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Crime in major U.S. cities has continued to decline in 2026, extending a multiyear trend that followed the sharp spike in violence seen during the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to a new analysis by the Council on Criminal Justice (CCJ), reported levels of nine out of 13 tracked offenses were lower in the first six months of 2026 than during the same period in 2025. Carjackings had the highest drop, of 47 percent, while drug offenses had the largest rise, of 12 percent.
Other crimes like aggravated assaults decreased in the first half of 2026 compared to the same period in 2025 (by 2 percent), as did gun assaults (6 percent), robberies (17 percent), and lethality (23 percent), across a sample of 17 cities. Crimes that increased included domestic violence (8 percent) and sexual assault (3 percent).
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Overall, violent crime levels are now at or below pre-pandemic 2019 levels across the cities studied, the CCJ reported.
The findings add to growing evidence that the surge in violent crime that began in 2020 has largely receded, although U.S. crime rates remain a major political talking point nationally.
President Donald Trump has also repeatedly highlighted declining crime rates as evidence that his administration's public safety and immigration policies are working, while others have noted that crime had already been falling before his return to office in January 2025.
Cities Where Crime Rates Are Rising And Falling
Among the cities recording notable declines in homicide compared with the first half of 2025 were Lincoln, Nebraska, with a decline in homicides of 100 percent, Rochester, New York (76 percent), Little Rock, Arkansas (61 percent), Arlington, Texas (60 percent), and Colorado Springs, Colorado (53 percent).
Other cities with declines included Baltimore, New York City, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Fort Worth, Atlanta and several others, as well as Washington, D.C.
Cities seeing increases in homicide were Norfolk, Virginia, with a 64 percent increase in the first half of 2026 compared with the same time period last year, as well as San Francisco (55 percent), Dallas (30 percent), Salt Lake City (20 percent), Austin (9 percent), Denver (6 percent), Chicago (3 percent) and Charlotte (3 percent).
Homicide
Homicide saw one of the largest declines among violent offenses. The average homicide rate across 30 reporting cities was 18 percent lower in the first half of 2026 than in the same period of 2025, representing 215 fewer homicides.
Homicide rates were also 31 percent below 2019 levels and 51 percent below their 2022 peak.
Lethality
Lethality, which measures the share of serious violent crimes that result in death, declined 23 percent in a sample of 17 cities compared with the first half of 2025.
It was also 20 percent lower than in 2019, suggesting that violent incidents are gradually becoming less likely to be fatal.
Aggravated Assault
Reported aggravated assaults fell 2 percent between the first half of 2025 and 2026. Aggravated assaults are assaults committed with a deadly weapon or those that result in or threaten serious bodily injury to the victim.
The offense was also 3 percent lower than in 2019, indicating that assault levels have largely returned to pre-pandemic levels.
Gun Assault
Gun assaults, aggravated assaults committed with a firearm, declined 6 percent compared with the first half of 2025 and were 17 percent below 2019 levels. The reduction mirrors the broader decline in serious violence documented across major cities.
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Sexual Assault
Sexual assault, including forcible rape, statutory rape, and other forms of sexual assault, was one of the few violent offenses to increase in 2026, rising 3 percent from the same period last year.
However, when compared with 2019 figures, reported sexual assaults were found to be 13 percent lower than that year.
Domestic Violence
Domestic violence was another crime found to have increased this year. Reported domestic violence incidents increased 8 percent between the first six months of 2025 and 2026.
Despite that rise, though, rates remained 7 percent lower than in the first half of 2019.
Robbery
Robbery continued its long-term decline in 2026, falling 17 percent compared with the first half of 2025. Relative to 2019, robbery rates were down 41 percent, making it one of the offenses with the most substantial reductions over the period.
Carjacking
Carjacking recorded the sharpest decline among the major offenses tracked by CCJ. Reported incidents fell by 47 percent between the first half of 2025 and 2026, and were 51 percent lower than in 2019. Compared with the offense's recent peak in 2023, carjacking was down 73 percent.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Matthew Robinson and Sam Wilson.
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