Chicago recorded the fewest homicides last month of any May since 2007, though killings this year overall so far have ticked up compared to last year.
Last month’s 36 homicides in the city are one fewer than May 2025, according to Chicago police.
The drop in the past two Mays follow a COVID-era peak in homicides. In May 2020, near the start of the pandemic, 86 people were killed in the city. Chicago then averaged 64 killings in each May from 2021 through 2024, according to city data.
Entering June, Chicago had 167 homicides in 2026, up 6% compared to this time last year, police said. There also has been a 4% increase in shooting incidents so far this year compared to 2025.
Still, shootings and homicides have been trending downward over the past four years. Overall shootings have decreased by about 45% since 2022, and homicides are down about 35% since then, according to city data.
Chicago’s violence has historically increased during warmer months, and holiday weekends tend to bear the brunt of it.
But this year’s Memorial Day weekend was the least deadly of such weekends in at least 16 years. And last year, from June through August, Chicago recorded the fewest murders in that timeframe since 1965.
Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration has said strengthened community-violence intervention, coordinated responses to crime and increased investment in the city’s youth all help drive down crime.
“We are encouraged to see summer homicides trending down, but let’s be clear: we refuse to accept any level of violence as normal,” Emmanuel Andrea, deputy mayor for community safety, said in a statement. “The urgency remains absolute, and this isn’t a moment to celebrate — it’s a mandate to work harder. … We remain locked arm-in-arm with our community partners to sustain this momentum and build a safer city together.”
Other crimes have declined citywide over the past year as well, with a 25% drop in robberies, a 16% reduction in carjackings and a 27% decrease in transit crimes, according to police. And on Chicago Transit Authority trains and buses, violent crime is down 20% over the past year.