In August the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) released its annual report on crimes reported nationally for 2025. Last week Minnesota’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) released its annual report on crimes reported in the state for 2025.
While the news is good – crime is decreasing, both nationally and in Minnesota – analysis points to the inordinate impact that Minneapolis continues to have on crime levels statewide. The situation serves as a reminder to policy makers across the state that it’s in our collective best interest to ensure Minneapolis regains its public safety footing.
National summary as provided by the FBI:
Data reported to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program shows 2024 to 2025 marked the largest year-to-year decline in violent crime rates since FBI estimations began in 1936.
Following the May announcement that violent crime decreased 9.3% from 2024 to 2025, the FBI released detailed data tables on more than 13 million criminal offenses reported to the FBI by participating law enforcement agencies for 2025. The data support the previously released violent crime trends:
- Murder and non-negligent manslaughter offenses decreased an estimated 18.1%.
- Rape offenses decreased an estimated 7.6%.
- Aggravated assault figures decreased an estimated 7.2%.
- Robbery offenses decreased by an estimated 18.5%.
The 2025 murder rate of 4.1 per 100,000 inhabitants is tied with 1955 and 1956 for the lowest murder rate.
Property crime and hate crime also declined in 2025. Law enforcement agencies submitted hate crime reports involving 10,881 criminal incidents and 13,026 related offenses as being motivated by bias toward race/ethnicity/ancestry, religion, sexual orientation, disability, gender, and gender identity.
Statewide summary as provided by the Minnesota BCA:
Notable data from the 2025 Minnesota Uniform Crime Report:
- Violent crime levels declined in 2025. In the seven-county Twin Cities Metro Area (Anoka, Carver, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott and Washington counties), violent crime decreased by 14%. Violent crime in greater Minnesota decreased by 9%.
- There were 130 murders in 2025 in Minnesota compared with 172 in 2024. Firearms were involved in 69.2% of the incidents, down from 75 percent in 2024.
- There were 8,762 aggravated assaults in 2025, which is 11% lower than 2024.
- There were 2,188 rapes in 2025, a decrease of 1.9%. Most of the rapes occurred in a home (71.8%), and 37.5% of the victims were minors.
- Motor vehicle theft decreased 22.4% in 2025 with 9,803 vehicles stolen as compared with 12,634 in 2024.
- Carjacking incidents (including attempted carjackings) decreased 31% with 294 incidents in 2025, compared with 426 in 2024. Carjacking incidents are not counted as motor vehicle thefts.
- There were 64,157 incidents of larceny in 2025 – the lowest number in 57 years.
- Bias crimes remained steady in 2025 with 224 incidents reported.
- Law enforcement use-of-force incidents involving discharge of a firearm dropped in 2025 to 21, 6 fewer than in 2024.
- Law enforcement officers were assaulted in 981 incidents in 2025, a 1.3% decrease from 2024.
The Minneapolis effect
Minnesota’s statewide crime data is inordinately influenced by crime occurring in one city – Minneapolis. Despite representing just 7% of the state’s population, in 2025 Minneapolis represented 32% of the state’s aggravated assaults, 45% of the state’s murders, 53% of the state’s robberies, and an astounding 72% of the state’s car jackings. But the news isn’t all bad.
In 2025 Minneapolis experienced a 5% drop in aggravated assaults, a 19% drop in murders, a 32% drop in robberies, and a 39% drop in car jackings compared to 2024. Given the volume of crimes in Minneapolis, those decreases were significant factors in the statewide decreases in these serious crime categories.
Another bright spot for Minneapolis was the increase in the number of arrests the Minneapolis Police Department was able to generate compared to previous years – this despite operating with 30% fewer officers than the department had in 2020.
In 2025, the 600 officers making up the MPD recorded 8,603 arrests for all crimes reported. That number represented a 20% increase over the number of arrests in 2024, including an impressive 31% increase in arrests for Crimes Against Persons. The total number of arrests equated to 14 arrests per officer in 2025.
By comparison, the 9,700 officers in the rest of the state recorded 103,937 arrests in 2025. That represented a 2.6% decrease in arrests as compared to 2024. The total number of arrests equated to 11 arrests per officer in the rest of the state.
Despite the improvement in arrest activity and an impressive decrease in many crimes, there is plenty of room for continued improvement in Minneapolis.
Consider for example that in 2025 Minneapolis recorded 22% of all crimes in the state yet made just 7.6% of the state’s arrests. Despite the improved percentage of arrests made by the MPD, the department made arrests for just 19% of the criminal offenses reported to it. By comparison, officers in the rest of the state made arrests for 65% of criminal offenses reported to them. One universal truth is that swift and sure consequences have a deterrent effect on criminal offenders. Minneapolis remains far from achieving this level of deterrence.
The takeaway
These figures strongly support promptly increasing MPD staffing—an effort the city has struggled with since its City Council voted to defund the department in 2020. Improving Minneapolis’s arrest and crime-clearance rates would benefit not only the city, but also Hennepin County, the metro area, and Minnesota as a whole. It’s in our collective best interest to hold Minneapolis policy makers to account over public safety in our state’s largest city.