A new FBI special report, spotlighted by the bureau’s Sacramento office, says more than 700,000 Americans are victims of aggravated assault each year. The study looks at a three year stretch of incident data to see who is getting hit hardest and how often weapons are involved. That national snapshot lands as Sacramento police reports and local datasets tell a mixed story, with the city seeing both recent drops and stubborn spikes depending on the neighborhood and the year.
More than 700,000 people are victims of aggravated assault every year. A new #FBI special report examined these incidents over a 3-year period to learn more about who is being victimized and the severity of the crimes. Learn more on the Crime Data Explorer: https://t.co/srzqufinna
— FBI Sacramento (@FBISacramento) March 24, 2026
What the FBI Found
The FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting program published the analysis on its Crime Data Explorer site and released a companion infographic that breaks incidents down by victim age, victim–offender relationship and weapon type. The three year study focuses on who is being targeted and how severe the injuries are, according to the FBI.
Numbers and Weapons
At the national level, the FBI’s UCR summary shows aggravated assault rates stayed elevated in 2024, with an estimated 256.1 offenses per 100,000 residents. The same FBI summary reports that firearm-involved aggravated assaults fell from 289,938 reported offenses in 2023 to 264,988 in 2024. Those figures sit alongside the Sacramento field office’s reminder that “more than 700,000 people are victims of aggravated assault every year.” For national tables and trends, see the UCR Summary of Reported Crimes in the Nation, 2024.
What It Means in Sacramento
On the ground in Sacramento, the math looks different. From 2019 through 2023, the city recorded roughly 10,650 aggravated assault incidents, a rate well above the national average, according to compiled FBI figures for Sacramento. The Sacramento Police Department has pointed to recent year-to-year progress, with local reporting of police data indicating an 11 percent drop in aggravated assaults from 2024 to 2025, even as community groups stress that the remaining numbers still represent serious harm. Local tallies are available from Crime Explorer. Recent coverage in FOX40 via Yahoo has also highlighted the same trend.
Why Counts Can Differ
Part of the gap between different crime numbers comes down to how the counting is done. Surveys such as the Bureau of Justice Statistics’ National Crime Victimization Survey capture incidents that never make it to the police, while the FBI’s reporting systems track only offenses known to law enforcement. That split can cause survey estimates and police tallies to drift apart. In 2024 the NCVS registered 23.3 violent victimizations per 1,000 people, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, which urges readers to compare data sources carefully before drawing broad conclusions.
Bottom Line for Sacramento
The FBI’s three year analysis underscores that aggravated assault remains a large, and often undercounted, problem nationwide, with firearms responsible for a significant share of the most serious cases. In Sacramento, officials and advocates say that federal breakdown can help sharpen prevention efforts and victim services, but how much changes locally will depend on continued reporting, community outreach and how many victims feel able to come forward so the city can turn national findings into concrete action.
