Criminology - Research Guide: Crime Rates

Data on offenses and arrests for Part I crimes (e.g., murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson), and for arrests only for Part II crimes (those considered less serious), reported for police departments. Data are collected by the FBI from local law enforcement agencies, 1930-present.
• Crime in the United States (annual): Online, 1930-present.
• Crime in the United States (annual): Print, 1930-present.
• UCR data : Excel tables, 1960-present (via FBI's Crime Data Explorer).
• UCR data : Datasets for statistical packages, 1960-present (via NACJD).
HINT! In NACJD, watch for multi-year compilations that offer online analysis tools.
• UCR data : Tables, datasets, mapping, 2010-present (via Social Explorer).

Part of the FBI's Uniform Crime Reports data collection program, receiving detailed crime reports from local law enforcement agencies.
• Datasets for statistical packages, 1991-present (via NACJD).

NCVS surveys 135,000 households nationwide each year, 1973-present, asking about the frequency, characteristics, and consequences of criminal victimization. Detailed information is collected from respondents about individual victimication incidents, including offender characteristics and respondent experiences with police and the criminal justice system. In early years of the program, known as National Crime Survey.
• Criminal Victimization (annual): Online, 1984-present (via BJS).
• Criminal Victimization (annual): Print, 1976-1995.
• NCVS data: Excel tables and more, 1993-present (via NCVS Data User Page).
• NCVS data: Datasets for statistical packages, 1992-present, via NACJD.
HINT! In NACJD, watch for multi-year compilations and for datasets that offer online analysis tools.

Provides general estimates for current crime rates. Mines US police agency incident reporting datasets for monthly and 12-month moving average crime rates.

Derived from the FBI's UCR, this CQ Press publication ranks cities and metropolitan areas by total crime and Crime Index (Part I) offenses: murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, larceny, motor vehicle theft, and arson. 1996-present.

Crimes by year, 2001-present, on college and university campuses. Covers criminal offenses, hate crimes, violence against women, arrests, disciplinary actions, unfounded crimes, and fire statistics. Compiled from Clery Act data reported by individual postsecondary schools.

Crime data for Pennsylvania only, 2000-present.

Datasets and visualization tools for Philadelphia Police data on crime incidents, shooting victims, vehicle & pedestrian investigations, and complaints against police.

Datasets, tables, and reports for periodic surveys, 1989-2000, of victim rates, fear of crime, and subjective wellbeing within European countries. Also see this website and this website.

Tables on intentional homicide, prison population, and drugs crime. Microdata available on restricted basis.

Quinquennial surveys, 1970-1994. Also known as World Crime Surveys. Datasets, with bibliography, hosted by ICPSR.

Bioassay data collected from arrestees. Statistics available in ADAM annual reports; restricted-access data available from NAHDAP (see below).

Provides datasets from Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration, US Department of Health & Human Services. Includes several important data series: Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN), National Survey on Drug use and Health (NSDUH), and Treatment Episode Data Set.
• Reports and Excel tables (via SAMHSA).
NOTE! NAHDAP replaces SAMHDA, a superseded ICPSR topical data archive.

Also see also a previous administration's website, especially:
• Estimation of drug expenditures, consumption and supply, covering 2000-2010.

Annual reports from the Uniform Crime Reports Program, 1995-present.

Incidents of hate crimes against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and HIV-affected (LGBTQH) communities reported to the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs, in PDF format. 1998-present.

Annual reports on federal firearms (commercial) licensees, firearms trace data by state and by country, firearms manufacture, export, and commerce reports.

(aka Background Checks for Firearm Transfers) The number of firearm transaction applications checked by state points of contact and local agencies, and the number of applications denied and the reasons for denial. 1999-present.

RAND Corporation.
Dataset with analysis of U.S. state-level estimates of firearm injuries, 2000-2016. Published as part of RAND's Gun Policy in America research program.

Requires login for access.
Annual national surveys on gun ownership and attitudes toward guns, conducted by National Opinion Research Center for Jouns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy & Research and the Joyce Foundation. Survey datasets with online analysis tool from Roper Center for Public Opinion Research.

Includes a useful link list of statistical sources.

Statistics on calls to human trafficking hotline by state, 2009-present.

BJS reports from the Human Trafficking Reporting System.

From the U.S. State Department, classification of countries by efforts to comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking, 2001-present.

Bureau of Justice Statistics reports.

Ongoing survey on prevalence and characteristics of sexual violence, stalking, and intimate partner violence. Restricted datasets available via NACJD.

From Health and Human Services' Administration for Children and Families, 1995-present.

Information on and data access to key data sets related to juvenile offending, victimization, and contact with the juvenile justice system.

Factsheets, 1994-present.
Also see:
• Juvenile Court Statistics. (1927)-present (via Juvenile Court Data Archive).

Survey of 8th-, 10th-, and 12th-grade students on drug, alcohol, and tobacco use and related attitudes. 1975-present.

From the Centers for Disease Control.

Guide to relevant datasets in NACJD.

No longer maintained. Guide to relevant data sources. Superseded in part by Center for Victim Research repository.

Includes Occupational Fraud : A Report to the Nation, annual data compiled from cases of occupational fraud, in PDF format, 1996-present.

Surveys on the prevalence of consumer fraud. Also see periodic FTC surveys on Consumer Fraud in the United States.

Older annual reports archived at FDLP Electronic Collection Archive.

Includes annual reports on cryptocurrency fraud and elder fraud, with state reports.

Defines technical terms relevant to cyber crimes. Reproduced from National White Collar Crime Center (U.S.)