Maryland violent crime rate drops 18%, outpacing US decline

Luke Parker, Baltimore Sun on Aug 19, 2026

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

The violent crime rate in Maryland dropped nearly twice as much as it did across the United States last year, according to an analysis of FBI crime data.

The national violent crime rate decreased approximately 9.7% between 2024 and 2025, according to FBI data released Friday by the Trump administration. That included a 4.1 murder rate, which federal authorities said tied with 1955 and 1966 as the lowest in the agency’s data set.

Although Maryland’s rates in 2025 were higher than the U.S. figures for all of the violent crimes except rape — as it has mostly been for a decade — its overall figure saw an 18% decrease year to year.

The 2025 figures classify four types of offenses as violent crimes: murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults. Added together, their rates per 100,000 residents make up an annual violent crime rate.

But Maryland’s success in reducing violence can be traced over the last decade.

Since 2016, the state’s overall crime rate fell 23% compared to the 17% drop seen during that time across the U.S. It also reported a double-digit reduction in murder compared to the national rate, as well as slightly larger and identical declines in aggravated assaults and robberies, respectively.

Rape, again, is the exception. Maryland’s rate, while generally lower than the national figure, rose 9% since 2016. At the same time, the national rate fell 11%, meaning the U.S. saw reductions in all categories of violent crimes.

Measured successes in Maryland also correlate with the continued and historic reductions of violence seen in Baltimore City — a jurisdiction which, according to 2024 state data, had the highest violent crime rate in Maryland by more than three times the runner-up, Baltimore County.

A city once defined by gun violence, subject to more than 300 annual murders and monikered as “Harm City” or “Bodymore,” Baltimore’s unforeseen progress has made it a case study for business and political leaders. And after reporting seven homicides in July, a turbulent and dangerous month historically, the city is on pace to once again reach its lowest number of killings in a calendar year. In 2025, the city recorded 133 murders.

Experts have struggled to attribute what’s happening in Baltimore to any one factor, but point generally to the combined political and law enforcement priorities addressing community needs and enforcing punishments against shootings.

In a statement Wednesday, Mayor Brandon Scott attributed the city’s progress to its leaders and communities treating gun violence “as the public health crisis it is.”

“After decades of losing more than 300 people to violence every year, we are finally building the safer, healthier communities Baltimoreans deserve,” Scott said. “This progress is proof that our strategies are working — but we know our work is not done, because one life lost to violence in our city is one too many.”

_____