Homicides in San Diego dropped 22% in 2024
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Preliminary data shows San Diego homicides plummeted 22% in 2024 from the previous year, outpacing a steep 16% decline across the nation's largest cities.
Why it matters: Crime stats compiled by the Major Cities Chiefs Association suggest the COVID-era crime wave all but disappeared last year.
By the numbers: San Diego homicides have now fallen 38% since 2020, an Axios analysis of the MCCA data found. There were 56 homicides in 2020, and 35 in 2024.
Zoom in: Every category of violent crime tracked by the MCCA survey fell in San Diego.
- Rapes decreased 10% from 2023, with 349 reported last year, while robbery fell by 11% to 1,080 during the same period..
- Yes, but: Aggravated assaults decreased at a much lower rate, slipping just 1% to 4,502.
Between the lines: The numbers reflect a yearslong decline for San Diego, which has long benefited from being one of the safest big cities in America.
The big picture: Violent crime, especially homicides, rose during former President Biden's first two years before dropping dramatically over the next two, the MCCA data show.
- An Axios analysis of the 2024 nationwide preliminary crime data from 69 self-reporting large police departments found that violent crimes decreased overall by 6%.
Zoom out: San Diego's decline in homicides was consistent with the declines in California's other large cities.
- San Francisco (31%), San Jose (23%) and Los Angeles (14%) all saw big homicide declines in 2024.
- But homicides increased 13% in Sacramento and 46% in Long Beach, the largest jump included in the MCCA data.