Homicide Victimization in the United States, 2025

• NCJ Number: 312197
• Author(s): Lizabeth Remrey, PhD, BJS Statistician
• Date Published: October 2026
• Publication Series: Homicide Trends in the United States
• Publication Type: Publication

Description

This report presents findings on homicide victimization based on BJS’s and the FBI’s National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) Estimation Program. It provides the number and rate of homicide victimizations reported by law enforcement agencies in the United States, including victim demographic characteristics, victim-offender relationships, the type of weapon(s) present, and the number of victims involved in the incident.

Highlights

In 2025:

• The rate of homicide victimization was 4.3 per 100,000 persons. This marks a 17% decrease from the rate of 5.2 per 100,000 in 2024.
• The male homicide victimization rate (6.6 per 100,000 persons) was more than 3 times greater than the homicide victimization rate for females (2.0 per 100,000).
• The homicide victimization rate for black persons (14.6 per 100,000 persons) was more than 7 times the rate for white persons (2.0 per 100,000).
• The largest percentage of homicide victimizations (42%) was committed by someone outside the family but known to the victim.