Chicago sees 33% drop in homicides through first half of 2025, data shows

CHICAGO - Late last year, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson pointed out that in 2025, the city could see the lowest level of violent crime in years.

In a talk with the City Club of Chicago, Johnson said it was possible that the city could record fewer than 500 homicides this year, a mark not seen since before the spike in violent crime that coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

"We have an opportunity for less life to be lost if we actually put in the hard work, roll up our sleeves, and not allow the narrative that comes from the outside to determine who we are as a city," Johnson said at that Dec. 3 talk.

Homicides, murders on the decline

By the numbers:

While violent crime has been a persistent, intractable problem plaguing the city, the latest data from city and county agencies show that Johnson’s statement has a good chance of coming to fruition.

The Cook County Medical Examiner's Office reported 192 homicides in Chicago from Jan. 1 of this year through Monday, June 30.

By comparison, during the first six months of 2024, there were 289 homicides recorded in Chicago, per county data.

This year's mark would also be the fewest number of homicides in the first six months of any year in about a decade, at least since 2015, when there were 226 homicides during the same period.

The Medical Examiner's Office also noted that there were 323 death cases from this year that were still "pending," meaning a manner of death had not been determined. So it's likely that at least some of those deaths could be categorized as homicides.

The city also saw about a 39% decrease in overall shootings from roughly the first six months of 2024 (1,029) to this year (623), according to data from the Chicago Police Department.

Murders were also down 31% from 258 in the first half of 2024 to 177 in the first half of 2025.

Overall crime down, with some exceptions

Dig deeper:

The figures also appear to continue the trend of overall crime on the decline in the post-pandemic years.

CPD data show that its overall crime complaints, which include murder, criminal sexual assault, robbery, aggravated battery, burglary, felony theft, misdemeanor theft, and motor vehicle theft, are down 14% since last year.

Still, reports of certain types of crime are higher than just a few years ago.

Of those categories, only misdemeanor theft saw an increase (4%) since last year on a year-to-date basis. But the more than 18,300 theft complaints fielded by police so far this year represent a 67% increase since 2021, according to CPD data.

Felony theft, which has fallen in each of the last three years, is still 46% higher than in 2021. 

Motor vehicle theft, complaints for which have fallen each of the last two years, is still up 75% since 2021.

Creating a ‘safe zone’ in Austin

Local perspective:

Community activists on the city's West Side are pointing to their work providing opportunities for young people as part of the reason for the drop in violence.

Inside the former ABC Bank building in Austin, three community organizations came together to host programs to educate teens on art, environmental justice, community engagement, youth development, data analysis and mental health.

Organizers for the Austin Safety Action Plan (ASAP) said they've seen the reduction in violence.

"I didn't see where people were actually asking these kids how that made them feel," said Aisha T. Oliver, of the organization Root 2 Fruit. "So we have actually been activating spaces in our community and we carved out a safe zone."

Oliver said creating that space has appeared to lead to a "major declines" in shootings and carjackings.

Still, she said drug overdoses are on the rise in the Austin area.

The organizations work with about a dozen young people meeting multiple times a week.

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