Violent crime declined in every major category across the country’s largest cities in 2025, according to newly released data from the Major Cities Chiefs Association (MCCA).
The analysis, which includes statistics from 67 major U.S. police departments, aligns with earlier research showing a nationwide drop in crime last year and highlights significant decreases across the board. The MCCA report found that homicides fell by 19%, rapes declined by 9%, robberies dropped 20%, and aggravated assaults decreased by nearly 10%.
The steepest reductions in homicides occurred in Sun Belt and Southern cities. Orlando and Tampa recorded the largest drops, each reporting declines exceeding 50%. Several Western cities — including Seattle, Denver, Honolulu, and Albuquerque — also experienced notable decreases.
Other major cities saw substantial improvements as well; Baltimore and Chicago each reported homicide reductions of about 30%, while Memphis and Portland saw declines of roughly 25%.
Not all cities followed the national trend. Homicide rates increased in Boston, El Paso, Fort Worth, Milwaukee, Omaha, Wichita, and Mesa, as well as in Suffolk and Nassau counties in New York.
On Monday, the Trump administration attributed the nationwide declines to 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.
President Donald Trump had previously pointed to rising crime as justification for deploying federal troops to cities including Chicago, Memphis, Portland, Washington, D.C., and several cities in California. He also referred to Chicago and Baltimore as a “hellhole.”
The White House said Monday that crime fell in Washington, D.C., after Trump directed federal resources to the “crime-plagued” city.
However, research indicates there was also a downward trend in violent crime following a surge that began during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Axios reported. One study cited by researchers suggested that the spike in homicides during 2020 was largely driven by men and teenage boys who were unemployed or affected by school closures during the pandemic.