U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Justice Programs

Bureau of Justice Statistics

Selected Findings

October 2020 NCJ 255578

National Crime Victimization Survey

Violent Victimization by Race or Ethnicity, 

2005-2019

Rate of violent victimizations

From 2005 to 2019—

 The overall rate of violent victimization fell 

26% (from 28.4 to 21.0 victimizations per 1,000 

U.S. residents age 12 or older). 

 The rate of violent victimization against black 

persons fell 43% (from 32.7 to 18.7 violent 

victimizations per 1,000 black persons age 

12 or older). 

 The rate of violent victimization against white 

persons fell 24% (from 27.7 to 21.0 victimizations 

per 1,000 white persons age 12 or older). 

Number of violent victimizations

From 2005 to 2019—

 The overall number of violent victimizations fell 16% 

(falling by 1.1 million).

 The number of violent victimizations against black 

persons fell 32% (from 913,000 to 623,000). 

 The number of violent victimizations against white 

persons fell 24% (from 4.8 million to 3.6 million). 

Table 1

Rate of violent victimizations, by victim race or ethnicity, 2005-2019

Victim race/

ethnicity 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019*

Total 28.4 † -- 27.2 † 25.3 † 22.3 19.3 22.6 26.1 † 23.2 20.1 18.6 19.7 20.6 23.2 21.0

Whitea 27.7 † -- 26.8 † 25.9 † 21.5 18.3 21.6 25.2 ‡ 22.2 20.3 17.4 19.6 20.8 24.7 ‡ 21.0

Blacka 32.7 † -- 34.9 † 28.5 † 30.6 † 25.9 ‡ 26.4 ‡ 34.2 † 25.1 22.5 22.6 22.3 21.8 20.4 18.7

Hispanic 25.9 -- 22.4 20.3 22.2 16.8 23.9 24.5 24.8 16.2 16.7 18.2 20.7 18.6 21.3

Othera,b 34.3 ‡ -- 28.9 24.1 15.6 ‡ 22.7 23.2 23.6 25.2 23.0 25.7 19.0 17.4 25.3 24.0

Note: Rates are per 1,000 persons age 12 or older. Violent-crime categories include rape or sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault, and simple 

assault, and they include threatened, attempted, and completed occurrences of those crimes. BJS created standard errors and presented testing 

for statistically significant differences among National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) estimates in this table using generalized variance function 

parameters. See appendix table 1 for standard errors.

--Estimates for 2006 should not be compared to other years and are excluded from this table. See Criminal Victimization, 2007 (NCJ 224390, BJS,

December 2008).

*Comparison year.

†Difference with comparison year is significant at the 95% confidence level.

‡Difference with comparison year is significant at the 90% confidence level.

aExcludes persons of Hispanic origin (e.g., “white” refers to non-Hispanic whites and “black” refers to non-Hispanic blacks).

bIncludes Asians, Native Hawaiians, other Pacific Islanders, American Indians, Alaska Natives, and persons of two or more races.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, NCVS Victimization Analysis Tool, 2005-2019.

YEARS OF STATISTICS
Violent Victimization by Race and Ethnicity, 2005-2019 | October 2020 2

Table 2

Number of violent victimizations, by victim race or ethnicity, 2005-2019

Victim race/

ethnicity 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019*

Total 6,947,800 † -- 6,814,180 † 6,393,470 5,669,240 4,935,980 ‡ 5,812,520 6,842,600 † 6,126,420 5,359,570 5,006,610 ‡ 5,353,820 5,612,670 6,385,520 5,813,410

Whitea 4,751,150 † -- 4,606,610 † 4,499,130 † 3,737,220 3,182,170 3,719,730 4,351,420 ‡ 3,832,530 3,517,460 3,016,220 3,391,570 3,561,030 4,238,940 ‡ 3,591,900

Blacka 912,640 † -- 997,890 † 823,100 905,020 ‡ 786,810 812,170 1,096,540 † 815,060 738,530 752,750 749,820 712,970 675,330 622,960

Hispanic 821,700 -- 771,790 701,530 † 785,590 603,800 † 895,430 976,320 1,015,670 669,380 † 724,720 ‡ 810,100 940,720 872,550 1,019,880

Othera,b 462,310 -- 437,890 369,710 † 241,400 † 363,200 † 385,190 † 418,320 463,160 434,210 512,930 402,330 ‡ 397,950 ‡ 598,700 578,680

Note: Details may not sum to totals due to rounding. Violent-crime categories include rape or sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault, and simple assault, and they include threatened, attempted, and 

completed occurrences of those crimes. BJS created standard errors and presented testing for statistically significant differences among National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) estimates in this table using 

generalized variance function parameters. See appendix table 2 for standard errors.

--Estimates for 2006 should not be compared to other years and are excluded from this table. See Criminal Victimization, 2007 (NCJ 224390, BJS, December 2008).

*Comparison year.

†Difference with comparison year is significant at the 95% confidence level.

‡Difference with comparison year is significant at the 90% confidence level.

aExcludes persons of Hispanic origin (e.g., “white” refers to non-Hispanic whites and “black” refers to non-Hispanic blacks).

bIncludes Asians, Native Hawaiians, other Pacific Islanders, American Indians, Alaska Natives, and persons of two or more races.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, NCVS Victimization Analysis Tool, 2005-2019.
Violent Victimization by Race or Ethnicity, 2005-2019 | October 2020 3

A

Victim race/

ethnicity 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Total 1.63 ~ 1.55 1.60 1.31 1.44 1.38 1.20 1.62 1.22 1.16 0.95 1.03 1.30 1.15

White 1.99 ~ 2.12 1.97 1.96 1.74 1.71 1.66 2.03 1.64 1.54 1.36 1.40 1.76 1.52

Black 3.79 ~ 4.01 3.70 4.14 3.55 3.21 3.43 3.48 2.89 3.02 2.44 2.42 2.49 2.32

Hispanic 3.13 ~ 2.81 2.81 3.18 2.53 2.83 2.59 3.23 2.17 2.28 1.96 2.10 2.10 2.25

Other 4.94 ~ 4.14 4.16 3.29 3.90 3.55 3.36 4.09 3.50 3.86 2.57 2.38 3.17 3.02

Note: BJS created the standard errors in this table using generalized variance function parameters.

~Not applicable.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, NCVS Victimization Analysis Tool, 2005-2019.

A

Victim race/

ethnicity 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Total 399,741 ~ 388,012 404,138 332,673 368,833 356,534 313,834 427,599 326,328 312,236 259,442 279,729 358,555 318,922

White 343,801 ~ 368,749 346,765 345,851 305,456 299,982 290,013 355,777 289,072 270,281 238,717 243,775 306,561 265,028

Black 111,654 ~ 122,803 111,674 129,532 113,699 103,885 115,810 118,919 99,148 104,693 85,657 82,495 85,933 80,347

Hispanic 103,996 ~ 101,834 100,573 117,504 94,305 111,171 107,299 138,998 92,756 102,043 90,220 99,215 102,496 112,071

Other 70,664 ~ 67,290 66,472 52,741 65,957 62,099 61,980 79,746 69,306 80,873 56,628 56,231 79,125 76,472

Note: BJS created the standard errors in this table using generalized variance function parameters.

~Not applicable.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, NCVS Victimization Analysis Tool, 2005-2019.
The Bureau of Justice Statistics of the U.S. Department of Justice is the 

principal federal agency responsible for measuring crime, criminal 

victimization, criminal offenders, victims of crime, correlates of crime, 

and the operation of criminal and civil justice systems at the federal, state, 

tribal, and local levels. BJS collects, analyzes, and disseminates reliable 

statistics on crime and justice systems in the United States, supports 

improvements to state and local criminal justice information systems, and 

participates with national and international organizations to develop and 

recommend national standards for justice statistics. Jeffrey H. Anderson is 

the director.

These tables were prepared by Barbara A. Oudekerk. Erika Harrell verified 

the tables. 

Edrienne Su edited the tables. Carrie Epps-Carey produced the tables.

October 2020, NCJ 255578

Office of Justice Programs

Building Solutions • Supporting Communities • Advancing Justice

www.ojp.gov