The Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics recently released findings from its 2021 National Crime Victimization Survey.
From 1993 to 2021, the rate of violent victimization in the United States declined from 79.8 to 16.5 victimizations per 1,000 persons age 12 or older. Violent victimization includes rape or sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault and simple assault. The overall violent victimization rate did not change between 2020 and 2021.
The rate of violent victimization reported to police fell from 33.8 victimizations per 1,000 persons in 1993 to 7.5 per 1,000 in 2021. Although the rate of violent victimization reported to police in 2021 (7.5 per 1,000 persons) was similar to the rate in 2020, the percentage of violent victimizations reported to police in 2021 (46 percent) was higher than in 2020 (40 percent).
From 2020 to 2021, the violent victimization rate increased from 19.0 to 24.5 victimizations per 1,000 persons in urban areas while remaining unchanged in suburban or rural areas. Veterans experienced 247,290 violent victimizations (14.4 per 1,000) in 2021, which was not statistically different from 2020.
A larger share of violent victimizations in 2021 (9 percent) than in 2020 (6 percent) resulted in the victim receiving assistance from a victim service provider.
In 2021, about 0.98 percent (2.7 million) of persons age 12 or older nationwide experienced at least one violent crime. About 6.25 percent (8.1 million) of households in the country experienced one or more property victimizations (burglary or trespassing, motor vehicle theft, or other household theft).