Nationwide Murder Rate Plunges Nearly 20% In 2025 In Historic Crime Drop

The murder rate across the United States fell sharply in 2025, marking what analysts say is likely the largest single-year decline ever documented, according to newly released crime statistics.

Homicides nationwide dropped by almost 20% compared to last year, reversing the surge in violence seen during the COVID era, based on figures from the Real-Time Crime Index.

Between January and October 2025, a total of 5,912 murders were recorded nationwide, down from 7,369 during the same period in 2024.

“[It’s a] remarkable drop in crime,” crime data analyst Jeff Asher told the New York Post.

“[It] almost certainly fell at a historic clip in 2025, led by the largest one-year drop in murder ever recorded,” added the co-founder of data analytics firm AH Datalytics.

Major cities saw especially steep declines, including a decrease of more than 20% in New York City, a 28% reduction in Chicago, and nearly a 28% drop in Washington, DC, where President Trump implemented an aggressive crime crackdown.

Los Angeles County also experienced a significant reduction, with murders falling by nearly 19%, while New Orleans recorded a 7.5% decline.

Mass murders across the US declined as well in 2025, reaching their lowest level since 2006, according to the index, which aggregates crime data from 570 law enforcement agencies nationwide.

The data does not include cases classified as manslaughter, self-defense, or what it defines as “accidental killings.”

For comparison, the murder rate dropped by about 15% from 2023 to 2024, according to the same dataset.

Other categories of crime also decreased in 2025, with motor vehicle thefts falling by 23% and aggravated assault declining by roughly 8%. Overall crime rates have been trending downward since 2021, according to FBI data.