Rachel E. Morgan, Ph.D., Jennifer L. Truman, Ph.D., BJS Statisticians

September 14, 2020    NCJ 255113

This report is the 47th in a series that began in 1973. It provides official estimates of criminal victimizations reported and not reported to police from BJS's National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS). It describes the characteristics of crimes, victims, and offenders. In addition, this year, BJS provides new classifications of urban, suburban, and rural areas, with the goal of presenting a more accurate picture of where criminal victimizations occur.

Highlights:

• The rate of violent crime excluding simple assault declined 15% from 2018 to 2019, from 8.6 to 7.3 victimizations per 1,000 persons age 12 or older.
• Among females, the rate of violent victimization excluding simple assault fell 27% from 2018 to 2019.
• There were 880,000 fewer victims of serious crimes (generally felonies) in 2019 than in 2018, a 19% drop.
• From 2018 to 2019, 29% fewer black persons and 22% fewer white persons were victims of serious crimes.
• The rate of violent victimization in urban areas—based on the NCVS's new classifications of urban, suburban, and rural areas—declined 20% from 2018 to 2019.

Part of the Criminal Victimization Series

Press Release (30K)
Summary (PDF 197K)
Full report (PDF 1.4K)
Data tables (Zip format 78K)

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