Washington ( CNN ) -- Violent crime dropped nationwide last year , continuing a downward trend of more than a decade , new FBI statistics show . But in towns with populations under 10,000 , murders saw a big jump . Overall , violent crime was down 4 % , according to the Preliminary Annual Uniform Crime Report for 2011 . Numbers dropped in all categories nationwide . Murders fell by 1.9 % , while rapes , robberies and aggravated assaults declined 4 % . But the figures , provided by police agencies , show that murders jumped 18.3 % in small towns of under 10,000 . Property crime decreased slightly in 2011 -- down 0.8 % overall . Burglaries stayed almost even across the country , rising just .03 % from the previous year . But they were up 3.2 % in the Northeast and 1.3 % in the Midwest . The FBI report does not give reasons for the continuing decline . CNN 's Terry Frieden , Melissa Abbey and Josh Levs contributed to this report .
The Preliminary FBI Uniform Crime Report uses figures provided by police sources . Violent crime dropped 4 % last year , according to the FBI . Decrease is part of decade - long decline . Murders jumped more than 20 % in towns with populations under 500 .