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Wednesday, Jul. 30, 2025

Is violent crime in the US higher than 25 years ago?

Tom Kertscher / Wisconsin Watch, Wisconsin Watch
no

Violent crime, nationally and in major cities, is lower than 25 years ago.

Marquette University criminal justice professor Theodore Lentz charted rates for violent crime – murder, rape and sexual assault, robbery, and assault. 

The overall rate was below 400 violent crimes per 100,000 people for the past decade, down from about 500 per 100,000 people 25 years ago.

The rates are based on FBI Uniform Crime Reporting figures, which track crimes reported to law enforcement.

The nonprofit Pew Research Center reported that between 1993 and 2022, violent crime dropped 49%, according to the FBI; and 71%, according to the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics, which surveys Americans.

In cities of 250,000 people or more, the violent crime rate was 771 per 100,000 people in 2023, down from 1,093 in 2000.

Republican U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman, who represents part of eastern Wisconsin, said July 14 that major-city violent crime is much higher than 25 years ago.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

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