America's crime record
Drugs and weapons
Drug offenses
1,661,239
offenses recorded, 2025 · Up 2.0% from 2024
Rate 549.1, about 1 in 180 residents
Timeline
Drug and narcotic violations and drug equipment violations police recorded in NIBRS.
Source and method
Nearly every one is found by police, not reported by a victim, so the count follows enforcement.
FBI NIBRS incident records · Calendar year · 2009 to 2025
- 20212021 is the first year the FBI took only NIBRS reports. Before it, the count is only the agencies that sent NIBRS (26% of people in 2009, 64% in 2020), so it grows as agencies join and is no national total; compare years by the rate. Agencies that sent NIBRS before 2019 mostly police smaller places, and in 2021 their rates ran 8% to 22% above all agencies', so earlier rates read somewhat high.
- 2022–2025The NIBRS state incident files and the NIBRS national master file hold the same records side by side. CrimeDB uses the NIBRS national master file; the other is kept as a check. The zips are the frozen snapshot the FBI's NIBRS tables were built from, 1% to 5% fewer incidents than the rebuilt master file (2025 equal). They check those tables.
- 2023Wisconsin, West Virginia, and Wyoming come from the NIBRS state incident files, filling a gap in the NIBRS national master file. The 2023 master file stops partway through Wisconsin and has no West Virginia or Wyoming rows, and the FBI has not reissued it (checked 2026-10-08). The normalized NIBRS records take those states' incidents from the zips.
Breakdown
Known offenders by age, 2021+
| Group | Bar | Share | Count | Rateknown offenders per 100,000 people in the group |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under 12 | <1%5,998 | 5,998 | 3.1 | |
| 12 to 17 | 6%456,807 | 456,807 | 423 | |
| 18 to 24 | 18%1,323,126 | 1,323,126 | 996 | |
| 25 to 34 | 30%2,219,747 | 2,219,747 | 1,165 | |
| 35 to 49 | 33%2,426,326 | 2,426,326 | 910 | |
| 50 to 64 | 11%803,730 | 803,730 | 309 | |
| 65 and older | 1%88,455 | 88,455 | 35 | |
| Age unknown | 1%56,492 | 56,492 | – |
Known offenders in agencies that sent incident detail to the FBI from 2021 through 2025, every year added, covering 77% to 88% of the population a year. Not the count in the chart above.
FBI NIBRS incident records, 2021 to 2025
Every figure as a table
Drug offenses, offenses recorded, by year
| Year | Count | Rate | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 1,661,239 | 549 | |
| 2024 | 1,628,509 | 555 | |
| 2023 | 1,620,424 | 573 | |
| 2022 | 1,548,475 | 579 | |
| 2021 | 1,472,362 | 609 | |
| 2020 | 1,093,149 | 589 | |
| 2019 | 1,085,216 | 709 | |
| 2018 | 965,158 | 833 | |
| 2017 | 889,330 | 826 | |
| 2016 | 804,454 | 799 | |
| 2015 | 713,905 | 756 | |
| 2014 | 674,593 | 726 | |
| 2013 | 641,805 | 705 | |
| 2012 | 628,377 | 704 | |
| 2011 | 571,093 | 667 | |
| 2010 | 554,165 | 676 | |
| 2009 | 532,677 | 666 |
Rate: Offenses per 100,000 people living where the agencies that sent all 12 months of NIBRS police, by the FBI's population for those agencies. An agency that sent part of the year would add all its people but only part of its offenses.
FBI NIBRS incident records · Calendar year
Drug offenses: known offenders per 100,000 people in each group, by race, by year
| Year | White+MENA | Black | Hispanic | Asian | AIAN | NHPI | All known offenders | Share with race not recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 415 | 1,261 | 501 | 79 | 1,084 | 609 | 516 | 2% |
| 2024 | 423 | 1,214 | 497 | 78 | 1,168 | 552 | 514 | 2% |
| 2023 | 437 | 1,242 | 492 | 80 | 1,198 | 545 | 527 | 3% |
| 2022 | 450 | 1,234 | 446 | 71 | 1,247 | 586 | 525 | 3% |
| 2021 | 493 | 1,200 | 394 | 68 | 1,341 | 565 | 538 | 3% |
The Rate view's race lines, from 2021. Each group's line is its people counted per 100,000 people in the group, in the agencies that sent incident detail to the FBI: the Census count of the group scaled by the share of people those agencies police. Hispanic is of any race; the other groups are not Hispanic. The dashed line is everyone in the role, any race or none.
– means no rate: a group the source does not count apart that year, or no people to divide by. People whose race is not known are in no group's rate, so each rate is a floor.
FBI NIBRS incident records; CrimeDB's split of records with a race and no ethnicity (crimedb-ethnicity-v3); Census Bureau population estimates
Known offenders by age, 2021+
| Age | Count | Share | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 12 | 5,998 | <1% | 3.1 |
| 12 to 17 | 456,807 | 6% | 423 |
| 18 to 24 | 1,323,126 | 18% | 996 |
| 25 to 34 | 2,219,747 | 30% | 1,165 |
| 35 to 49 | 2,426,326 | 33% | 910 |
| 50 to 64 | 803,730 | 11% | 309 |
| 65 and older | 88,455 | 1% | 35 |
| Age unknown | 56,492 | 1% | – |
Known offenders in agencies that sent incident detail to the FBI from 2021 through 2025, every year added, covering 77% to 88% of the population a year. Not the count in the chart above. Rate: known offenders per 100,000 people in the group; – means no rate for that group.
FBI NIBRS incident records, 2021 to 2025
Known offenders by sex, 2021+
| Sex | Count | Share | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Male | 5,369,074 | 73% | 776 |
| Female | 1,967,201 | 27% | 274 |
| Sex unknown | 44,406 | 1% | – |
Known offenders in agencies that sent incident detail to the FBI from 2021 through 2025, every year added, covering 77% to 88% of the population a year. Not the count in the chart above. Rate: known offenders per 100,000 people in the group; – means no rate for that group.
FBI NIBRS incident records, 2021 to 2025
Known offenders by race, 2021+
| Race | Count | Of which placed by CrimeDB | Share | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| White+MENA | 3,566,470 | 1,129,681 | 48% | 442 |
| Black | 2,127,513 | 580,858 | 29% | 1,231 |
| Hispanic | 1,309,322 | 272,858 | 18% | 469 |
| AIAN | 117,189 | 45,202 | 2% | 1,203 |
| Asian | 67,830 | 18,073 | 1% | 76 |
| NHPI | 16,179 | 2,594 | <1% | 572 |
| Race unknown | 176,178 | 0 | 2% | – |
Hispanic is of any race; the other groups are not Hispanic. White+MENA includes Middle Eastern and North African people.
Known offenders in agencies that sent incident detail to the FBI from 2021 through 2025, every year added, covering 77% to 88% of the population a year. Not the count in the chart above. Rate: known offenders per 100,000 people in the group; – means no rate for that group.
Hispanic is of any race; the other groups are not Hispanic. White+MENA includes Middle Eastern and North African people.
FBI NIBRS incident records; CrimeDB's split of records with a race and no ethnicity (crimedb-ethnicity-v3); Census Bureau population estimates, 2021 to 2025
Offenses by place, 2021+
| Place | Count | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Highway/Road/Alley/Street/Sidewalk | 4,316,066 | 55% |
| Residence/Home | 1,020,941 | 13% |
| Parking/Drop Lot/Garage | 674,503 | 9% |
| School-Elementary/Secondary | 225,218 | 3% |
| Hotel/Motel/Etc. | 163,292 | 2% |
| Convenience Store | 140,832 | 2% |
| Service/Gas Station | 123,355 | 2% |
| All other places | 997,855 | 13% |
| Other/Unknown | 246,010 | 3% |
Offenses in agencies that sent incident detail to the FBI from 2021 through 2025, every year added, covering 77% to 88% of the population a year. Not the count in the chart above.
FBI NIBRS incident records, 2021 to 2025
Incidents by hour of day, 2021+
| Hour of day | Count | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Midnight | 627,908 | 10% |
| 1 a.m. | 279,261 | 4% |
| 2 a.m. | 216,476 | 3% |
| 3 a.m. | 142,894 | 2% |
| 4 a.m. | 87,276 | 1% |
| 5 a.m. | 61,008 | 1% |
| 6 a.m. | 77,085 | 1% |
| 7 a.m. | 128,267 | 2% |
| 8 a.m. | 190,559 | 3% |
| 9 a.m. | 226,773 | 4% |
| 10 a.m. | 256,740 | 4% |
| 11 a.m. | 261,912 | 4% |
| Noon | 267,513 | 4% |
| 1 p.m. | 284,616 | 5% |
| 2 p.m. | 306,540 | 5% |
| 3 p.m. | 315,298 | 5% |
| 4 p.m. | 307,345 | 5% |
| 5 p.m. | 282,114 | 5% |
| 6 p.m. | 283,054 | 5% |
| 7 p.m. | 307,477 | 5% |
| 8 p.m. | 325,774 | 5% |
| 9 p.m. | 339,993 | 5% |
| 10 p.m. | 352,317 | 6% |
| 11 p.m. | 349,031 | 6% |
Incidents in agencies that sent incident detail to the FBI from 2021 through 2025, every year added, covering 77% to 88% of the population a year. Not the count in the chart above. 934 incidents with no hour recorded have no bar but count in every share. Many agencies record an unknown time as midnight, so that hour runs high.
FBI NIBRS incident records, 2021 to 2025