While violent crime ticked up slightly in 2022, a deeper look at the numbers reveals a complex American safety landscape where alarming spikes in certain offenses coexist with long-term historic declines.
Key Takeaways
- In 2022, the United States violent crime rate was 380.7 offenses per 100,000 inhabitants, marking a 1.7% increase from 2021.
- Aggravated assaults accounted for 68.3% of all violent crimes reported to law enforcement in 2022, totaling 870,901 incidents.
- The robbery rate in the US decreased to 66.4 per 100,000 in 2022 from 66.8 in 2021.
- The property crime rate in 2022 was 1,954.4 offenses per 100,000 inhabitants, down 6.1% from 2021.
- Burglaries decreased by 7.5% in 2022, totaling 539,332 incidents.
- Larceny-theft rate: 1,365.5 per 100,000 in 2022.
- Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter rate in 2022 was 6.3 per 100,000, up 0.3% from 2021.
- Total murders reported: 21,156 in 2022.
- Firearm-related homicides: 77.6% of all murders in 2022.
- Overall crime rate decreased 3% from 2021 to 2022 per FBI UCR.
- Violent crime peaked in 1991 at 758.2 per 100,000, now 50% lower.
- Property crime down 65% since 1993 peak per BJS.
- Blacks aged 12+ violent victimization: 11.3 per 1,000 in 2022.
- Whites: 12.1 per 1,000 violent victimization in 2022 NCVS.
- Hispanics: 10.6 per 1,000 violent in 2022.
Overall crime decreased last year, but aggravated assaults increased while clearance rates fell.
Demographics
- Blacks aged 12+ violent victimization: 11.3 per 1,000 in 2022.
- Whites: 12.1 per 1,000 violent victimization in 2022 NCVS.
- Hispanics: 10.6 per 1,000 violent in 2022.
- Asians lowest at 5.7 per 1,000 violent victimization 2022.
- Black homicide offending rate: 34.4 per 100,000 in 2022.
- White offending rate: 3.3 per 100,000 for homicide.
- Males 89% of homicide offenders in 2022 FBI.
- Females 11% of homicide offenders.
- Ages 20-24 highest homicide victimization: 21.5 per 100k.
- Ages 65+ lowest: 2.8 per 100k homicide victims.
- Black males homicide rate: 52.1 per 100,000 in 2021 CDC.
- Black females: 11.7 per 100,000.
- Poor households (<$25k) property victimization 2x higher.
- High income (>$75k) violent victimization lowest at 9.2/1k.
- Urban residents violent victimization 20.8/1k vs rural 11.1.
- Northeast violent rate lowest regionally: 10.4/1k.
- South highest property victimization: 52.6/1k households.
- Children 12-17 highest robbery victimization: 2.1/1k.
- Elderly 65+ lowest robbery: 0.3/1k.
- Gay/lesbian violent victimization 2x heterosexuals per NCVS.
- Native Americans highest violent victimization: 23.6/1k.
- Single-person households higher burglary risk.
- Renter-occupied higher property crime than owners.
- Immigrants lower crime offending rates per Cato.
- Foreign-born victimization similar to natives.
Demographics Interpretation
The raw numbers soberly insist that crime is less a theater of racial monoliths and more a grim lottery where geography, age, income, and circumstance are the loaded dice, while quietly screaming that the most perilous demographic cocktail in America is being young, male, and living in an underserved urban neighborhood.
Homicide
- Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter rate in 2022 was 6.3 per 100,000, up 0.3% from 2021.
- Total murders reported: 21,156 in 2022.
- Firearm-related homicides: 77.6% of all murders in 2022.
- Handgun homicides: 53.6% of firearm murders in 2022.
- CDC reports 26,031 firearm homicides in 2022.
- Homicide victimization rate for Blacks: 29.0 per 100,000 in 2021 CDC.
- White homicide rate: 3.4 per 100,000 in 2021.
- Male homicide victims: 84% of total in 2022 CDC.
- Female homicide victims: 16% in 2022.
- Youth homicide rate ages 15-24: 18.2 per 100,000 in 2022.
- Murder clearance rate: 52.3% in 2022 FBI.
- Murders in the South: 8,767 in 2022.
- Midwest murders: 3,802 in 2022.
- Gang-related homicides: 13% of murders in 2022 per FBI estimates.
- Domestic violence homicides: 10-15% annually per BJS.
- Homicides by strangulation: 10% of female homicides in 2021.
- Mass shootings resulting in 4+ deaths: 53 in 2022 per Gun Violence Archive.
- Homicide rate in urban counties: 9.2 per 100,000 in 2022.
- Suburban homicide rate: 4.1 per 100,000.
- Rural homicide: 5.5 per 100,000 in 2022.
- Negro homicide offenders: 53.5% of known in 2022 FBI.
- White offenders: 44.3% of murders in 2022.
- Juvenile homicide victims under 18: 1,739 in 2022 CDC.
- Homicides during robberies: 12% of total murders in 2022.
- Argument-related homicides: 58% in 2022 FBI.
- Felony-type murders: 9% in 2022.
- Narcotic-related homicides: 3% in 2022.
- In 2023 preliminary, murders down 11.6% from 2022.
Homicide Interpretation
While the overall murder rate nudged up a statistically trivial 0.3% to 6.3 per 100,000 in 2022, the raw toll of 21,156 lives ended—overwhelmingly by gunfire and with stark, tragic disparities across race, gender, and geography—paints a picture of a nation where lethal violence remains a deeply entrenched and unevenly distributed American crisis.
Property Crimes
- The property crime rate in 2022 was 1,954.4 offenses per 100,000 inhabitants, down 6.1% from 2021.
- Burglaries decreased by 7.5% in 2022, totaling 539,332 incidents.
- Larceny-theft rate: 1,365.5 per 100,000 in 2022.
- Motor vehicle thefts surged 16.6% to 872,236 in 2022.
- NCVS property victimization rate: 46.5 per 1,000 households in 2022.
- Burglary victimization: 1.8 per 1,000 households in 2022 NCVS.
- Motor vehicle theft victimization: 3.9 per 1,000 households in 2022.
- Theft victimization rate: 41.1 per 1,000 households in 2022.
- Property crimes in urban areas: 2,239.7 per 100,000 in 2022.
- Suburban property crime rate: 1,892.3 per 100,000 in 2022.
- Rural property crime: 1,332.1 per 100,000 in 2022.
- Residential burglaries: 289,843 in 2022.
- Non-residential burglaries: 249,489 in 2022.
- Larceny-thefts from motor vehicles: 737,556 in 2022.
- Shoplifting incidents: 912,805 in 2022.
- Property crime clearance rate: 12.1% in 2022.
- Burglary clearance: 13.1% in 2022.
- Larceny-theft clearance: 12.4% in 2022.
- Motor vehicle theft clearance: 13.9% in 2022.
- Household property victimization highest in West: 52.3 per 1,000 in 2022.
- Northeast property victimization: 38.7 per 1,000 households.
- Completed burglaries: 58% of burglary victimizations in 2022 NCVS.
- Property crimes reported to police: 34% in 2022 NCVS.
- Average loss from theft: $743 per incident in 2022 NCVS.
- Burglary average loss: $2,351 in 2022.
- Motor vehicle theft average value: $8,282 stolen in 2022.
- Pocket pickpocketing victimizations: 118,000 in 2022.
- Purse-snatching: 54,000 incidents in 2022 NCVS.
- In 2021, property crime rate was 2,081.7 per 100,000 per FBI.
Property Crimes Interpretation
While it's reassuring that property crime broadly dipped last year, the sharp spike in car thefts and persistently low clearance rates reveal a frustrating reality: many criminals are still getting away with it, quite literally.
Trends
- Overall crime rate decreased 3% from 2021 to 2022 per FBI UCR.
- Violent crime peaked in 1991 at 758.2 per 100,000, now 50% lower.
- Property crime down 65% since 1993 peak per BJS.
- Murder rate fell 50% from 1993 to 2018, then rose post-2020.
- NCVS violent victimization halved since 1993: from 79.8 to 16.5 per 1,000.
- Property victimization down 77% since 1993 per NCVS.
- 2020 saw 30% homicide spike amid COVID.
- 2022 violent crime up 1.7% but still below 2019 levels.
- Motor vehicle theft up 26% from 2021 to 2023 prelim.
- Rape reported up 67% since 2009 due to definition change.
- Clearance rates declined from 64% violent in 1965 to 45% in 2022.
- Prison population down 25% since 2009 peak.
- Police funding increased 4% annually 2015-2020.
- Urban violent crime down 6% 2019-2022 prelim.
- Homicides down 12% in 2023 across 198 cities.
- Aggravated assaults up 6% post-2020 but stable since.
- Burglaries down 10% from 2019 to 2022.
- Larceny-theft down 8% 2021-2022.
- Overall crime victimization at historic low in 2022 NCVS.
- Serious violent crime victimization down 1% from 2021.
- Reporting to police up to 46% for violent crimes in 2022.
- Cybercrime victimization rose to 13.3% of households in 2022.
- Violent crime rate 1950-2022: lowest in 2022 since 1960s adjusted.
- Homicide rate 1991 peak 9.8 to 5.0 in 2014, up to 6.5 in 2020.
- Black homicide victimization rate down 30% since 1993.
- White property crime victimization down 80% since 1993.
- Hispanic violent victimization declined 64% 1993-2019.
Trends Interpretation
Despite some concerning recent upticks, the long arc of American crime statistics bends dramatically toward a safer society, as evidenced by violent crime and property crime rates being cut by roughly half and two-thirds, respectively, since their early '90s peaks, though we now wrestle with a troubling shift toward unsolved cases and a rise in digital offenses.
Violent Crimes
- In 2022, the United States violent crime rate was 380.7 offenses per 100,000 inhabitants, marking a 1.7% increase from 2021.
- Aggravated assaults accounted for 68.3% of all violent crimes reported to law enforcement in 2022, totaling 870,901 incidents.
- The robbery rate in the US decreased to 66.4 per 100,000 in 2022 from 66.8 in 2021.
- Rape offenses rose by 9.4% in 2022 compared to 2021, with a rate of 40.0 per 100,000 population.
- In 2021, violent crime victimization rate from NCVS was 16.5 victimizations per 1,000 persons age 12 or older.
- Simple assaults comprised 57% of violent victimizations in 2022 per NCVS data.
- Robberies involving firearms occurred in 27% of incidents according to 2022 NCVS.
- The violent crime rate in urban areas was 484.4 per 100,000 in 2022.
- Suburban violent crime rate stood at 346.1 per 100,000 population in 2022.
- Rural violent crime rate was 200.3 per 100,000 in 2022.
- Aggravated assault rate with firearms was 84.6 per 100,000 in 2022.
- Non-firearm aggravated assaults totaled 567,234 in 2022.
- Rape by force increased 8.5% from 2021 to 2022.
- Attempted rapes reported: 28,179 in 2022.
- Robbery rate in the South was 80.2 per 100,000 in 2022.
- Midwest robbery rate: 53.1 per 100,000 in 2022.
- Violent crimes cleared by arrest: 45.6% in 2022.
- Aggravated assault clearance rate: 52.1% in 2022.
- Robbery clearance rate dropped to 24.1% in 2022.
- Rape clearance rate: 31.7% in 2022.
- Violent victimization rate for males: 19.8 per 1,000 in 2022 NCVS.
- Female violent victimization: 13.4 per 1,000 in 2022.
- Youth aged 12-17 violent victimization: 22.5 per 1,000 in 2022.
- Elderly 65+ violent victimization: 4.2 per 1,000 in 2022.
- Stranger-perpetrated violent crimes: 38% of incidents in 2022 NCVS.
- Intimate partner violence: 1.2 million incidents in 2022 per NCVS.
- Workplace violent victimizations: 740,000 in 2022.
- Violent crimes reported to police: 42% of incidents in 2022 NCVS.
- Serious violent victimization rate: 7.3 per 1,000 in 2022.
- In 2020, violent crime rate was 398.5 per 100,000 per FBI UCR.
Violent Crimes Interpretation
The portrait of American violence in 2022 reveals a landscape where the overall risk remains stubbornly low but painfully real, dominated by a familiar and rising pattern of aggravated assaults, with a deeply troubling surge in sexual violence and a system that clears less than half of these cases.
Sources & References
- Reference 1CDEcde.ucr.cjis.govVisit source
- Reference 2BJSbjs.ojp.govVisit source
- Reference 3UCRucr.fbi.govVisit source
- Reference 4CDCcdc.govVisit source
- Reference 5WONDERwonder.cdc.govVisit source
- Reference 6FBIfbi.govVisit source
- Reference 7VPCvpc.orgVisit source
- Reference 8GUNVIOLENCEARCHIVEgunviolencearchive.orgVisit source
- Reference 9COUNCILONCJcounciloncj.orgVisit source
- Reference 10PUBLICpublic.tableau.comVisit source
- Reference 11PEWRESEARCHpewresearch.orgVisit source
- Reference 12URBANurban.orgVisit source
- Reference 13MACROTRENDSmacrotrends.netVisit source
- Reference 14CATOcato.orgVisit source