# US murder rate by president, 1980–2025

Source page: https://govargus.com/indicators/murder

Murders and non-negligent manslaughters per 100,000 people (FBI national estimates). The 2001 figure excludes the deaths of September 11. Estimates from 2021 on are based on the FBI's new incident-based system (NIBRS) and aren't strictly comparable with earlier years.

Latest: 4.1 per 100k (2025).
Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, via Crime Data Explorer (https://cde.ucr.cjis.gov/LATEST/webapp/#/pages/downloads). Annual data, fetched Oct 19, 2026.

Since 1980, the murder rate ranged from 4.1 per 100k in 2025 under Donald Trump (2nd term) to 10.2 per 100k in 1980 under Jimmy Carter. Of the 7 completed terms with data, the murder rate rose fastest under Donald Trump (1st term), at +0.29 per 100k/yr against +0.16 per 100k/yr in the four years before, and fell fastest under Bill Clinton, at −0.47 per 100k/yr against +0.22 per 100k/yr in the four years before. So far under Donald Trump (2nd term), it has gone from 5.1 per 100k in 2024 to 4.1 per 100k in 2025.

## By presidential term

Each row is the value at the last full period before inauguration and at the end of the term, with the yearly rate of change, next to the rate of change over the four years before the term (the trend it inherited). A term's first year mostly reflects the previous administration's policies, and Congress, the Federal Reserve and the world economy move these numbers too. Govargus describes; it does not score presidents.

| President | Term | During term | 4 years before |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Donald Trump (2nd term) | 2025–present | 5.1 per 100k → 4.1 per 100k (−0.94 per 100k/yr, through 2025) | −0.37 per 100k/yr |
| Joe Biden | 2021–2025 | 6.5 per 100k → 5.1 per 100k (−0.37 per 100k/yr) | +0.29 per 100k/yr |
| Donald Trump (1st term) | 2017–2021 | 5.4 per 100k → 6.5 per 100k (+0.29 per 100k/yr) | +0.16 per 100k/yr |
| Barack Obama | 2009–2017 | 5.4 per 100k → 5.4 per 100k (0.00 per 100k/yr) | −0.02 per 100k/yr |
| George W. Bush | 2001–2009 | 5.5 per 100k → 5.4 per 100k (−0.02 per 100k/yr) | −0.47 per 100k/yr |
| Bill Clinton | 1993–2001 | 9.3 per 100k → 5.5 per 100k (−0.47 per 100k/yr) | +0.22 per 100k/yr |
| George H. W. Bush | 1989–1993 | 8.5 per 100k → 9.3 per 100k (+0.22 per 100k/yr) | +0.13 per 100k/yr |
| Ronald Reagan | 1981–1989 | 10.2 per 100k → 8.5 per 100k (−0.22 per 100k/yr) | — |
| Jimmy Carter | 1977–1981 | no data | no data |

## Events that bear on this indicator

- Nov 30, 1993, law: Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act. Requires background checks for handgun purchases from licensed dealers, starting in 1994.
- Sep 13, 1994, law: Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act. The 1994 crime bill: funding for 100,000 police officers and new prisons, tougher sentencing, and a 10-year federal assault weapons ban.
- Sep 13, 2004, law: Federal assault weapons ban expires. The 1994 ban lapses after Congress declines to renew it.
- Mar 11, 2020, shock: COVID-19 declared a pandemic. Lockdowns push unemployment to 14.8% in April 2020.
- May 25, 2020, shock: Murder of George Floyd and nationwide protests. Followed by the largest one-year rise in murders on record (2020), alongside pandemic disruption.