FBI data for 2025 shows the opposite: violent crime fell 9.3% and murder fell 18.1% — the largest one-year drop since 1937 — putting the murder rate at roughly 4.1 per 100,000, the lowest ever recorded.
The FBI’s First Look at 2025 crime data, released May 13, 2026 and built from more than 17,000 agencies covering 96% of the population, estimates violent crime declined 9.3% from 2024 and murder declined 18.1% — the steepest single-year decrease since national record-keeping began in 1937. That puts the 2025 murder rate near 4.1 per 100,000 people, below the previous record low of 4.4 set in 2014. Robbery (−18.5%), aggravated assault (−7.2%), and property crime (−12.4%) all fell as well. Crime rose sharply in 2020–21, and perceptions formed then persist — but on the current numbers, “record highs” inverts the record.
Sources
- FBI Releases Historic Early Look at Annual Crime Data — Federal Bureau of Investigation
- Preliminary FBI data shows a sharp drop in violent crime — Stateline
- US poised to end 2025 with the largest one-year drop in homicides ever recorded — ABC News
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