Washington, DC crime rate
In 2025 the Metropolitan Police Department reported 749.7 violent crimes and 3,098.1 property crimes per 100,000 residents it covers. The FBI's estimates for District of Columbia and the US for the same year are beside each number.
Data as of 2025 (FBI), checked October 30, 2026. How we got these numbers
Data notes.
- Arson, 2023: unusual change, check the source. 2022: 0, 2023: 1, 2024: 0 (over 160% of both neighbouring years). Changes to and from 2023 are not shown.
- 2021: not usable. 6 of 12 months of violent or property crime sent as zero, so the year has no rates.
How does Washington compare with District of Columbia and the US?
Arson has no FBI state or US estimate, so its row shows Washington only.
What offenses were reported in Washington, 2025?
| Offense | Reported | Per 100k | District of Columbia | US | vs 2024 | vs 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crime | ||||||
| Violent crime | 5,200 | 749.7 | 803.0 | 327.6 | down 20.0% | 2021: not usable: 6 of 12 months reported as zero |
| Murder | 115 | 16.6 | 16.7 | 4.1 | down 35.7% | 2021: not usable: 6 of 12 months reported as zero |
| Rape | 172 | 24.8 | 23.6 | 36.1 | down 30.9% | 2021: not usable: 6 of 12 months reported as zero |
| Robbery | 2,201 | 317.3 | 347.0 | 49.4 | down 28.3% | 2021: not usable: 6 of 12 months reported as zero |
| Aggravated assault | 2,712 | 391.0 | 415.6 | 238.0 | down 9.6% | 2021: not usable: 6 of 12 months reported as zero |
| Property crime | ||||||
| Property crime | 21,490 | 3,098.1 | 3,132.3 | 1,534.8 | down 14.7% | 2021: not usable: 6 of 12 months reported as zero |
| Burglary | 1,354 | 195.2 | 193.6 | 193.6 | down 19.7% | 2021: not usable: 6 of 12 months reported as zero |
| Larceny-theft | 15,586 | 2,247.0 | 2,264.8 | 1,144.1 | down 14.3% | 2021: not usable: 6 of 12 months reported as zero |
| Motor vehicle theft | 4,550 | 656.0 | 673.8 | 197.0 | down 14.4% | 2021: not usable: 6 of 12 months reported as zero |
| Arson | 0 | 0.0 | Not estimated | Not estimated | Not reported | 2021: not usable: 6 of 12 months reported as zero |
Reported = offenses known to the Metropolitan Police Department and sent to the FBI. District of Columbia and US are FBI estimates for the same year. Changes compare rates of full years only.
Washington's own count
| Offense | Year | FBI count | City count |
|---|---|---|---|
| Murder | 2025 | 115 | 127 |
| Murder | 2024 | 181 | 187 |
| Robbery | 2025 | 2,201 | 1,323 |
| Robbery | 2024 | 3,109 | 2,112 |
| Aggravated assault | 2025 | 2,712 | 933 |
| Aggravated assault | 2024 | 3,036 | 1,027 |
| Burglary | 2025 | 1,354 | 723 |
| Burglary | 2024 | 1,708 | 1,004 |
| Motor vehicle theft | 2025 | 4,550 | 3,935 |
| Motor vehicle theft | 2024 | 5,379 | 5,128 |
City count: Crime Incidents in 2024 / 2025, Metropolitan Police Department, Open Data DC, checked October 29, 2026. The city counts some crimes differently from the FBI (for example by victim instead of by incident), so the two numbers don't always match.
Violent crime rate, 2021 to 2025
2021: not usable: 6 of 12 months reported as zero. No rate is drawn for that year, and the line breaks there.
Show as a table
| Year | Washington | United States | District of Columbia |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Not usable: 6 of 12 months reported as zero | 387.0 | 951.3 |
| 2022 | 751.6 | 388.7 | 815.4 |
| 2023 | 1,052.9 | 379.5 | 1,141.5 |
| 2024 | 936.7 | 362.9 | 1,015.6 |
| 2025 | 749.7 | 327.6 | 803.0 |
Property crime rate, 2021 to 2025
2021: not usable: 6 of 12 months reported as zero. No rate is drawn for that year, and the line breaks there.
Show as a table
| Year | Washington | United States | District of Columbia |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Not usable: 6 of 12 months reported as zero | 1,832.3 | 4,137.2 |
| 2022 | 3,501.8 | 1,973.8 | 3,575.9 |
| 2023 | 4,166.7 | 1,934.1 | 4,262.3 |
| 2024 | 3,632.0 | 1,761.1 | 3,727.3 |
| 2025 | 3,098.1 | 1,534.8 | 3,132.3 |
Is Washington safe?
We don't rate cities as safe or unsafe. What the FBI's numbers show: in 2025 the violent crime rate the Metropolitan Police Department reported, 749.7 per 100,000 residents, was lower than District of Columbia's 803.0, and higher than the US rate of 327.6 (FBI estimates). It fell 20.0% from 2024.
What these numbers can't tell you:
- How crime differs between neighborhoods (the FBI publishes agency totals only).
- Crimes nobody reported to the police.
- How many offenses involved visitors and commuters, who are not in the population count.
The 5,200 violent crimes reported to the FBI by DC police in 2025 equal 749.7 per 100,000 residents covered by the Metropolitan Police Department. That rate was below the FBI estimate for the District of Columbia, 803.0, and 2.3 times the US rate of 327.6. Property crime was 3,098.1 per 100,000, below the District of Columbia estimate of 3,132.3, and 2.0 times the national 1,534.8.
Violent crime fell 20.0% from 2024 to 2025 and was 0.3% below its 2022 rate of 751.6. Property crime came down 14.7% in the last year and 11.5% since 2022. Murder fell the most of the violent offenses, 35.7% from 2024 and 46.1% from 2022, to 115 homicides, or 16.6 per 100,000.
Aggravated assault rose 11.5% from 2022, the largest rise among violent offenses, and made up 52% of violent crime in 2025. Robbery, at 317.3 per 100,000, was 6.4 times the US rate. Larceny-theft fell the most of the property offenses from 2022, 17.8%, and was 73% of property crime in 2025.
Motor vehicle theft went the other way, up 15.5% since 2022 to 656.0 per 100,000, 3.3 times the national rate. All 2021 figures are flagged as not usable because several months were sent as zero, so the trend starts in 2022. The 2023 arson count is flagged as an unusual change, so it is left out.
The department sent all 12 months in 4 of the 5 years shown, and it has reported to NIBRS since 2021.
Written from the numbers on this page. Every figure and every comparison is checked against the stored FBI data before publishing.
Police employees, 2025: 5.35 per 1,000 residents (2,994 officers, 715 civilians), FBI Crime Data Explorer. Shown as context, not as a measure of crime.
Sources
- FBI Crime Data Explorer, Metropolitan Police Department (listed by the FBI as Washington Police Department; agency name) (ORI DCMPD0000), offenses known to law enforcement and police employees, 2021 to 2025, fetched Oct 29, 2026. Crime Data Explorer
- FBI Crime Data Explorer, District of Columbia and United States estimated crime (Summary Reporting System estimates), 2021 to 2025.
- FBI, "UCR Statistics: Their Proper Use" (why we don't rank cities).
Every stored file behind this page (11)
- Washington Police Department (DCMPD0000): violent crime, offenses known to law enforcement, January 2021 to December 2025, fetched Oct 29, 2026 (var/raw/cde/summarized_agency_DCMPD0000_violent_crime__from-01-2021-to-12-2025.json)
- Washington Police Department (DCMPD0000): murder, offenses known to law enforcement, January 2021 to December 2025, fetched Oct 29, 2026 (var/raw/cde/summarized_agency_DCMPD0000_homicide__from-01-2021-to-12-2025.json)
- Washington Police Department (DCMPD0000): rape, offenses known to law enforcement, January 2021 to December 2025, fetched Oct 29, 2026 (var/raw/cde/summarized_agency_DCMPD0000_rape__from-01-2021-to-12-2025.json)
- Washington Police Department (DCMPD0000): robbery, offenses known to law enforcement, January 2021 to December 2025, fetched Oct 29, 2026 (var/raw/cde/summarized_agency_DCMPD0000_robbery__from-01-2021-to-12-2025.json)
- Washington Police Department (DCMPD0000): aggravated assault, offenses known to law enforcement, January 2021 to December 2025, fetched Oct 29, 2026 (var/raw/cde/summarized_agency_DCMPD0000_aggravated_assault__from-01-2021-to-12-2025.json)
- Washington Police Department (DCMPD0000): property crime, offenses known to law enforcement, January 2021 to December 2025, fetched Oct 29, 2026 (var/raw/cde/summarized_agency_DCMPD0000_property_crime__from-01-2021-to-12-2025.json)
- Washington Police Department (DCMPD0000): burglary, offenses known to law enforcement, January 2021 to December 2025, fetched Oct 29, 2026 (var/raw/cde/summarized_agency_DCMPD0000_burglary__from-01-2021-to-12-2025.json)
- Washington Police Department (DCMPD0000): larceny-theft, offenses known to law enforcement, January 2021 to December 2025, fetched Oct 29, 2026 (var/raw/cde/summarized_agency_DCMPD0000_larceny__from-01-2021-to-12-2025.json)
- Washington Police Department (DCMPD0000): motor vehicle theft, offenses known to law enforcement, January 2021 to December 2025, fetched Oct 29, 2026 (var/raw/cde/summarized_agency_DCMPD0000_motor_vehicle_theft__from-01-2021-to-12-2025.json)
- Washington Police Department (DCMPD0000): arson, offenses known to law enforcement, January 2021 to December 2025, fetched Oct 29, 2026 (var/raw/cde/summarized_agency_DCMPD0000_arson__from-01-2021-to-12-2025.json)
- Washington Police Department (DCMPD0000): police employees, 2021 to 2025, fetched Oct 29, 2026 (var/raw/cde/pe_agency_DCMPD0000__from-2021-to-2025.json)