A preliminary survey released on Oct. 26 showed that levels of violent crime across the United States dropped by about 25 percent in 2025 from the previous year.
The report from the Bureau of Justice Statistics National Crime Victimization Survey program within the Department of Justice shows that non-fatal violent crime, excluding simple assault, dropped across the United States by 25 percent from 2024 to 2025.
The crime rate stood at 9.9 percent per 1,000 people aged 12 and older in 2024, and decreased to 7.4 per 1,000 people in 2025, it said.
The Justice Department defines “violent crime excluding simple assault” as crimes such as sexual assault or rape, aggravated assault, and robbery.
Aggravated assaults dropped by 31 percent from 4.5 per 1,000 people to 3.1 per 1,000 people in the same time period. Trespassing and burglary were both down by 25 percent, car theft was down by 30 percent, and other types of household theft dropped by 19 percent from 2024 to 2025, it said.
“This report is proof that President Trump’s ‘Make America Safe Again’ agenda is working,” Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward said in a statement on Oct. 26. “Under President Trump and Attorney General [Todd] Blanche, the safety of law-abiding Americans will always come first. This success reinforces our commitment to ensuring every American can live, work, and raise a family without fear.”
The survey, according to the Justice Department, gives an estimate of “preliminary violent and property victimization estimates,” which may be subject to change when the Bureau of Justice Statistics releases its final estimates for 2025. The figures published by the Justice Department are based on a “nationally representative sample of U.S. households” that received a survey collecting information on “personal and household property crimes,” it said.
The Oct. 26 report further estimated that there were 7.5 million “violent victimizations” in 2025, down from 8.2 million in 2024. In 2025, there were nearly 907,000 aggravated assault victimizations, a decline from the 1.3 million reported in 2024, the Justice Department said.
While U.S. households experienced some 14.9 million property victimizations in 2025, it was a decline of 19 percent from 2024’s figures. In 2024, there were 138 victimizations per 1,000 people, whereas 111.2 per 1,000 people were reported in 2025.
There may be further declines in the overall U.S. crime rate, based on a report released over the past summer.
The independent Council on Criminal Justice’s July 2026 report found there was an 18 percent decrease in the homicide rate across 30 U.S. cities in the first half of 2026 from the same time period in 2025, equating to 215 fewer murders this year.
Nine of 13 categories saw declines, including carjackings, residential burglary, and aggravated assaults. There was a small jump in shoplifting, domestic violence incidents, sexual assaults, and drug offenses over the same period between 2025 and 2026.
“CCJ’s last crime trends report predicted that the year-end 2025 homicide rate would likely be the lowest since 1900 (once final FBI numbers are released),” the group said. “The new mid-year data suggest thatthe 2026 homicide rate will likely dip further, again reaching a new historic low.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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