Homicides fall 17% in big U.S. cities as the post-pandemic crime decline continues
Data: Major Cities Chiefs Association (MCCA); Chart: Russell Contreras/AxiosViolent crime kept falling across many of the nation's largest cities through June, with homicides down 17.2% from the first half of 2025, according to preliminary data reviewed by Axios.Why it matters: The decline now spans two presidencies — it began falling under President Biden after the pandemic-era surge, and has kept dropping under President Trump.Trump came into office casting America as being overrun by crime at time when the numbers were already declining dramatically. As that decline has continued during his watch he's taken credit for it, often linking it to his deployment of the National Guard in cities such as Washington, D.C., and Memphis, Tenn., to reduced violent crime rates there.
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Data: Major Cities Chiefs Association (MCCA); Chart: Russell Contreras/AxiosViolent crime kept falling across many of the nation's largest cities through June, with homicides down 17.2% from the first half of 2025, according to preliminary data reviewed by Axios.Why it matters: The decline now spans two presidencies — it began falling under President Biden after the pandemic-era surge, and has kept dropping under President Trump.Trump came into office casting America as being overrun by crime at time when the numbers were already declining dramatically. As that decline has continued during his watch he's taken credit for it, often linking it to his deployment of the National Guard in cities such as Washington, D.C., and Memphis, Tenn., to reduced violent crime rates there. By the numbers: An Axios analysis of the Major Cities Chiefs Association's (MCCA) survey of 66 large U.S. communities found drops in violent crime in the first six months of 2026 compared to the same period last year.Homicides fell 17.2%.Robberies dropped 16.6%.Rapes declined 6.2%.Aggravated assaults fell 5.7%.Taken together, the four categories were down about 8.3%, for roughly 14,200 fewer reported violent crimes, according to the Axios review.
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- What's the story?
- Data: Major Cities Chiefs Association (MCCA); Chart: Russell Contreras/AxiosViolent crime kept falling across many of the nation's largest cities through June, with homicides down 17.2% from the first half of 2025, according to preliminary data reviewed by Axios.Why it matters: The decline now spans two presidencies — it began falling under President Biden after the pandemic-era surge, and has kept dropping under President Trump.Trump came into office casting America as being overrun by crime at time when the numbers were already declining dramatically. As that decline has continued during his watch he's taken credit for it, often linking it to his deployment of the National Guard in cities such as Washington, D.C., and Memphis, Tenn., to reduced violent crime rates there.
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- 1 outlet, average source rating 7.0/10.
- When was it last updated?
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Homicides fall 17% in big U.S. cities as the post-pandemic crime decline continues
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