December 3, 2014 8:57AM 

# Majority of Americans Misperceive Crime Trends 

By [Chelsea Follett](https://www.cato.org/people/chelsea-follett) 

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According to [a recent Gallup survey](http://www.gallup.com/poll/179546/americans-crime-last-year.aspx?), the majority of Americans think that crime is on the rise. This misperception persists year after year. Only 21 percent of Americans realize that crime is actually falling. Consider [murder and rape](http://humanprogress.org/static/us-rape-and-homicide) alone:

![Media Name: crime_trends.jpg](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/pubs_2x/public/wp-content/uploads/crime_trends.jpg?itok=kzRRdcgc) 

Murder and rape are not the only crimes that are falling. The downward trend in U.S. crime rates also [holds for simple and aggravated assaults as well as robberies](http://humanprogress.org/static/us-assault-robbery-and-rape). Crime, in other words, is falling across the board.

![Media Name: crime_trends_2.jpg](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/pubs_2x/public/wp-content/uploads/crime_trends_2.jpg?itok=KUi1Y-Gn) 

Furthermore, the fall in crime is not limited to the United States. Globally, [crime is down](http://humanprogress.org/story/intentional-homicide-rate). For example, consider [the homicide rate in Europe](http://humanprogress.org/static/homicides-5-western-countries) over the last century:

![Media Name: crime_trends_3.jpg](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/pubs_2x/public/wp-content/uploads/crime_trends_3.jpg?itok=7uefEZii) 

Why do most people perceive the world as increasingly crime-ridden despite statistical evidence to the contrary?

Harvard professor and Human​Progress​.org advisory board member Steven Pinker provided a number of reasons for our deeply ingrained pessimism during a recent Cato event, “If Everything is Getting Better, Why Do We Remain So Pessimistic?” which [can be viewed here](https://www.cato.org/events/everything-getting-better-why-do-we-remain-so-pessimistic). His book, [*The Better Angels of Our Nature*](http://stevenpinker.com/publications/better-angels-our-nature), offers a more in-depth look at the decline of violence.

##### Related Tags 

[Constitutional Law](https://www.cato.org/constitutional-law), [Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies](https://www.cato.org/robert-levy-center-constitutional-studies) 

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