America sees murder rate drop to lowest level in 125 years

It may not feel like it, anecdotally, or from what we all take from the news, but the murder rate is actually falling in the United States. Not inching down, either. But falling fast. Fresh figures from the Council on Criminal Justice suggest that homicides dropped a full 21% in 2025 across 35 major US cities. That’s the biggest single year decline ever recorded. Analysts think that the national rate could land near 4.0 per 100,000 people once final FBI data is analysed and released soon, which would make it the lowest in some 125 years.