FBI Releases 2024 Crime Numbers

 The FBI released its report on crime in the United States for 2024 on August 5 showing a 14.9 percent decline in murder with 4.4 percent and 8.1 percent drops in overall violent and property crime respec­tively.

The nation’s murder rate for 2024 was down 26 percent from 2020’s figure and roughly even — slightly lower, actually — relative to where it stood pre-pandemic. The nation’s reported violent and property crime rates stood at the lowest levels since the 1960’s in 2024.

Crime fell in 2024 across every category and population group. Crime was down in all seven categories of crime across all 10 population groups that the FBI measures.

There are a few standard data caveats to consider. Not every crime is reported to law enforcement and not every agency reports crime to the FBI every year. This point is driven home by the FBI chang­ing the official name of this report from Crime in the Nation to Reported Crime in the Nation. Also, these are estimates that will be revised next year which is a totally normal part of the process.

Violent Crime

Overall violent crime (mur­der, rape, robbery, and aggra­vated assault) fell 4.4 percent in 2024 with the nation’s violent crime rate reaching 359.1 per 100,000. That’s the lowest national violent crime rate recorded since 1969.

Of note, while murder, rape, and robbery have declined well below pre- COVID levels, aggravated assault — which accounts for over 70 percent of UCR Part I violent crimes — fell only 3 percent in 2024 and remains stubbornly higher than it was pre-COVID. On the plus side, the Real-Time Crime Index shows a substantial drop in aggravated assault is in progress in 2025.

Murder

The nation’s murder rate in 2024 of 5 per 100,000 is the lowest recorded since 2015. Murder declined across every population group as reported by the FBI with a 19 percent drop in cities of 1 million or more and a 19 percent drop in cities under 10,000.

The 2024 data add con­fidence that 2025 will fea­ture the lowest murder rate ever recorded. A decline of around 10 percent in 2025 would place this year even with 2014 as the lowest mur­der rate ever recorded. Any larger decline in 2025 would give this year the “record”.

Property Crime

Overall property crime (burglary, theft, and motor vehicle theft) fell 8.1 percent in 2024 with the nation’s property crime rate reach­ing 1,760 per 100,000. That’s the lowest property crime rate recorded in the US since 1961. The 8.1 percent drop is the largest one-year decline ever recorded eclipsing the 7.4 percent decline recorded in 2020 (though the differ­ence is minimal considering how these numbers can get revised).

A 19 percent drop in mo­tor vehicle theft powered a fair amount of the decline in property crimes though these crimes remain more plentiful than they were in 2019. Still, the drop in motor vehicle thefts was the largest one-year decline ever recorded, beating a 16.9 percent drop in 2009. Auto theft has been plunging since peaking at the end of 2023 with an even larger drop apparently in store for 2025, so 2024’s re­cord may be short-lived.

Tallahassee Comparison

Comparing 2024 incident reports, as tracked by Talla­hassee Reports, to the nation­al crime trends, reveals that Tallahassee’s 15-20% drop in violent crime incidents was far greater than the 4.4% drop reported nationally. This downward trend contin­ues in Tallahassee in 2025.

As to property crime, the 8.8% drop reported nation­ally is greater than the 3,5% drop reported in Tallahas­see in 2024. However, seven months into 2025, property crime incidents are down 38% in Tallahassee.

Comparing shooting fa­talities with national murder trends reveals that Talla­hassee numbers are above national numbers. The FBI reported a 15% drop in mur­ders in 2024 with 5 murders per 100,000 people. Look­ing at the Tallahassee/Leon County shooting fatalities shows an increase from 23 fa­talities in 2023 to 26 in 2024. This translates to approxi­mately 8.6 shooting fatalities per 100,000 Leon County resi­dents, well above the national murder rate.