Violent Victimization by Race or Hispanic Origin, 2008–2021

Alexandra Thompson and Susannah N. Tapp, PhD
BJS Statisticians

JULY 2023, NCJ 305262

From 2008 to 2021, the rate of overall violent victimization fell (figure 1). Over the same time period, the violent victimization rate fell for persons who identified as white, black, Hispanic, or another race (includes American Indian or Alaska Native or persons of two or more races).

Figure 1. Rate of violent victimization, by race/Hispanic origin, 2008-2021

This graphic is interactive. To access data points, hover over the line and select a year. To select multiple lines or years, press and hold ctrl on your keyboard and select desired lines or years.

Note: Rates are per 1,000 persons age 12 or older. Estimates are based on 2-year moving averages centered on the most recent year (e.g., a 2008 estimate includes data for 2007 and 2008). Therefore, estimates may differ from previously published reports where only 1 year was used for annual rates, rather than 2-year rolling averages. See appendix table 1 for estimates and standard errors.
^aExcludes persons of Hispanic origin (e.g., “white” refers to non-Hispanic white persons and “black” refers to non-Hispanic black persons).
^bIncludes persons who identified as Asian only or as Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander (NHOPI) only. Categories are not shown separately due to small numbers of sample cases.
^cIncludes persons who identified as American Indian or Alaska Native or persons of two or more races. Categories are not shown separately due to small numbers of sample cases.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Crime Victimization Survey, 2008–2021.

During the 5-year aggregate period of 2017–21, white persons (19.8 victimizations per 1,000 persons age 12 or older) experienced a higher rate of violent victimization than the rate for Asian, Native Hawaiian, or Other Pacific Islander persons (9.8 per 1,000) (table 1). This pattern held across all types of violent crime. The rate of robbery victimization for black (2.8 per 1,000) and Hispanic persons (2.5 per 1,000) was higher than for white persons (1.6 per 1,000), but the rate of simple assault was higher for white persons (13.3 per 1,000) than black (11.3 per 1,000) or Hispanic (10.6 per 1,000) persons.

Table 1. Rate of violent victimization, by type of crime and victim race/Hispanic origin, 2017–21
	Rate per 1,000 persons age 12 or older
Type of crime	Total	*White^a**	Black^a	Hispanic	Asian/Native Hawaiian/ Other Pacific Islander^a,b	Other^a,c
Total violent crime^d	19.5	19.8	19.4	18.4	9.8†	54.8†
Rape/sexual assault	1.6	1.7	1.4	1.4	1.1†	4.2†
Robbery	1.9	1.6	2.8†	2.5†	0.9†	5.3†
Assault	16.0	16.5	15.2	14.5	7.7†	45.3†
Aggravated assault	3.4	3.2	3.8	3.8	1.1†	8.5†
Simple assault	12.6	13.3	11.3‡	10.6†	6.7†	36.9†
Violent crime excluding simple assault^e	6.9	6.4	8.0†	7.8†	3.1†	18.0†

Note: Details may not sum to totals due to rounding. Rate is per 1,000 persons age 12 or older. See appendix table 19 in Criminal Victimization, 2021 (NCJ 305101, BJS, September 2022) for person populations. See appendix table 2 for standard errors.
*Comparison group.
†Significant difference from comparison group at the 95% confidence level.
‡Significant difference from comparison group at the 90% confidence level.
^aExcludes persons of Hispanic origin (e.g., “white” refers to non-Hispanic white persons and “black” refers to non-Hispanic black persons).
^bIncludes persons who identified as Asian only or as Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander only. Categories are not shown separately due to small numbers of sample cases.
^cIncludes persons who identified as American Indian or Alaska Native or as two or more races. Categories are not shown separately due to small numbers of sample cases.
^dExcludes homicide because the National Crime Victimization Survey is based on interviews with victims.
^eIncludes rape or sexual assault, robbery, and aggravated assault.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Crime Victimization Survey, 2017–2021.

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During 2017–21, a greater number of violent incidents with white victims involved white offenders (8,721,450 incidents) than offenders of any other race or Hispanic origin or whose race or Hispanic origin was unknown (table 2). More violent incidents with black victims involved black offenders (1,884,250 incidents) than white offenders (371,540). Similarly, a greater number of violent incidents with Hispanic victims involved Hispanic offenders (1,423,520 incidents) than white offenders (1,006,400).

Table 2. Number of violent incidents, by victim and offender race/Hispanic origin, 2017–21
		Offender race/Hispanic origin
Victim race/ Hispanic origin	Total	*White^a**	Black^a	Hispanic^b	Asian/Native Hawaiian/ Other Pacific Islander^a,c	Other^a,d	Unknown^e
White^a	15,795,650	8,721,450	2,382,400†	1,535,050†	187,150†	513,140†	1,821,890†
Black^a	3,095,610	371,540	1,884,250†	243,880‡	11,850!	86,100†	341,240†
Hispanic	4,057,480	1,006,400	741,600†	1,423,520†	55,410†	65,770†	548,520†
Asian/Native Hawaiian/ Other Pacific Islander^a,c	829,570	219,520	191,970	57,530†	113,220†	5,760!	122,640!
Other^a,d	1,412,090	681,920	234,750†	127,740†	27,830†	178,530†	139,760†

Note: Details may not sum to totals due to rounding and because total includes incidents where the number of offenders was unknown. An incident is a specific criminal act involving one or more victims. Offender race/Hispanic origin is based on victims’ perceptions of offenders. Includes violent incidents in which the perceived offender race/Hispanic origin was reported. See appendix table 3 for standard errors.
*Comparison group.
†Significant difference from comparison group at the 95% confidence level.
‡Significant difference from comparison group at the 90% confidence level.
! Interpret data with caution. Estimate is based on 10 or fewer sample cases, or coefficient of variation is greater than 50%.
^aExcludes persons who identified as being (or, for offender categories, were perceived as) of Hispanic origin (e.g., “white” refers to non-Hispanic white persons and “black” refers to non-Hispanic black persons).
^bIf the victim perceived any of the offenders in a multiple offender incident to be of Hispanic origin, they are classified as Hispanic.
^cIncludes persons who identified as (or, for offender categories, were perceived as) Asian only or Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander only. Categories are not shown separately due to small numbers of sample cases.
^dIncludes persons who identified as (or, for offender categories, were perceived as) American Indian or Alaska Native or as two or more races. Categories are not shown separately due to small numbers of sample cases.
^eIncludes incidents where the victim did not know the offender’s race/Hispanic origin.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Crime Victimization Survey, 2017–2021.

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Figure 1 features trend estimates of 2-year moving averages and standard errors by race and Hispanic origin. Offender characteristics in the NCVS are based on victims’ perceptions of offenders. Tables 1 and 2 show an aggregate period of multiple data years. These approaches increase the reliability and stability of the estimates. For more information on the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), see the Methodology section in Criminal Victimization, 2021 (NCJ 305101, BJS, September 2022).

Appendix Table 1. Estimates and standard errors for figure 1: Rate of violent victimization, 2008–2021
	Total
			95% Confidence interval
Year	Rate per 1,000	Standard error	Lower bound	Upper bound
2008	26.3†	1.45	23.44	29.12
2009	23.8†	1.48	20.92	26.72
2010	20.8†	1.32	18.20	23.38
2011	20.9†	1.33	18.32	23.54
2012	24.4†	1.22	21.97	26.75
2013	24.6†	1.46	21.78	27.49
2014	21.6†	1.22	19.24	24.02
2015	19.3†	1.10	17.18	21.49
2016	19.1†	1.02	17.12	21.13
2017	20.1†	0.93	18.32	21.95
2018	21.9†	0.92	20.10	23.71
2019	22.1†	1.11	19.91	24.27
2020	18.7‡	0.92	16.89	20.49
2021*	16.4	0.87	14.73	18.13

Note: Rates are per 1,000 persons age 12 or older. Standard errors were generated using generalized variance function parameters. For more information, see the Methodology section in Criminal Victimization, 2021 (NCJ 305101, BJS, September 2022). Estimates are based on 2-year moving averages centered on the most recent year (e.g., a 2008 estimate includes data for 2007 and 2008). Therefore, estimates and standard errors may differ from previously published reports where only 1 year was used for annual rates.
*Comparison year.
†Significant difference from comparison year at the 95% confidence level.
‡Significant difference from comparison year at the 90% confidence level.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Crime Victimization Survey, 2008–2021.

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Appendix Table 2. Standard errors for table 1: Rate of violent victimization, by type of crime and victim race/Hispanic origin, 2017–21
	Rate per 1,000
Type of crime	Total	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian/Native Hawaiian/ Other Pacific Islander	Other
Total violent crime	0.58	0.81	1.30	1.12	1.02	4.49
Rape/sexual assault	0.09	0.12	0.19	0.17	0.21	0.75
Robbery	0.11	0.12	0.31	0.25	0.20	0.90
Assault	0.54	0.75	1.17	1.01	0.93	4.22
Aggravated assault	0.16	0.20	0.39	0.34	0.23	3.39
Simple assault	0.46	0.65	0.97	0.83	0.85	3.75
Violent crime excluding simple assault	0.24	0.30	0.59	0.51	0.40	1.83

Note: Standard errors were generated using generalized variance function parameters. For more information, see the Methodology section in Criminal Victimization, 2021 (NCJ 305101, BJS, September 2022).
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Crime Victimization Survey, 2017–2021.

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Appendix Table 1. Estimates and standard errors for figure 1: Percent of violent victimizations where the victim reported experiencing a socio-emotional consequence, by type of crime, 2022
	Moderate to severe distress		Problems with family or friends		Problems with job or schoolwork
Type of crime	Percent	Standard error	Percent	Standard error	Percent	Standard error
All violent crime	47.0%	1.99%	22.1%	1.54%	17.6%	1.38%
Rape/sexual assault	63.3†	5.12	34.5†	4.91	29.1†	4.65
Robbery	59.2†	4.66	29.5†	4.17	13.2	2.97
Aggravated assault	52.3†	3.42	25.7†	2.86	22.0†	2.68
Simple assault*	40.4	2.33	17.6	1.69	15.0	1.56

Note: In the National Crime Victimization Survey, violent victimization includes rape or sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault, and simple assault. A violent victimization may result in a victim reporting one or more of the following socio-emotional consequences: moderate to severe distress, significant problems with family or friends, or significant problems with their job or schoolwork.
*Comparison group.
†Difference with comparison group is significant at the 95% confidence level.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Crime Victimization Survey, 2022.

The Bureau of Justice Statistics of the U.S. Department of Justice is the principal federal agency responsible for measuring crime, criminal victimization, criminal offenders, victims of crime, correlates of crime, and the operation of criminal and civil justice systems at the federal, state, tribal, and local levels. BJS collects, analyzes, and disseminates reliable statistics on crime and justice systems in the United States, supports improvements to state and local criminal justice information systems, and participates with national and international organizations to develop and recommend national standards for justice statistics. Alexis R. Piquero, PhD, is the director.

This report was written by Alexandra Thompson and Susannah N. Tapp, PhD. Erika Harrell, PhD, verified the report.

Brigit Baron edited the report. Priscilla Fauntleroy produced the web version of this report. John Popham and Priscilla Fauntleroy oversaw development of the interactive graphic.

July 2023, NCJ 305262

Date Created: July 3, 2023

Just the Stats

Figure 1. Rate of violent victimization, by race/Hispanic origin, 2008-2021