Editors at National Review Online ponder an important American crime statistic.
At present, the quickest way to win a voter’s heart is to tell him that everything is awful — or, better still, to tell him that things were wonderful at some point in the recent past, but that his paradise was ruined by greedy and unscrupulous forces that must be summarily stripped of their political power. The details of this claim change — as do the villains — but, invariably, the gist remains the same: Life in 2026 is Bad, and only by following the prescriptions of this or that politician can the United States be returned to sunlit uplands.
Last week, though, we got some news that ought to put a dent in that depressive outlook: Per a study by the Council on Criminal Justice, the murder rate in the United States dropped an astonishing 21 percent in 2025. Not only does this represent the largest single-year reduction on record, but the level may now be as low as it has been since 1900. And it’s not just murder. The study also found that carjackings were down 61 percent, that robberies were down 23 percent, and that both assault and shoplifting were down 10 percent.
Commenting on his institution’s report, the CEO of the Council on Criminal Justice suggested that “it’s extremely difficult to disentangle and pinpoint what’s actually driving the drop.” Perhaps so. Irrespective, this latest reduction is part of a salutary trend that began in the mid-1990s and, with the exception of the Covid-era spike, has continued unbroken ever since. Relative to today, the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and early 1990s were remarkably violent, with the murder rate swinging between eight and ten per 100,000 residents. In 2025, that rate was four per 100,000 residents — an extraordinary improvement. For reference, the last decade in which the rate was close to four was the 1950s.
