SALT LAKE CITY — Salt Lake City has seen a 47% decrease in murder rates from 2019 to 2025, according to new data from the Council on Criminal Justice that tracks crime trends across 35 major U.S. cities.
It's a statistic that surprised three of the four people I interviewed on the South City Campus of Salt Lake Community College.
One of them guessed uncertainly that trends were up and two felt more certain that was the case.
If crime is down, why is the Salt Lake City Police Department asking for more money?
Only Mikaela Stewart, a fashion student, guessed rates were down, giving her guess with the upturned lilt of a question.
"Sixty-five percent?" she said, overshooting the actual 47 percent decline in SLC homicides.
Salt Lake City's decline reflects a broader national trend, with the combined cities showing an overall 25% drop in murder rates during the same period. The data compares pre-pandemic crime levels to current statistics, revealing significant improvements in public safety.
Beyond homicides, Salt Lake City experienced substantial reductions in other crimes. Utah's capitol led all cities when it comes to a decline in car thefts, dropping 42% from 2019 to 2025.
Nationally, all violent crime was also down, with robbery rates down 36% across the tracked cities.
To put the robbery decline in perspective, applying the national rate to Salt Lake City's population of just over 200,000 would mean the city would have experienced more than 450 robberies in 2019 and fewer than 300 in 2025.
"I wanna live in a state or a city where it's safe, you know?" Stewart told me.
Another resident echoed the sentiment.
"I mean, we live in a beautiful state. And it always felt very safe and comfortable here."
