"President Donald Trump has been celebrating what he says is a major crime reduction achievement in the United States. On at least 10 occasions from Jan. 29 to Feb. 8, Trump has offered a version of this statement: "The crime rate now is the lowest it's been since 1900. That's 125 years." One of those occasions was during an NBC News interview that aired Feb. 8 before the Super Bowl."
"Experts told PolitiFact the 2025 FBI murder rate will likely end up at a 65-year low. But saying it's the lowest in 125 years is less certain, because data prior to 1960 is not comparable to later data. Because the methodology was not consistent for all 125 years, "We just can't say for sure" whether it's an all-time low, said Jeff Asher, a crime data researcher."
Multiple public statements claimed U.S. crime rates are the lowest since 1900. The White House referenced the murder rate, citing a Council on Criminal Justice study that found the 2025 homicide rate on pace to be the lowest in law enforcement or public health records going back to 1900. The council cited murder and non-negligent homicide as counted in the FBI murder rate. The FBI defines murder as the willful killing of one human by another based on police investigation. Researchers caution that data and methodology before 1960 are not comparable, limiting certainty about an all-time low.
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