Violent crime plummets across major U.S. cities
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Violent crime dropped sharply across America's biggest cities in 2025, according to new data reviewed by Axios.
Why it matters: The stats were yet another sign that violent crime in the U.S. was starkly different from what President Trump cited as his reason for sending federal troops to Chicago, Portland, Washington, D.C., Memphis and cities in California.
- "Chicago is a hellhole right now. Baltimore is a hellhole right now," Trump said in September. "We have the right to [call in the National Guard] because I have an obligation to protect this country."
The big picture: The report from the Major Cities Chiefs Association (MCCA) shows declines across every major violent-crime category in 2025 compared to 2024. It features data from 67 of the nation's biggest police departments, and confirms other studies on last year's declines.
- Cities report that homicides overall fell 19%.
- Robberies dropped about 20%.
- Aggravated assaults were down nearly 10%.
Zoom in: Multiple Southern and Sun Belt cities were among the biggest homicide decliners, an Axios analysis of the MCCA data found.
- Florida cities Orlando and Tampa headlined the list with more than a 50% decline in homicides, according to the Axios review.
- Western cities such as Denver, Seattle, Honolulu, and Albuquerque, N.M., also posted large homicide drops.
- These cities were among the hardest hit during the pandemic-era crime surge, and are now seeing some of the fastest reversals.
Between the lines: Chicago and Baltimore both experienced around a 30% drop in homicides last year, an Axios review of the MCCA data found.
- Memphis and Portland both saw about a 25% decline.
- Previous reports had shown all the cities in recent years seeing declines in violent crime.
The intrigue: In response to early reports that crime was dropping to record lows, the Trump administration has changed its tone and has begun touting the declines while crediting its policies.
- "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 Monday.
- The White House pointed to the president sending "federal resources into crime-plagued Washington, D.C." as a reason for crime drops in the Nation's Capital.
Reality check: Violent crime rates in many cities have been falling significantly since former President Biden's last two years in office, following a COVID-era crime wave that begun in 2020, the final year of Trump's first term.
The bottom line: Experts aren't sure why violent crime continues to fall.
- One study suggested that the homicide surge of 2020 was driven largely by men and teen boys who were either laid off or saw their schools close during pandemic shutdowns.
