New preliminary data from major cities in the United States show a considerable decline in violent crime rates in the first half of 2024, with several places seeing more than 25% overall drops, and even larger drops in homicides specifically.
An Axios analysis of data from the Major Cities Chiefs Association found an overall 6% decline in violent crime among 69 cities during the first six months of 2024 compared to the same period last year, representing the country’s shift away from the waves of crime it experienced following the COVID pandemic.
Of the 69 major cities in the report, 54 saw drops in violent crime, including homicide, rape, robbery and aggravated assault, in the first half of 2024, according to the Axios review.
Columbus, Ohio, experienced the largest percentage decline in violent crime in the nation, with a massive 41% drop so far in 2024. Omaha, Nebraska, was second with a 30% decrease; Miami and Washington, D.C. have seen 29% declines in violent crime so far; Austin, Texas, saw a 28% drop; followed by New Orleans with a 26% decrease.
The Major Cities Chiefs Association’s preliminary data did not include New York City, the nation’s largest city, since it did not submit violent crime numbers to the organization for the first half of 2024. Data from New York City, which is released on its own website, couldn’t be compared to other cities in this report.
The Axios review also found that the number of homicides in the 69 reported cities fell by more than 17% during the first half of 2024 compared to the same period last year. Boston experienced a dramatic 78% drop in homicides, and Philadelphia was among others that saw a smaller, but significant fall in homicides, with a 42% decrease in 2024.
Additionally, an Axios review of crime data along the U.S.-Mexico border found that those cities have some of the nation’s lowest violent crime rates.
These statistics display an overall decline of violent crimes in more condensed places across the country, but they also stand to potentially discount a frequent argument used by Republicans against the Biden-Harris administration. This could provide Vice President Kamala Harris with a substantiated defense against such claims in her campaign for the presidential election, and possibly even in her upcoming debate against former president Donald Trump, where the issue of crime is likely to be raised.
