The study of crime trends is as intellectually rewarding and practically important as any topic in criminology. This Element reviews and augments research on changes over time in U.S. crime rates during the past several decades.

1. Why Study Crime Trends?; 2. Crime Trends Data; 3. The Impact on Violent Crime of Property Crime, Prisons, and Guns; 4. Different Levels, Common Trends: Crime, Race-Ethnicity, and Gender; 5. Crime, Age, and Birth Cohorts; 6. Crime and the Economy; 7. Crime Trends and the Institutional Order; 8. Bumps Along the Way: Crime Trends and Exogenous Shocks; 9. Forecasting Crime Rates; 10. The Future of Crime Trends Theory and Research; Appendix I: Crime Data Sources; Appendix II. Forecasting Methods and Models; References.