Crime of all forms certainly spiked in 2020 and 2021 in most of the US, and continued to remain high for a time after that. But recent data, especially homicide data compiled by AH Datalytics, suggest that crime is falling. When measured by homicide rates, the worst of crimes and the least likely to be underreported, homicide rates across 272 major cities in the US is down 17.6% in 2024 compared with the same period in 2023. And among the 20 cities with the most homicides in 2023, just one (Birmingham, the 20th on the list) saw an increase from 2023 to 2024.

But is this just coming down from a relative high? Are homicide rates still elevated from pre-pandemic? I went through the cities with the most homicides on the AH Datalytics list, and for those where I could find comparable data pre-pandemic, I created the following charts. As you will see, lots of these cities are down to or below pre-pandemic levels (for the period in 2024 that is comparable to prior years). Not every single city, of course, but most are close to 2019 or prior years.