institute of California found that the reform was associated with a modest increase in some property crimes, particularly larceny and auto theft. This increase was not linked to the reclassification of drug offenses, but rather to a corresponding drop in the clearance rate (the rate at which crimes lead to an arrest) for property crimes, which reduced the perceived risk of apprehension for offenders.
Crucially, the study found no convincing evidence that Prop 47 led to an increase in violent crime. The crime increases linked to the pandemic’s effects on the justice system were of a greater magnitude than those tied to the reform.
This points to a more nuanced understanding of the justice system’s impact. It is not necessarily the severity of punishment, but the certainty and swiftness of apprehension that appears to be a more effective deterrent.
The nationwide clearance rate for violent crimes has been falling, and police solved just over a third (36.7%) of reported violent crimes in 2022, the lowest level in decades. Improving this rate is a key challenge for law enforcement and a critical component of any effective public safety strategy.
The Perception Gap: Why Americans Feel Less Safe
One of the most striking and persistent phenomena in the study of crime is the vast chasm between official data and public perception. For decades, a majority of Americans have believed that crime is on the rise nationally, even during periods when statistics show it was dramatically falling.
This “perception gap” is not just a curious quirk of public opinion. It has profound implications for politics, policy, and social cohesion. In recent years, this gap has widened and become a key battlefield in America’s political and cultural polarization.
The Enduring Disconnect
Decades of polling by Gallup have documented this enduring disconnect. In 23 of 27 surveys conducted between 1993 and 2022, at least 60% of U.S. adults said there was more crime nationally than there was the year before. This perception persisted through the 1990s and 2000s, a period of historic, sustained decline in both violent and property crime.
The trend continued through the last decade. Even as official data showed crime rates reaching near 50-year lows, public anxiety remained high. In an October 2024 Gallup poll, 64% of Americans still believed crime in the U.S. had increased over the past year, despite FBI data showing historic declines in homicide and other offenses.
An important nuance in this data is the split between national and local perceptions. Americans are consistently far more optimistic about their own communities. In every Gallup crime survey for decades, people have been much less likely to say crime is up in their local area than to say the same about the nation as a whole.
This suggests that media consumption and national political discourse are more powerful drivers of crime anxiety than most people’s direct, personal experience.
Political Polarization and Crime Perception
While a general perception gap has long existed, it has recently been supercharged by political polarization. For many Americans, the question “Is crime up?” is no longer a factual inquiry but an expression of political identity. The partisan divide on this question has reached unprecedented levels.
In the October 2024 Gallup poll, a staggering 90% of Republicans said they believed crime had increased over the past year. Among Democrats, just 29% said the same. This 61-point gap is the largest ever recorded in Gallup’s trend.
The data clearly shows that supporters of the party in the White House are far more likely to perceive crime as decreasing, while supporters of the opposition party are more likely to see it as rising. This deep partisan division makes evidence-based policy debates nearly impossible, as the two sides cannot even agree on the fundamental nature of the problem.
Media Influence on Crime Perception
The media landscape plays a significant role in shaping these perceptions. Crime is one of the most widely consumed local news topics, second only to the weather. An old journalism cliché, “if it bleeds, it leads,” refers to the prominent placement of sensational stories about violence.
While not always true, the data does show a potential disconnect between coverage and reality. Violent crime, which is far less common than property crime, receives nearly the same amount of local news coverage, which can skew public perception of risk.
The rise of social media and neighborhood-based apps like Nextdoor or Ring can further amplify a sense of local threat by highlighting isolated incidents, creating a feeling of pervasive danger even if the statistical risk remains low.
Public Perception vs Reality
| Year | Percent Believing National Crime Is “Up” from Prior Year | Official FBI Violent Crime Rate (per 100,000) |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 70% | 373.7 |
| 2016 | 70% | 397.5 |
| 2017 | 71% | 394.9 |
| 2018 | 71% | 383.4 |
| 2019 | 64% | 380.8 |
| 2020 | 78% | 398.5 |
| 2021 | 74% | 387.0 |
| 2022 | 78% | 380.7 |
| 2023 | 77% | 374.0 |
| 2024 | 64% | 361.3 (Prelim.) |
Sources: Perception data from Gallup annual Crime surveys. Official crime rate data from FBI statistics. The visual juxtaposition of these two columns starkly illustrates the perception gap.
Tools for Understanding Crime Data
Navigating the complex and often conflicting narratives about crime can be daunting. While headlines and political talking points can be confusing, the underlying government data is more accessible to the public than ever before. For any citizen wishing to move beyond the debate and explore the facts for themselves, several powerful tools are available.
FBI Crime Data Explorer
The primary portal for accessing data from the Uniform Crime Reporting Program is the FBI’s Crime Data Explorer (CDE). The CDE is an interactive online tool that allows users to explore reported crime data through visualizations, charts, and downloadable files.
Users can create their own data inquiries based on year, location, and offense type, and can download raw data in CSV format for their own analysis. The platform provides data at the national, state, and even individual law enforcement agency level, allowing for highly localized exploration.
Bureau of Justice Statistics Tools
To understand the full scope of crime, including offenses not reported to police, the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) provides several public-facing tools.
The National Crime Victimization Survey Dashboard (N-DASH) provides modern, interactive visualizations of victimization data going back to 1993. It is a user-friendly way to explore trends in crimes that are often missed by official police data, such as simple assault, and to understand the characteristics of victims and why they may not have reported the crime.
Users can create custom charts and tables to investigate specific questions of interest.
Additional Resources
Beyond the primary government portals, several non-partisan organizations provide invaluable analysis, context, and data aggregation that can help citizens make sense of crime trends.
USAFacts: This not-for-profit, nonpartisan civic initiative is dedicated to making government data accessible. Its crime section provides charts, trends, and guides on a range of public safety topics.
Council on Criminal Justice (CCJ): The CCJ is a nonpartisan think tank that conducts research and produces regular, timely reports on crime trends in U.S. cities, offering expert analysis on the factors driving changes in crime.
Local Law Enforcement Agencies: For the most immediate, local information, citizens can often find crime data dashboards and statistical reports directly on the websites of their own city or state police departments.
Understanding Crime in Context
The past decade of U.S. crime data reveals a complex story that defies simple narratives. While violent crime experienced significant volatility, including an unprecedented spike in 2020 followed by an equally dramatic decline, the long-term trend remains downward. Property crime has continued its decades-long decline, with the notable exception of motor vehicle theft during the pandemic years.
Geographic variation remains enormous, with some states and cities experiencing very different trends from the national average. The factors driving crime appear to be multifaceted, with the pandemic serving as a major system-wide shock that highlighted the importance of social stability, economic security, and community support systems.
Perhaps most striking is the persistent gap between statistical reality and public perception. Americans consistently believe crime is rising even when data shows it falling, with this perception gap now heavily influenced by political affiliation.
For citizens seeking to understand crime in their communities, the key is to look beyond national headlines and examine local data. The tools for accessing this information are more available than ever, allowing informed individuals to separate fact from perception and political rhetoric from statistical reality.
Our articles make government information more accessible. Please consult a qualified professional for financial, legal, or health advice specific to your circumstances.
