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By Andrew Stanton
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The Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) announced in its latest crime statistics report that the number of murders in the United States in 2024 dropped nearly 15 percent from 2023.
Newsweek hasreached out to the FBI for comment via email.
Why It Matters
The FBI released its annual "Crimes in the Nation" statistics on Tuesday. The report, comprised data covering 95.1 percent of all Americans, is a key metric measuring crime trends across the United States. It found that violent crime has decreased since 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic fueled a rise in crime nationwide.
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What To Know
There were an estimated 16,935 murders in the United States in 2020, down 14.9 percent from 2023 and 23 percent from 2020, according to the FBI. However, it does mark a 6.8 increase from 2015, according to the report.
It found that a murder occurred in the United States once every 31.1 minutes, and a rape occurred once every 4.1 minutes in 2024. National violent crime as a whole fell 4.5 percent in 2024 compared to 2023.
This map shows homicide rates per state:
While it accounts for more than 95 percent of the U.S. population, not all agencies report their data to the FBI, so it is incomplete. Notably, the data for the New York Police Department (NYPD), which is in charge of law enforcement for the nation's largest city, was not included in the report.
Washington, D.C., had the highest homicide rate at around 26 homicides per 100,000 people. New Mexico followed at about 10.2 homicides per 100,000 people. New Hampshire ranked the lowest at only one homicide per 100,000 people, according to the FBI's data.
The COVID-19 pandemic was a key factor that contributed to rising crime a few years back, Jillian Peterson, executive director of the Violence Prevention Project, told Newsweek.
"We know there were several factors at play including the pandemic causing job loss, economic uncertainty, a loss of routine, and stress. Connections and resources that prevent violence were lost with the closures of schools, houses of worship, homeless shelters, and treatment centers. The social unrest after the murder of George Floyd contributed to the breakdown of social order and a reduction in police force. There was also record gun sales," she said.
These connections and resources, as well as new investments in violence prevention and public safety, have been put back in place over the past few years, she said. There are many differences between states with higher and lower homicide rates.
"It's likely an interplay of factors including poverty and inequity, education and employment, law enforcement practices, and gun ownership and gun laws," she said.
The report also found that property crime fell by about 8.1 percent, while hate crimes fell by about 1.5 percent. There were still a total of 11,679 hate crimes reported to the FBI last year.
What People Are Saying
The FBI report reads: "An estimated 1,221,345 violent crime offenses were committed in 2024, indicating a rate of 359.1 violent crimes per 100,000 inhabitants, down from the 2023 estimated offense rate of 379.5 violent crimes per 100,000 inhabitants. An estimated 419,423 arrests for violent crime offenses were made in 2024."
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Jeff Asher, a data analyst and consultant, wrote on Substack: "The bottom line is that reported crime fell in 2024 led by massive drops in both murder and motor vehicle theft. With last year's initial estimates firmly in hand, attention can now shift to how these downward trends are accelerating as we approach the end of summer 2025."
What Happens Next
Whether the trend of declining crime continues over the coming years is yet to be seen. The FBI and other law enforcement agencies will continue to track these crimes to identify trends and potential ways to deter criminal activity.
It's hard to know how these trends will change, according to Peterson.
"The increase in 2020 was a perfect storm of events and risk factors that we won't likely see again anytime soon," she said. "That being said, we know that distrust in leaders and institutions can lead to increases in violence, and our country feels very on-edge at the moment."
Update 8/6/25 2:55 p.m. ET: This article was updated with comment from Jillian Peterson, executive director of the Violence Prevention Project.
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