FBI Reports 4.5% Drop in U.S. Violent Crime for 2024

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has released its 2024 crime statistics, compiled from information provided by more than 16,000 law enforcement agencies across the country. The figures cover about 95.6% of the U.S. population, with data submitted through both the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) and the Summary Reporting System (SRS).

In total, the agencies reported over 14 million criminal offenses for the year. According to the FBI, violent crime dropped by an estimated 4.5% in 2024 compared to the previous year. On average, a violent crime took place every 25.9 seconds. Murders occurred roughly every 31.1 minutes, while a rape was reported about every 4.1 minutes.

The detailed breakdown shows:

Murder and non-negligent manslaughter fell by 14.9%

Rape (under the revised 2013 definition) declined by 5.2%

Aggravated assault decreased by 3.0%

Robbery dropped by 8.9% nationwide

The annual report also examined hate crimes. A total of 16,419 agencies contributed hate crime data, representing 95.1% of the U.S. population. These agencies documented 11,679 incidents and 13,683 related offenses motivated by bias against race, ethnicity, ancestry, religion, sexual orientation, disability, gender, or gender identity.

To track trends consistently, the FBI compared figures from agencies that submitted at least six months of hate crime data in both 2023 and 2024. This subset showed a 1.5% decrease in reported hate crime incidents—from 11,041 in 2023 to 10,873 in 2024.

This year, the FBI’s report is published under a new title, “Reported Crimes in the Nation”, reflecting a broader scope of the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program. The publication contains five key sections: Crime in the United States, 2024; NIBRS, 2024; Hate Crime Statistics, 2024; Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted – 2024 Assault Tables; and UCR Summary of Reported Crimes in the Nation, 2024.

Another notable change is in how rape statistics are presented. For the first time, violent crime estimates from 2013 through 2024 are based entirely on the revised 2013 definition of rape. Data from 2005 to 2012 still uses the previous, legacy definition.