2024-02-24 10:07:30
Although Washington, DC, had higher crime rates than every state, comparing its rates to other cities is more fitting. (For more information about crime rates by city, read Which cities have the highest or lowest crime rates?)
Which regions have the lowest and highest crime rates?
Northeastern states have the lowest crime rates among regions. Its property crime rate was 27.6% lower than in the rest of the country; the violent crime rate was 23.0% lower.
In 2022, three of the states with the lowest property crime rates and four with the lowest violent crime rates were in the Northeast. New Hampshire, Maine, and Rhode Island were among the states with the lowest property and violent crime rates.
Crime rates were highest in the West; the region’s property crime rate was 36.7% higher than the rest of the country, and the violent crime rate was 27.1% higher.
The highest property crime rates were in Washington, Colorado, New Mexico, and Oregon, while New Mexico and Alaska recorded the highest violent crime rates.
How have crime rates changed over time?
In 2022, crime rates were 58.0% lower than in 1979. The nation’s crime rate began consistently declining in the early 1990s and fell yearly between 2001 and 2021.
Both property and violent crime rates reflect this long-term trend of decreasing crime. Property crime was down 61.0% since 1979, and violent crime was down 30.6%.
Over 70% percent of violent crimes in 2022 were aggravated assaults, followed by robbery (17.4%), rape (10.5%), and homicide (1.7%). Overall, the violent crime rate fell 1.6% between 2021 and 2022, primarily because of lower rates of aggravated assault (the majority of violent crime since 1982).
Larceny — the theft of personal property — made up 71.7% of property crimes included in FBI data, up from 59.8% of crimes in 1979; the remaining crimes were motor vehicle theft (14.5%) and burglary (13.8%).
Property crime rates had an annual increase of 6.7% in 2022, attributable to a 10.5% rise in motor vehicle thefts (part of a trend since 2019), and a 7.4% increase in larceny since 2021.
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