Police reports of hate crimes in 42 major U.S. cities declined 2.7% in 2024, hovering around modern records, according to preliminary data from a new multi-city survey by an emeritus researcher from California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB). But anti-Jewish hate crimes rose 12% and anti-Muslim hate crimes increased 18%, part of an upward trend.
"Multi-year overall hate crime trends remain elevated around modern records as hate crimes related to religion register another year of consecutive double-digit percentage increases," according to Brian Levin, professor emeritus of criminal justice at CSUSB and founder of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism there. Levin's work is promoted by the NCJA Crime and Justice Research Alliance, which is funded by the National Criminal Justice Association.
At least 3,268 hate crimes were reported in 2024 across 42 major cities, including New York City; Los Angeles; Chicago; Boston; Portland, OR.; Washington; and Philadelphia, a decrease of about 2.7% from the record high in 2023 (when there was a 12% overall rise), according to Levin. (This small overall decline, as well as those of some subgroups, likely falls within the margin of error.) The 10 most populous cities saw an even larger decline, putting them about even with the rate in 2021 but 140% higher than 2014 totals, largely as a result of a decrease in Chicago.
However, these findings tell just part of the story. Anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim hate crimes continued to rise, correlated to the timing of the Israel-Gaza war, Levin found.
Hate crimes against Jews accounted for the largest representation in last year's adjusted sub-sample (Los Angeles excluded), at 25% of the total. Annual records for anti-Jewish hate crimes were broken in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Denver, and appear to have broken in Boston, Austin, and Pittsburgh. Anti-Muslim hate crime rose 18% in 2024 for the fourth consecutive year.
Other ethnicity-related hate crimes fell in 2024, though most within margin of error:
- Hate crimes against African Americas fell slightly, from 456 to 453 in 2023.
- Hate crimes against gay men dropped 8% after rising 33% in 2023.
- Anti-Latino hate crime, which hit a record in 2023, declined 5.5% (with Los Angeles excluded).
Anti-Asian hate crimes, which rose significantly at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, fell more than 14% in 2024 in 29 cities, but to levels far higher than before the pandemic.
"The online narrative of threatening stereotypes around religious minorities, the LGBTQIA+ community, immigrants, and others, both individually and as part of a broad conspiracy, has correlated in recent reporting periods to records in hate crimes toward those groups, but no more so than with hate crimes related to religion, which rose for a fourth consecutive year and were accelerated by the Gaza War."
The research was wholly underwritten by the author, who receives no compensation or assistance from outside entities.
