DOJ survey’s preliminary findings show serious violent crime fell 25% in 2025

The rate of serious violent crime and property offenses fell in the U.S. in 2025 by 25% and 19%, respectively, according to preliminary findings released Oct. 26 by the Department of Justice (DOJ). The survey measures crimes whether they were reported to police or not.

“This report is proof that President Trump’s ‘Make America Safe Again’ agenda is working,” Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward said in the department’s announcement. The Washington Examiner reported that the administration credits its efforts against illegal immigration, drug trafficking, and gang violence as being key to the declines.

The preliminary results from the 2025 National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), when compared to a final 2024 report, showed the serious violent crime rate declining from 9.9 to 7.4 per 1,000 people age 12 or older, while property crimes fell 19%, from 138.0 to 111.2 per 1,000 households. 

The department’s measure of serious violent victimization covers rape or sexual assault, robbery, and aggravated assault, and excludes simple assault. Aggravated assault fell 31%, from 4.5 to 3.1 per 1,000. Burglary or trespassing fell 25%, motor vehicle theft fell 30%, and other household theft fell 19%, according to the release. In the bureau’s report, serious violent victimizations fell from about 2.8 million in 2024 to about 2.2 million in 2025. 

The headline decline of 25% applies specifically to serious violent victimization. The rate for all violent victimization, which includes simple assault, fell from 28.7 to 25.7 per 1,000, or 7.5 million victimizations in 2025. Simple assault, which accounted for about 5.3 million of the 2025 victimizations, changed little, from 18.8 to 18.3 per 1,000. The survey is based on 101,980 household interviews, and 53% of eligible households completed interviews, according to the report.

The figures are preliminary, and it is notable that the department’s statisticians had to adjust the results for October and November, due during the lapse in federal government appropriations, by using the four months of data collected in July, August, September, and December of 2025 to represent the second half of 2025. Final 2025 estimates are due in 2027, the report said. 

The DOJ revamped the survey in 2024, so 2025 is the first year of estimates from the redesigned survey, making it difficult to compare results with years prior to 2024. NCVS stated in a 2024 analysis that the redesigned instrument produced higher estimates than the legacy version, with the violent victimization rate 23% higher.

The department said a separate Bureau of Justice Statistics report released the previous week found homicides fell 17% in 2025. The FBI said in August that the murder rate fell to its lowest level since the 1950s. 

Researchers cautioned that the decline cannot easily be attributed to one administration or policy, according to NBC, and Adam Gelb of the Council on Criminal Justice noted that homicide rates fell in cities with differing leadership and public safety strategies.