Tampa Bay

Picture of the Tampa Bay skyline with TPA written across it.

blue

Get smarter, faster on what matters in Tampa Bay with Kathryn Varn and Yacob Reyes.

Axios Tampa Bay

Standard

Axios Tampa Bay Deep Dive

Deep Dive

A guide to fun things to do in Tampa Bay this weekend.

Axios Tampa Bay Weekender

Weekender

Axios Tampa Bay Partners

Axios Tampa Bay Thought Bubble

Thought Bubble

Tampa Members

Membership

Denver

Axios Denver

Latino

Axios Latino

Data: Major Cities Chiefs Association (MCAA); Chart: Esteban Hernandez/Axios

Tampa saw an uptick in homicides during the first half of the year that was among the highest in the country for major cities, according to preliminary data reviewed by Axios.

Why it matters: Deadly crime in Tampa is bucking a national trend among the largest cities in the country, which are mostly recording dips in homicides.

State of play: An Axios analysis of the Major Cities Chiefs Association's (MCCA) survey of 66 large U.S. communities found drops in violent crime in the first six months of 2026 compared to the same period last year.

Data showed declines in homicides (-17.2%), robberies (-16.6%), rapes (-6.2%.) and aggravated assaults (-5.7%) among the police departments analyzed.

Zoom in: While homicides rose from eight to 11 in Tampa, per MCCA, the city did record lower numbers of reported rape (-24%), robbery (-21%) and aggravated assault (-7%).

The Tampa Police Department did not respond to a request for comment on the survey.

Context: Tampa's rise in homicides isn't the largest in the state — Orlando, which saw six homicides in the first half of 2025, had 10 in the first half of this year.

Miami, meanwhile, was among the major cities with the biggest drops in homicides, down 50% compared to the first half of 2025.

Data: Major Cities Chiefs Association (MCCA); Chart: Russell Contreras/Axios

The big picture: Nationwide, violent crime kept falling across many of the nation's largest cities through June, with homicides down 17.2% from the first half of 2025.

The decline now spans two presidencies — it began falling under President Biden after the pandemic-era surge, and has kept dropping under President Trump.

By the numbers: Axios' analysis of the MCCA survey found drops in violent crime in the first six months of 2026 compared to the same period last year.

Zoom out: Another major crime tracker is seeing similar trends in declining violent crime.

A Council on Criminal Justice (CCJ) analysis found homicides down 18% among 30 reporting cities in the first half of 2026. The group says the decline began in the second half of 2022.

The finding is notable because crime has fallen across cities with different political leadership, policing strategies, economic conditions and levels of federal involvement, CCJ said.

Tampa among few major cities with rising homicides in 2026

Deadly crime in Tampa is bucking a national trend among the largest cities in the country.

Illustration of crime tape forming an upward arrow. 

Tampa saw an uptick in homicides during the first half of the year that was among the highest in the country for major cities, according to preliminary data reviewed by Axios.Why it matters: Deadly crime in Tampa is bucking a national trend among the largest cities in the country, which are mostly recording dips in homicides.

Politics

A bar chart that shows the cities with the largest homicide increases from Jan. 1 to June 30, 2026. Honolulu has the highest increase at 85.7%, followed by San Diego at 81.3% and Orlando at 66.7%. The smallest increase shown is Denver at 30%.

Cities with largest increase in homicides from H1 2025 to H1 2026

Denver Public Schools starts year with sweeping phone ban

Axios What's Next

Cooler weather arrives in Denver

Denver's homicide surge among highest in the U.S.

Award-winning Denver chef crafts United Airlines bites

topics

politics-policy

epstein-files

donald-trump

2026-midterm-elections

immigration

behind-the-curtain

race-and-equity

technology

privacy-tech-regulation

automation-and-ai

tiktok-news

big-tech

social-media

cybersecurity

economy

social-security

inflation

tariffs

federal-reserve

transportation

business

c-suite

retail-news

media

elon-musk

dealmaking

health

rfk-jr

drug-prices

axios-explains-abortion

public-health

world

israel

axios-explains-ukraine

iran

russia

china

energy-climate

nuclear-energy

climate-energy-policy

climate-change

extreme-weather

alternative-energy

electric-vehicles

science

emerging-tech

biomedicine

newsletters

charlotte

salt-lake-city

denver

fort-lauderdale

cincinnati

boulder

kansas-city

austin

chicago

dallas

detroit

atlanta

indianapolis

nashville

nw-arkansas

columbus

hollywood

north-of-cincy

washington-dc

richmond

san-francisco

boston

des-moines

houston

phoenix

miami

philadelphia

seattle

new-orleans

colorado-springs

huntsville

raleigh

san-antonio

twin-cities

pittsburgh

san-diego

tampa-bay

portland

cleveland

arapahoe

douglas

axios-local

axios-pro

axios-live

the-axios-show

Esteban L. Hernandez

Featured stories

Tampa among few major cities with rising homicides in 2026

Denver Public Schools starts year with sweeping phone ban

Cooler weather arrives in Denver

Denver's homicide surge among highest in the U.S.

Award-winning Denver chef crafts United Airlines bites