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FBI reports decrease in every crime category in 2024, including near 15% decrease in homicides

By Douglas Berman
August 6, 2025

Regular readers know, based on many prior posts here, that police departments in cities nationwide were reporting crime declines throughout 2024 (and are continuing to do so into 2025).  Yesterday, the FBI released its final report on 2024 crime, and this press release covers some highlights:

National violent crime decreased an estimated 4.5% in 2024 compared to 2023 estimates:

  • Murder and non-negligent manslaughter recorded a 2024 estimated nationwide decrease of 14.9% compared to the previous year.
  • In 2024, the estimated number of offenses in the revised rape category saw an estimated 5.2% decrease.
  • Aggravated assault figures decreased an estimated 3.0% in 2024.
  • Robbery showed an estimated decrease of 8.9% nationally.

Jeff Asher at his Substack has this extended post about the FBI data which is worth reading it full. It is titled “Murder Officially Plunged in 2024: That and more takeaways from the FBI’s 2024 Reported Crime in the Nation report,” and it starts and concludes this way:

The FBI released its report on crime in the United States for 2024 today showing a 14.9 percent decline in murder with 4.4 percent and 8.1 percent drops in overall violent and property crime respectively. The nation’s murder rate for 2024 was down 26 percent from 2020’s figure and roughly even — slightly lower, actually — relative to where it stood pre-pandemic. The nation’s reported violent and property crime rates stood at the lowest levels since the 1960s in 2024….

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.

The FBI’s 2024 estimates drive home that the nation’s murder rate really could set a record low in 2025. What felt almost unthinkable five years ago is by no means certain, but it’s definitely thinkable.