U.S. murder rate hits lowest level since 1900, report says

Murders fell 21% last year in 35 large U.S. cities — the biggest one-year drop ever and likely the lowest rate since 1900, Axios-reviewed data shows.

Why it matters: The decline signals a complete reversal of the COVID-era crime wave.

By the numbers: 11 of 13 tracked crimes were lower in 2025 than in 2024, according to data compiled by the Council on Criminal Justice.

• Nine offenses declined by 10% or more.
• Aggravated assaults fell by 9%, and gun assaults and robbery tumbled by 22% and 23%, respectively.
• Drug crimes are up 7%, the lone category to increase.

The big picture: Trump touts himself as a law-and-order president who has tackled crime by sending National Guard troops into predominantly Democrat-run cities and justified his immigration crackdown by linking undocumented immigrants to rising crime.

• But violent crime was already falling to a two-decade low in Biden's final year, calling into question whether Trump's policies have made an impact.
• "Whether it be deporting criminal illegal aliens, supporting law enforcement officers, or finally being tough on criminals, the Trump Administration has employed a whole-of-government approach to drive down crime and make communities safer," a White House spokesperson tells Axios.

"It's extremely difficult to disentangle and pinpoint what's actually driving the drop," CCJ President and CEO Adam Gelb said in a statement.

• Gelb said that the big shifts in criminal justice policies, advances in crime-fighting technology, and changes to the economy and culture are happening at once, and could contribute to the decrease.

Zoom in: Of the 35 cities reporting homicide rates, 31 saw declines.

• Murders plummeted 41% in Denver and fell 40% in Washington, D.C., and Omaha, Nebraska.
• Little Rock, Arkansas, had the largest increase at 16%.

Of note: The report didn't collect data from Jackson, Mississippi or Birmingham, Alabama, which had the top two highest murder rates per 100,000 people in 2024, according to FBI data.