Americans' perceptions of US crime have improved since last year, Gallup poll finds

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FILE-Police are at a crime scene where in a neighborhood. (Photo by ALEX WROBLEWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

A recent poll shows that Americans' views of crime in the nation have improved compared to how they felt in 2023.

According to Gallup, the public’s perceptions on the issue have changed, with 64% now saying national crime has soared during the past year, representing a 13 point decline in how they felt in 2023. And 56% of people who now believe the problem of crime in the country is "extremely" or "very" serious is down seven percentage points.

Another 29% of respondents say there is less crime and 4% think that it's about the same amount of crime. Approximately 25% of Americans think crime is "extremely" and 31% "very" serious, 37% say it is "moderately" and 5% say "not too" serious.

Results for the poll are from Gallup’s Oct. 1-12 annual Crime survey. But in a separate poll from September, Gallup noted that although crime does not rank among the top voting issues affecting voters’ presidential selection in 2024, 75% still believe it is extremely or very important to their vote.

Political parties polled by Gallup were divided on their views about crime with Democrats (29%) believing that crime has increased, while fewer independents agree.

But 60% of Democrats say there is now less crime in the U.S. than there was in 2023, compared to Republicans (90%) saying crime has spiked.

Additionally, 78% of Republicans believe crime is an extremely or very serious problem in the U.S. compared to 35% of Democrats.

Respondents also shared their perspectives on the impact of local crime in their areas. Approximately 49% of Americans say there is more crime in their area than there was last year.

Moreover, Republicans (69%) say local crime is increasing, while 23% of Democrats’ believe crime is rising in their area. But independents’ perception of local crime is similar to the views of Republicans and Democrats.