The rate of aggravated assault in the United States is at its highest level since 2007. According to the FBI, approximately 921,500 cases of violent assault were reported nationwide in 2020, up 12% from to the previous year.
The FBI defines aggravated assault as an unlawful physical attack intended to cause severe injectionhurt or injure. Aggravated assault is often committed using a deadly weapon, such as a knife, handgun, or blunt.object. More aggravated assault cases are committed in private residences, although much also takes place on public roads or sidewalks.
As assault cases rise across the country, some U.S. cities are bucking the national trend, reporting substantial year-over-year declines in serious assault cases per capita.
Using FBI data, 24/7 Wall St. identified the 50 cities where the rate of aggravated assault is dropping the fastest. Cities – defined as places with a population of at least 25,000 – are ranked by the year-over-year change in the number of violent assaults per 100,000 population in 2020. Of the cities in this list, the assault rate has gone from 58 to 330 assaults per 100,000 people. Meanwhile, the national aggravated assault rate climbed by 29 assaults per 100,000 population in 2020.
Aggravated assault – along with rape, robbery and homicide – is one component of the overall violent crime category and is by far the most common. Assault accounted for approximately 70% of the 1.3 million violent offenses reported in 2020. Partly due to the decline in the rate of aggravated assault, the overall rate of violent crime has also declined in almost all jurisdictions. cities on this list in 2020. Here’s a look at the metropolitan areas where crime is declining the fastest.
The largest share of cities on this list are in the West, with 14 of them in California alone. Despite declining assault rates, in just over half of the cities on this list, aggravated assaults remain above the national rate of 280 per 100,000 population. Here’s a look at the US cities with the fewest muggings.
Click here to see cities with declining rates of aggravated assault
Click here to read our detailed methodology