Crime numbers don’t necessarily move in a straight line. Sure, some cities may see fewer robberies, but some experience more homicides, while others face higher numbers of assaults. There are also those cities facing more crime generally. Here are ten American cities that are facing rising crime this year, based on data from the Major Cities Chiefs Association violent-crime surveys.
1. Boston, Massachusetts
Some of the other categories changed in Boston, but overall, the homicide total increased. Year-end data from the Major Cities Chiefs Association shows that the city had 26 homicides in 2025, compared with 18 the year before. That makes Boston one of the few American cities that had higher rates of homicides, as nationally, the rate declined. However, criminology researchers like Jens Ludwig have said that such differences are normal. Localized spikes tend to appear when national trends decrease.
2. Milwaukee, Wisconsin
You might not think that Milwaukee’s numbers look all that bad at first glance. But then you look at the homicide counts. The city had 110 homicides in 2025, while in 2024, it was only 102. On the positive side, crimes like robberies did decline, so it’s not all bad news. Robberies fell from 1,507 in 2024 to 1,102 in 2025, while the number of aggravated assaults was 4,103 in 2025, compared to 5,250 in 2024.
3. Montgomery County, Maryland
The same Major Cities Chiefs Association survey found that Montgomery County’s number of homicides rose from 13 in 2024 to 17 in 2025. That may not seem like a huge change. But the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting program has explained that homicide counts tend to be rather small in mid-size cities. As such, a seemingly small change, such as that in Montgomery County, is actually quite significant for the city at nearly 31%.
4. Omaha, Nebraska
Unlike many other cities, the increase in crime in Omaha wasn’t solely due to homicides. They increased across the board. The number of homicides rose from 14 to 16, while the number of rapes increased from 162 to 193. In addition to that, robberies increased from 161 to 163, while aggravated assaults rose from 953 to 967. These figures make Omaha one of the cities to buck the national trend because crime in the city is increasing across many categories.
5. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is in a similarly unique position as Omaha. The good news is that homicide rates actually fell last year, going from 39 in 2024 to 28 in 2025, while the number of robberies also reduced from 349 to 335. The bad news is that rapes & aggravated assaults increased quite a bit. The number of rapes almost doubled from 78 in 2024 to 114 in 2025, and aggravated assaults rose from 690 to 717.
6. Wichita, Kansas
Wichita also faced a huge increase in the number of rapes in 2025, with figures increasing from 277 the year before to 330 in 2025. The homicide rate also increased from 19 to 28. However, the rates of other crimes did show some decline, including the number of robberies & aggravated assaults. A city going against national averages is completely normal in such data because localized shifts like these happen all the time.
7. Suffolk County, New York
Suffolk County’s homicide rate increased by 75%, going from 12 in 2024 to 21 in 2025, and the number of robberies also rose from 151 to 153. One of the main reasons for these increases is due to the number of domestic-violence cases & drug pipelines that are causing instability in parts of Long Island. In fact, Suffolk District Attorney Ray Tierney mentioned that the amount of fentanyl trafficking from the Bronx into Long Island has created all sorts of violence and organized crime.
8. Nassau County, New York
That’s not all for New York. Nassau County is next door to Suffolk, and the city reported an increase in rapes, from 102 in 2024 to 113 in 2025. A major problem in Nassau County has to do with Long Island policing. Staffing pressures, including high payroll costs, have left certain police departments understaffed, according to the Empire Center for Public Policy. Of course, that doesn’t explain every case. But it seems that it’s one of the many local factors having an effect on changing crime numbers in the city.
9. El Paso, Texas
Many people describe El Paso as being a relatively safe city, compared with many other American cities, but the data shows something different. The number of homicides rose from 19 in 2024 to 24 in 2025, representing a 26% increase. Local news coverage indicates that some of these crimes are firearm-related incidents, as well as similar national post-pandemic patterns that you can see in other cities. The city may have relatively low crime rates. However, it’s still increasing year-to-year in one category.
10. New York City, New York
It shouldn’t be a surprise that a city as big as New York is facing rising crime. The number of homicides did fall from 290 to 241. However, the number of rapes increased quite significantly from 1,265 to 1,504. One of the reasons the number appears to be increasing is due to how the law & reporting rules have changed in the city, as officials changed the legal definition of rape. They expanded it to include more forms of non-consensual sexual conduct.
Federal crime reporting clearly shows how uneven city-level patterns can be, compared to the rest of the country. Sure, many violent crimes have shown some overall declines, yet several local agencies have reported that there has been an increase in specific offenses. These cities appear to be going against the national trend of falling crime rates.
