The national violent crime rate saw its largest year-to-year decline in almost 90 years, the FBI said in a recent report, which also showed Alaska as the state with the highest violent crime rate in the country and Maine with the lowest. Data the agency released this month found that nationwide, violent crime—which covers murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault—fell 9.3 percent between 2024 and 2025, dropping to 327.6 offenses per 100,000 people. The murder rate, meanwhile, fell 18.1 percent to 4.1 per 100,000 residents, tying 1955 and 1956 for the lowest level on record.
Still, a Newsweek analysis of FBI agency-level data aggregated by state shows that despite the nationwide decline, violent crime rates vary sharply across the country. The figures were released as part of the FBI's annual Reported Crimes in the Nation publication, which compiles data submitted by more than 17,000 law enforcement agencies covering roughly 96 percent of the U.S. population. According to the analysis, Alaska recorded the highest violent crime rate in the nation, with 659.6 violent crimes per 100,000 residents.
New Mexico ranked second with 638.4 per 100,000, followed by Arkansas with 525.8 and Tennessee with 469.5. Kansas rounded out the top five with 453.4 violent crimes per 100,000 residents. Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, Colorado and Oklahoma also recorded rates above 400 per 100,000.
Several of the states with the highest rates had relatively small populations compared with the country's largest states, highlighting the difference between total crime counts and crime rates. California, the most populous state, reported the largest volume of violent crimes, with 157,828 offenses, followed by Texas with 103,827 and New York with 69,274. Because those states have much larger populations, their crime rates still ranked lower than several smaller states.
California's violent crime rate stood at 402.6 per 100,000 residents, compared with 331.3 in Texas and 383.4 in New York. North Carolina recorded 32,749 violent crimes during the reporting period, while Florida reported 42,034 and Ohio reported 30,516, placing them among the states with the largest numbers of reported violent offenses. At the other end of the scale, Maine recorded the nation's lowest violent crime rate with 88.3 offenses per 100,000 residents.
Connecticut was second with 104.5, followed by New Hampshire with 124.9. Rhode Island ranked fourth lowest with 146.4 per 100,000 residents, while Hawaii reported a rate of 175.0. New Jersey, Wyoming, Virginia, Kentucky and Mississippi also ranked among the 10 states with the lowest violent crime rates.
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