The Marshall Project

New FBI Data: Violent Crime Still Falling

2018 drop extends decades-long trend, but rapes rise for sixth straight year

FBI data released Monday suggests that the violent crime rate in the U.S. remains on a decades-long downward trend, falling by 3.9 percent in 2018. Overall, the violent crime rate has plunged by more than 50 percent since the highwater mark of the early 1990s.

The drops came across categories of violent offenses, including murder, non-negligent manslaughter and robbery, and property crimes like burglary, larceny and vehicle thefts, while aggravated assault numbers remained about flat. The rate for rape bucked this trend however, up slightly for 2018, and in each of the last six years.

Crimes in the U.S. Continue to Decrease

New FBI data show the U.S. violent crime rate fell in 2017 and 2018, after increases

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