Violent crime dropped nearly 5% 2024, FBI report finds

Violent crime dropped by about 4.5% in 2024 compared with estimates from the year before, according to the FBI’s annual crime report released on Tuesday. Hate crimes also appeared to drop by about 1.5% in 2024 compared to 2023’s estimates, according to the FBI’s summary of the report. One violent crime–such as murder, rape, robbery, or aggravated assault–occurred roughly every 26 seconds in 2024, the FBI reported.

Roughly 70% of violent crime reported to law enforcement in 2024 was aggravated assaults, with robbery accounting for about 17% and rape for about 10%. On average, one rape took place every four minutes last year, and a murder every 31 minutes, the report added. While murder and nonnegligent manslaughter saw a near 15% decrease nationwide in 2024, data showed a nearly 7% increase since 2015. Over 48% of murders reported in 2024 occurred in the South, with about 21% reported in the West, about 20% in the Midwest, and about 10% reported in the Northeast. Robberies also saw a nearly 13% drop since 2020, and about a 36% overall drop compared with 2015 estimates, the FBI noted.

What kind of data is the report based on? Federal analysts draft the reports using data submitted by over 16,000 state, county, city, university and college, and tribal agencies, comprising just over 95% of the national population.

Dig deeper: Read John Dawson’s report in WORLD Magazine about the FBI quietly revising 2021-2022 violent crime data to show an uptick in crime, contradicting the previously reported drop.