Overview
- Preliminary tallies from more than 550 law enforcement agencies point to roughly a 20% national decline in murders in 2025, which analysts say is the largest one-year drop on record while final FBI statistics are still pending.
- Baltimore recorded 133 homicides, down 31% from 2024 and the fewest in about 50 years, after adopting FBI guidance that attributes deaths to the year of injury, which removed four historical cases, even as tensions persisted between Mayor Brandon Scott and State’s Attorney Ivan Bates over credit and coordination.
- Chicago logged 416 murders, the fewest since 1965, with steep declines in shootings, while Philadelphia reported 220 homicides, the lowest in about 60 years, alongside broad drops in gun violence and other serious offenses.
- New York City saw homicides fall about 20% to 303 and shooting victims decline 22%, as Brooklyn recorded borough-record lows with murders down 24% to 91; rape reports citywide rose 15% after a state law broadened the definition in 2024.
- Kansas City reported 138 homicides, the lowest total in seven years, and a more than 20% drop in non-fatal shootings, with leaders citing targeted enforcement, improved cooperation and police staffing gains.