Violent crime dropped 13.5% in Wisconsin last year, a bigger decrease for homicide, rape, robbery and aggravated assault than what the nation saw, according to new figures reviewed by WisPolitics-State Affairs.

Still, the number of murders only dropped 6.4% compared to 2024, a smaller decrease than the 18.1% seen nationally.

Jim Palmer, president of the Wisconsin Professional Police Association, said the drop was welcome news and likely was due to a combination of factors. He noted the 2023-25 budget included a provision to significantly boost state aid to local governments that helped cover the costs of policing. 

“We believe that the results reflect the sustained work of law enforcement officers across the state together with prosecutors, community partners and others committed to public safety,” Palmer said in a phone interview.

The FBI last Friday touted the new national figures and has now posted state-by-state data for comparison that WisPolitics reviewed.

Those state figures include 14,353 violent crimes in 2025, compared to 16,602 in 2024.

The 2025 number is also down 23.9% from the 18,861 in the FBI’s reports for 2020 as crime spiked during COVID-19.

The White House this week touted the 9.3% drop in violent crime for 2025 as the largest annual decline on record.

“President Trump backed law enforcement, empowered the FBI to hunt predators instead of political targets, and rejected the failed Democrat lunacy that left communities reeling,” the White House said. “The results are clear: fewer murders, fewer victims, and safer streets.”

The decrease continued a trend that began in 2021. In 2024, Donald Trump dismissed the FBI’s figures, which are released annually, as “fake news” after they showed a decline compared to 2023. Some of his allies also knocked the numbers because they didn’t include reports from all police agencies. 

The figures are based on reporting from law enforcement agencies participating in an FBI program along with estimates for agencies that submitted fewer than 12 months of reports for the year.  

Those figures include data by metropolitan area, but not by county.

For 2025, the Milwaukee metropolitan area — which includes Ozaukee, Washington and Waukesha counties — saw 7,501 violent crimes. That was a drop of 19.2% compared to 2024.

Meanwhile, there were 159 murders in 2025, which was up from the 149 the year before.

The city of Milwaukee, though, has reported it is significantly behind last year’s pace for murders.

Through Tuesday, the state’s largest city listed 72 murders year-to-date on its dashboard. That’s down 24% from the 95 that had been reported by the same point in 2025.