Homicides dropped 18.1% in 2025 to the lowest rate since 1956, FBI says

Homicides dropped 18.1% in 2025 to the lowest rate since 1956, FBI says 1 of 4 | FBI director Kash Patel speaks before President Donald Trump at the David Mack Center for Training and Intelligence, Friday, Aug. 14, 2026, in Garden City, N.Y. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura) 2 of 4 | President Donald Trump departs as FBI Director Kash Patel, right, watches at the David Mack Center for Training and Intelligence, Friday, Aug. 14, 2026, in Garden City, N.Y. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson) 3 of 4 | President Donald Trump speaks at the David Mack Center for Training and Intelligence, Friday, Aug. 14, 2026, in Garden City, N.Y. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson) 4 of 4 | An FBI seal is displayed on a podium before a news conference at the field office in Portland, Ore., Jan. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane, File) 1 of 4 | FBI director Kash Patel speaks before President Donald Trump at the David Mack Center for Training and Intelligence, Friday, Aug. 14, 2026, in Garden City, N.Y. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura) 1 of 4 FBI director Kash Patel speaks before President Donald Trump at the David Mack Center for Training and Intelligence, Friday, Aug. 14, 2026, in Garden City, N.Y. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share 2 of 4 | President Donald Trump departs as FBI Director Kash Patel, right, watches at the David Mack Center for Training and Intelligence, Friday, Aug. 14, 2026, in Garden City, N.Y. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson) 2 of 4 President Donald Trump departs as FBI Director Kash Patel, right, watches at the David Mack Center for Training and Intelligence, Friday, Aug. 14, 2026, in Garden City, N.Y. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share 3 of 4 | President Donald Trump speaks at the David Mack Center for Training and Intelligence, Friday, Aug. 14, 2026, in Garden City, N.Y. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson) 3 of 4 President Donald Trump speaks at the David Mack Center for Training and Intelligence, Friday, Aug. 14, 2026, in Garden City, N.Y. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share 4 of 4 | An FBI seal is displayed on a podium before a news conference at the field office in Portland, Ore., Jan. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane, File) 4 of 4 An FBI seal is displayed on a podium before a news conference at the field office in Portland, Ore., Jan. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane, File) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Updated [hour]:[minute] [AMPM] [timezone], [monthFull] [day], [year] The homicide rate in the United States dropped to the lowest it’s been in 75 years, according to an FBI report on 2025 crime statistics released Friday, which also showed overall violent crime dropped 9.3% last year.Experts note that national violent crime rates have been declining since 2022, and pinpointing an exact reason is difficult. They say multiple factors contribute to decreases in crime rates seen in the FBI report, which is based on data reported voluntarily by many but not all law enforcement agencies across the country. “The homicide drop is historic and crystal clear. But right now, what’s driving it is about as clear as a glass of milk,” said Adam Gelb, president and CEO of the Council on Criminal Justice, a think tank based in Washington. “Rates are falling in cities with very different public safety strategies, economic conditions, and political leadership,” Gelb said. “The consistency across the map should make us cautious about handing credit to any one leader, party, policy, or program before the evidence catches up.” President Donald Trump announced the decreases in the annual crime numbers during a visit to a New York police academy Friday. Trump proclaimed his role in lowering violent crime rates, taking a swing at his predecessor and at so-called sanctuary cities, while touting what he said was his overwhelming support of law enforcement and his tough-on-crime moves such as deploying the National Guard in Washington and elsewhere. 1 MIN READ 2 MIN READ 1 MIN READ “We ended the war on police, and we declared a very strong war on crime,” Trump said during the Long Island appearance. Regardless of the contributing factors, criminologists who have been tracking violent crime and property crime in a few dozen cities had been predicting that the homicide rate might drop to 4 per 100,000 residents, which would have dropped the rate to the lowest since 1900, when those rates began to be tracked. The rate came close when the numbers from thousands of departments were calculated, reaching 4.1 Homicides per 100,000 people. That rate is tied with 1955 and 1956, according to Friday’s report, as the lowest rate since 1900. The report showed murder and nonnegligent manslaughter decreased 18.1% between 2024 and 2025, while overall property crime declined by 12.4% during the same period. Motor vehicle theft, which had spiked in 2022 and 2023 following a social media challenge that helped people exploit a manufacturing issue in some models of Kia and Hyundai vehicles, dropped by almost 23% to the lowest levels in more than 20 years.In an unusual move just a few months before the midterm elections as many Republicans continue to tout the drop in crime, the FBI report also noted that violent and other crime has continued to drop during the first six months of 2026. The federal agency normally waits until all of the yearly data is reported to suggest a drop in crime.Groups like the Council on Criminal Justice have also said 2026 could see an even larger decline than 2025, with Homicides dropping 18% in those cities during the first six months of this year, compared with the same timeframe in 2025.