The latest supplied national figure is a 2025 murder and nonnegligent-manslaughter rate of 4.1 per 100,000 residents. However, the evidence does not provide a directly comparable 2019 pre-pandemic rate using the same definition, coverage, denominator, and annual interval, so the claimed comparison cannot be established from the available record.
Unverified
The U.S. murder rate is lower today than it was before the COVID-19 pandemic.
U.S. murder rate approaches a record low : NPR
Source: npr.org
At a glance
Verified August 20, 2026Key Evidence
FBI-based reporting gives the 2025 U.S. Murder and nonnegligent-manslaughter rate as 4.1 per 100,000 residents, with an 18.5% decline from 2024.
The supplied evidence does not provide a directly comparable 2019 national rate, including matching offense definition, population coverage, denominator, and annual interval.
The 7.22 and 7.75 per 100,000 figures supplied for 2020 and 2021 are pandemic-period rates, not the requested pre-pandemic 2019 baseline.
The reporting
What the Evidence Shows
The current endpoint is supported by FBI-based reporting for 2025, which gives a national murder and nonnegligent-manslaughter rate of 4.1 per 100,000 residents. The reporting also describes an 18.5% decline from 2024 and uses submissions from more than 17,000 law-enforcement agencies covering about 96% of the population. No completed 2026 annual national rate is supplied, so 2025 is the latest completed annual period available here.
The required baseline is calendar year 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic. The supplied evidence does not provide that year's national rate under the same FBI-based measure. Figures for 2020 and 2021, reported as 7.22 and 7.75 per 100,000, respectively, describe pandemic-period rates and cannot substitute for the requested 2019 comparison.
One report says 2025 was almost certainly the lowest recorded U.S. Murder rate, which is suggestive that it was below 2019. But the supplied material does not state the exact 2019 rate or establish a like-for-like comparison across offense definition, geographic coverage, population denominator, and annual reporting interval. The evidence confirms the 2025 endpoint but leaves the decisive comparison unresolved.
Primary trail
Verified Sources8
Open source