Violent crime declined across every major category in the nation’s largest cities in 2025, according to a new report from the Major Cities Chiefs Association (MCCA), which represents police executives from the country’s biggest metropolitan departments.
The report, which compiles data from 67 major police departments, found significant year-over-year decreases in homicides, rape, robbery and aggravated assault. Homicides fell by 19%, robberies dropped by 20%, rapes declined by 9%, and aggravated assaults decreased by nearly 10%, according to the findings.
The steepest declines in homicides were recorded in Sun Belt and Southern cities. Orlando and Tampa led the nation with homicide reductions of more than 50%. Western cities including Seattle, Denver, Honolulu and Albuquerque also posted substantial declines.
Several cities that had previously struggled with high levels of violence reported notable improvements. Baltimore and Chicago each saw homicides fall by roughly 30%, while Memphis and Portland recorded drops of about 25%.
Not all jurisdictions experienced decreases. The report identified rising homicide rates in Boston, El Paso, Fort Worth, Milwaukee, Omaha, Wichita and Mesa, as well as Suffolk and Nassau counties in New York.
The White House on Monday attributed the nationwide decline to policies implemented under President Donald Trump.
“After record high crime across the country under Biden’s defund the police era, the murder rate has plunged to a 125-year low as crime falls across the board, according to new data,” the White House said in a statement.
During his 2024 campaign and early months back in office, Trump frequently cited rising crime as justification for increasing federal involvement in certain cities. He deployed federal resources to cities including Chicago, Memphis, Portland and Washington, D.C., as well as several cities in California. Trump previously referred to Chicago and Baltimore as “hellholes” while criticizing local leadership.
The White House also pointed to declining crime in Washington, D.C., following the deployment of additional federal resources to the city.
However, other analyses indicate that violent crime rates had already begun to decline during the final two years of former President Joe Biden’s administration, following a nationwide surge that began in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Axios reported that multiple studies have documented the downward trend since 2022.
One study cited by Axios suggested that the spike in homicides in 2020 was driven in part by economic disruption and school closures that disproportionately affected young men and teenage boys during the pandemic.
The MCCA report adds to a growing body of data showing that violent crime has retreated significantly from its pandemic-era highs, though trends continue to vary by region and city.
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