National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS)

By Kevin M. Scott, PhD
BJS Acting Director 

2024, our 45th year, was a significant one for the Bureau of Justice Statistics in meeting our mission. In 2024, we:

• Launched the first redesign of the National Crime Victimization Survey in 30 years, fielding the new instrument in a split sample with the existing instrument.
• Managed four criminal justice data improvement grant programs for which...

Press release

In recent years, 90% of all firearm violence involved a handgun

WASHINGTON ― In 2023, the rate of nonfatal firearm violence was 2.0 victimizations per 1,000 persons age 12 or older, down 72% from 7.3 per 1,000 in 1993...

Press Release

About 1 in 5 U.S. residents experienced contact with the police in 2022

WASHINGTON ― In 2022, an estimated 19% of U.S. residents age 16 or older (about 49.2 million persons) reported experiencing contact with police during the past...

Press Release

Violent victimization unchanged year over year and at prepandemic levels

WASHINGTON ― Data from the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) indicate that in 2023, the rate of nonfatal violent victimization in the United States was 22.5 victimizations per 1,000...

Press Release

Nonfatal violent victimization of juveniles returns to prepandemic levels

WASHINGTON ― The rate of nonfatal violent victimization for persons ages 12 to 17 was higher in 2022 (27.4 per 1,000) than 2021 (13.2 per 1,000), according to a new...

By Laura Evans
BJS Writer-Editor

For the past 50 years, the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) has been the main source of information on criminal victimization in the United States. The NCVS is sponsored by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), the primary statistical agency of the U.S. Department of Justice. It captures information on nonfatal crimes reported to police and those that are...