Victimization Estimates from the Redesigned NCVS Instrument, 2024

• NCJ Number: 312200
• Date Published: October 2026
• Author(s): Jennifer L. Truman, Ph.D.; Rebecca Bielamowicz, Ph.D.; Rachel E. Morgan, Ph.D.
• Length: 28 pages
• Agencies: BJS
• Publication Type: Publication

Abstract

BJS redesigned the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) and moved the new instrument into production in 2024 through a split-sample administration. This report provides the first estimates from the redesigned National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS-R) instrument and examines differences in victimization estimates between the NCVS-R and the legacy NCVS (NCVS-L) instrument from the split-sample administration in 2024.

Highlights

• As expected, the 2024 NCVS-R generally produced larger estimates of violent and property victimizations than the 2024 NCVS-L.
• The rate of violent victimization was 23% higher in the NCVS-R (28.7 victimizations per 1,000 persons age 12 or older) than in the NCVS-L (23.3 per 1,000).
• The rate of total property crime without vandalism was 31% higher in the NCVS-R (127.6 per 1,000 households) than in the NCVS-L (97.6 per 1,000).
• In the NCVS-R, the rate of vandalism was 10.4 victimizations per 1,000 households.