Violent and property crimes fell in Arizona last year, following a nationwide trend.
The big picture: Nationally, crime rates fell to a 20-year low in 2024, according to new FBI data released Tuesday.
- The figures come as preliminary data from the country’s largest cities in 2025 so far suggests violent crime could be heading to record modern lows.
- In addition, homicides in major cities fell during the first six months of 2025, compared with the same period last year.
By the numbers: In Arizona, reported violent crimes fell to 30,888 in 2024, from 31,563 in 2023.
- During that same period, property crimes dropped to 129,963, from 139,350.
Zoom in: As with many other major cities across the U.S., Phoenix experienced a decrease (to 59 from 66) in homicides in the first half of this year compared with 2024, per the Major Cities Chiefs Association (MCCA).
- Aggravated assaults, rapes and robberies also fell during those six months.
- Mesa and Tucson, the other Arizona cities in the mid-year report, experienced slight upticks in homicides (an additional two per city) in the first six months of this year compared with 2024.
- However, both cities experienced decreases in other violent crimes.
Zoom out: The U.S. had a violent crime rate of 359.1 per 100,000 residents last year, the FBI said.
- That surpassed the lowest violent crime rate since 2014, when it was 372.4 per 100,000 residents, and many cities saw 30-year lows, an Axios analysis found.
- Meanwhile, the nation’s property crime rate dropped to 1,760.1 per 100,000 residents last year. That’s also a 20-year low, per an Axios analysis of FBI numbers.
Between the lines: Overall violent crime dropped by 4.5% and all property crime decreased 8.1% from 2024 to 2023, the FBI said…