Majority of Americans believe crime in American cities is unacceptably high
Washington, DC, September 27, 2025 – New NPR/Ipsos polling finds that nearly half of Americans believe that crime in the U.S. has increased in the last year, and a strong majority believe that the level of crime and violence in American cities is unacceptably high.
The poll also finds that a majority of Americans are familiar with recent debate over the deployment of National Guard troops to Americans cities, and that more Americans oppose than support the presence of the National Guard in Washington, D.C. and Memphis, TN.
Meanwhile, concern about political extremism and polarization has increased significantly across all political affiliations compared to a previous NPR/Ipsos poll conducted in May.
Detailed Findings:
1. A plurality of Americans believe that crime in the U.S. has increased compared to this time last year. However, fewer say the same of their local areas and their state.
- Forty-eight percent of Americans say that crime in the United States has increased over the last year, compared to just 16% who think it has decreased and 22% who feel it has stayed about the same. Americans are less likely to think crime has increased in their city or community (23%).
- A strong majority of Americans believe that the level of crime and violence in American cities is unacceptably high (71%), compared with just 26% who say crime and violence in American cities isn’t that much of a problem.
- While a majority across the political spectrum agree that crime and violence are unacceptable high, Republicans (93%) are significantly more likely than Democrats (54%) and independents (68%) to take this view.
2. Americans report being familiar with recent news surrounding law enforcement. A minority support deploying the National Guard to major U.S. cities, though significant partisan divides exist.
- A majority of Americans are at least somewhat familiar with the following:
- The continued deployment of National Guard troops in Washington, D.C., for law enforcement efforts (71%)
- President Donald Trump announcing plans to deploy National Guard troops to Memphis, TN, for law enforcement efforts (61%)
- A federal judge ruling that the deployment of National Guard troops to Los Angeles was illegal (57%)
- The Supreme Court of the United States ruling that allows federal officers to make immigration-related stops with fewer restrictions (57%)
- Democrats are more likely to be familiar with each of these four events than Republicans or independents.
- More Americans oppose than support deploying the National Guard in Memphis, TN (46% oppose vs. 35% support) or Washington, D.C. (47% vs. 37%). Americans also show opposition to the idea of deploying the National Guard troops to major cities in their state (49% oppose vs. 38% support) or to their own local area (52% vs. 34%) for law enforcement purposes.
3. Compared to May 2025, significantly more Americans cite political extremism or polarization as one of their top issues.
- Forty-three percent of Americans report political extremism or polarization as one of their top three worries, a fourteen-percentage point increase from May 2025 (29%). This, along with inflation (44%), are now the top two issues among Americans.
- Concern about political extremism and polarization rose significantly across all political affiliations, including Republicans (37% now vs. 20% in May 2025), independents (49% vs. 29%), and Democrats (51% vs. 43%).
- Crime or gun violence (26%) has also risen slightly as an issue since May (22%), mostly due to increased concern among Democrats (32% now vs. 23% then).
About the Study
This NPR/Ipsos poll was conducted by Ipsos from September 19 to September 21, 2025, using the probability-based KnowledgePanel®. This poll is based on a nationally representative probability sample of 1,020 adults age 18 or older. The sample includes 323 Republicans, 289 Democrats, and 298 independents.
The survey was conducted using KnowledgePanel, the largest and most well-established online probability-based panel that is representative of the adult U.S. population. Our recruitment process employs a scientifically developed addressed-based sampling methodology using the latest Delivery Sequence File of the USPS – a database with full coverage of all delivery points in the U.S. Households invited to join the panel are randomly selected from all available households in the U.S. Persons in the sampled households are invited to join and participate in the panel. Those selected who do not already have internet access are provided a tablet and internet connection at no cost to the panel member. Those who join the panel and who are selected to participate in a survey are sent a unique password-protected log-in used to complete surveys online. As a result of our recruitment and sampling methodologies, samples from KnowledgePanel cover all households regardless of their phone or internet status and findings can be reported with a margin of sampling error and projected to the general population.
The data for the total sample were weighted to adjust for gender by age, race/ethnicity, education, Census region, metropolitan status, and household income. Party ID benchmarks are from the 2025 National Public Opinion Reference Survey (NPORS). The demographic benchmarks came from the 2025 March Supplement of the Current Population Survey (CPS).
- Gender (Male, Female) by Age (18–29, 30–44, 45-59 and 60+)
- Race/Hispanic Ethnicity (White Non-Hispanic, Black Non-Hispanic, Other, Non-Hispanic, Hispanic, 2+ Races, Non-Hispanic)
- Education (Less than High School, High School, Some College, Bachelor or higher)
- Census Region (Northeast, Midwest, South, West)
- Metropolitan status (Metro, non-Metro)
- Household Income (Under $25,000, $25,000-$49,999, $50,000-$74,999, $75,000-$99,999, $100,000-$149,999, $150,000+)
- Party ID (Republican, Leans Republican, Independent/Other, Democrat, Leans Democrat)
The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3.2 percentage points at the 95% confidence level, for results based on the entire sample of adults. The margin of sampling error takes into account the design effect, which was 1.09. For Republicans, the margin of sampling error is plus or minus 5.6 percentage points, and the design effect is 1.04. For Democrats, the margin of sampling error is plus or minus 5.9 percentage points, and the design effect is 1.05. For independents, the margin of sampling error is plus or minus 6.0 percentage points, and the design effect is 1.12.
The margin of sampling error is higher and varies for results based on sub-samples. In our reporting of the findings, percentage points are rounded off to the nearest whole number. As a result, percentages in a given table column may total slightly higher or lower than 100%. In questions that permit multiple responses, columns may total substantially more than 100%, depending on the number of different responses offered by each respondent.
For more information on this news release, please contact:
Mallory Newall
Vice President, US
Public Affairs
+1 202 374-2613
[email protected]
About Ipsos
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