ic conditions, different policing and prosecution and violence reduction strategies and different levels of federal enforcement activity,  Gelb said.

By the numbers:

With homicide trends being uneven, about one-third of the 30 cities included in the sample recorded increases in deadly violence from the first half of 2025 to this year. Norfolk, Virginia saw a 64% jump and San Francisco reported a 55% increase. Only four cities: Norfolk, Austin, Pittsburgh and Minneapolis experienced more homicides in 2026 than they did in the same period in 2019.

Despite those cities seeing sharp increases in homicides, violent crime in general has become less deadly. Gelb says a significant number of violent crimes have been less deadly, dropping 23%. Researchers say that decline suggests fewer violent incidents that end in a fatality.

Speaking to non-violent offenses, numbers there also showed improvements. Residential burglaries dropped 13%, year by year and are 50% lower than pre-pandemic levels.