For many years, Washington was a much less violent place than the national average. However, as Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) data shows, the Evergreen State is rapidly approaching the United States' mean for violent crime.
The violent crime rate in the U.S. was 380.7 per 100,000 people in 2022, while Washington's rate was 375.6, according to the FBI's Crime in the Nation report released Monday. Just two years prior, the gap was much larger. Washington's 2020 violent crime rate was 293.7, while the national mark was 398.5.
As you can see in the data from the FBI above, since at least 1985, Washington always maintained a gap between itself and the nation's violent crime numbers. However, a steep rise in violent crime in Washington state since the pandemic has put it on track to potentially exceed the national average in 2023.
So what is behind this increase?
Homicides have accelerated in Washington from 3.9 in 2020 to 5 per 100,000 last year, while the national rate dipped slightly from 6.5 to 6.3.
