The United States is on pace to record its lowest homicide rate in more than a century, according to a report released Thursday, as killings continue to fall across much of the country despite an intensely polarized debate over crime and public safety.
The midyear report from the nonpartisan Council on Criminal Justice found homicides declined 18% across 30 major U.S. cities during the first half of 2026 compared to the same period last year, amounting to roughly 215 fewer killings. If the trend holds through the end of the year, researchers said the nation would post its lowest annual homicide rate in more than 100 years.
The findings come as crime has become a central issue for the administration, with President Donald Trump continuing to argue that aggressive federal intervention is needed in cities he says are plagued by violent crime. Over the past year, Trump has deployed National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., and authorized similar deployments in other metropolitan areas such as Memphis, framing the moves as necessary to restore public safety.
The report from CCJ suggests no single policy explains the nationwide decline. Adam Gelb, president and CEO of the organization, said murder and other crimes are falling in cities with vastly different political leadership, policing strategies, and economic conditions, indicating broader national trends are driving the improvements.
Researchers tracked 13 categories of crime and found declines in nine, including aggravated assault, carjacking, and residential burglary. Residential burglaries fell 13% from a year earlier and were down about 50% compared with 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic. Shoplifting, domestic violence, sexual assault, and drug offenses all recorded modest increases from the first half of last year, though drug offenses remained below pre-pandemic levels.
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The report also found that violent crimes were becoming less deadly, with the share of serious violent offenses resulting in death falling 23%.
Not every city followed the national trend. About one-third of cities studied recorded increases in homicides, including Norfolk, Virginia, and San Francisco. Still, only Norfolk, Austin, Pittsburgh, and Minneapolis reported more homicides this year than during the same period in 2019, underscoring the broader decline in lethal violence nationwide.
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
