US rape offenses, 1985 to 2025
US rape offenses stood at 9,144 in 2025, up 0.5% on the previous period.
Law enforcement agencies in United States reported 9,017 rape offenses in 2025-12, up 0.1 percent from the year before. The window spans 1985-01 to 2025-12, with the high at 18,519 (2018-12) and the low at 5,081 (2003-02).
How it is measured
The offense is defined as sexual penetration without consent, under the definition the FBI revised in 2013. Counts come from the FBI's Crime Data Explorer, which aggregates the monthly reports police agencies submit to the national crime statistics program; the chart sums them to years so trends read over seasonality. Reported crime is not total crime: it counts what victims reported and agencies recorded, and agency participation shifts over time, most sharply around the 2021 transition to the NIBRS reporting system, which temporarily lowered coverage.
What the curve shows
The 2013 definition change broke the series' comparability: counts before and after measure different things, and under-reporting remains severe. Within a consistent reporting era the trend is meaningful; across eras, level comparisons need the coverage caveat in mind.
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What happened to the data around 2021?
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