The Justice Department says preliminary estimates from the Bureau of Justice Statistics' National Crime Victimization Survey show the rate of non-fatal violent crime excluding simple assault fell 25%, from 9.9 per 1,000 persons age 12 or older in 2024 to 7.4 per 1,000 in 2025. The department says that category, also called serious violent victimization, covers rape or sexual assault, robbery and aggravated assault. Aggravated assault dropped 31%, from 4.5 to 3.1 per 1,000.

CBS News reports the survey found an estimated 669,000 fewer violent crimes, excluding simple assaults, in 2025 than in 2024, and about 390,000 fewer aggravated assaults. CBS News reports the Justice Department called it the largest decline since 1973. Robbery was down 27%, CBS News reports.

Property crime fell too. The department says property victimization declined 19%, from 138.0 per 1,000 households in 2024 to 111.2 per 1,000 in 2025. Burglary or trespassing fell 25%, and other household theft fell 19%. Just the News reports motor vehicle theft fell 30%.

Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward said the report is proof that President Trump's Make America Safe Again agenda is working, according to the department. Just the News notes that since President Trump returned to the White House, he has sent the National Guard to Washington, D.C., and other major cities to crack down on crime and illegal immigration.

The department says the survey is the nation's primary source on criminal victimization, including crimes not reported to police, and each year draws on about 240,000 persons in about 150,000 households. CBS News reports the 2025 survey consisted of 101,980 household interviews, with 53% of eligible households completing them. The department says BJS moved fully to a redesigned survey instrument in January 2025, and these are the first estimates from it. The results follow a BJS report last week showing homicide rates fell 17% in 2025 over 2024, the department says.