•n The rate at which youth ages 12–14 reported serious violent crime
victimization declined 73% since 2017 to reach a level in 2020 that was
the lowest since at least 1993.
•n The serious violent crime victimization rate for youth ages 15–17
reached a low point in 2015, increased through 2019, then was
decreased by half in 2020.
Notes: Serious violence includes robbery, rape/sexual assault, and aggravated
assault. Data for 2006 and 2016 are not presented because they are not comparable
with estimates for other years.
Data source: Bureau of Justice Statistics. Rate of Violent Victimizations, 1993–2020.
NCVS Dashboard (N-DASH) available at https://ncvs.bjs.ojp.gov/Home [retrieved
March 2022].
What are trends in violence against youth?
Serious violent victimizations reported by youth ages 12–17 have
declined
The number of youth homicide victims increased 30% from 2019 to
2020—the largest 1-year increase since at least 1980
94 96 98
00 02 04 06 08
10 12 14 16 18 20
0
50
100
150
200
250
Year
Victimizations per 1,000 youth in age group
Serious violence
Ages 15−17
Ages 12−14
80 84 88 92 96
00 04 08
12 16 20
0
500
1,000
1,500
2,000
2,500
3,000
Year
Youth victims, ages 0−17
Homicide
Data sources
Throughout this fact sheet, arrest estimates are based on counts of arrests
detailed by age of arrestee and offense from all law enforcement agencies
that reported complete data for the calendar year. The proportion of the
U.S. population covered by these reporting agencies ranged from 70% to
86% between 1980 and 2020, with 2020 coverage of 71%.
Arrest estimates for 1980–2014 were developed by the Bureau of Justice
Statistics and disseminated through the Arrest Data Analysis Tool,
available at www.bjs.gov/index.cfrm?ty=datool&surl=/arrests/index.cfm.
Arrest estimates for 2015–2020 were developed by the National Center
for Juvenile Justice based on the FBI’s annual Arrest Master Files of
12-month reporting departments from the Crime Data Explorer, available
at crime-data-explorer.fr.cloud.gov/pages/downloads [retrieved June 14,
2022].
Arrest rates (page 3) use population data for 1980–1989 from the U.S.
Census Bureau, U.S. Population Estimates by Age, Sex, Race, and
Hispanic Origin: 1980 to 1999 [machine-readable data files available
online, released April 11, 2000]; and population data for 1990–2020 from
•n There were an estimated 1,780 youth victims of homicide in 2020—
30% more than in 2019 and 46% more than 2013, the year with the
fewest youth victims.
•n Males accounted for 74% of youth homicide victims in 2020. Youth ages
15–17 accounted for 52% of youth homicide victims and 27% were
children younger than age 6. White youth accounted for 40% of victims
and Black youth accounted for 55%.
•n A firearm was involved in two-thirds of all youth homicides in 2020.
Data source: Puzzanchera, C., Chamberlin, G., and Kang, W. 2021. Easy Access to
the FBI’s Supplementary Homicide Reports: 1980–2020. Available at www.ojjdp.gov/
ojstatbb/ezashr.
Puzzanchera, C., Sladky, A., and Kang, W. 2022. Easy Access to Juvenile
Populations: 1990–2021, available at www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/ezapop.
Acknowledgments
Charles Puzzanchera, Senior Research Associate with the National Center
for Juvenile Justice, prepared this document as a product of the National
Juvenile Justice Data Analysis Program, under grant 2019–JX–FX–K001,
awarded and managed by the National Institute of Justice with funding
support provided by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Prevention.
The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in
this publication are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those
of the Department of Justice.
The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
is a component of the Office of Justice Programs, which also
includes the Bureau of Justice Assistance; the Bureau of Justice
Statistics; the National Institute of Justice; the Office for Victims
of Crime; and the Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring,
Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking.
NCJ 305025