Washington ( CNN ) -- Violent crime in the United States declined 6 % last year , according to statistics compiled by the FBI and released Monday . Despite difficult economic conditions , the 2010 figures show a continuing decline in violent incidents nationwide , which have been dropping annually since 2006 . There were slightly fewer than 1.25 million violent crimes in the United States in 2010 , a 6 % decline from calendar year 2009 . Since 2001 , violent incidents have now dropped 13.4 % . This past year the closely watched murder totals dropped about 4.2 % , from 15,399 in 2009 to 14,748 in 2010 . The FBI says despite the improvement , a murder occurs in the United States every 35 minutes . Violence flared slightly more in the South than in other regions of the country , according to the FBI statistics . In other violent crime categories , aggravated assaults were down 4.1 % , rape declined 5 % , and robbery dropped 10 % . In non-violent crimes , the FBI said property crime declined 2.7 % . Both auto theft and arson were down more than 7 % . Criminologists anticipated the continued decline after preliminary figures for the first half of 2010 were released this spring , showing a 5.5 % drop in violent incidents reported to police . The FBI compiles the figures from about 18,000 law enforcement agencies across the country , but does not provide explanations for changes in levels of crime . When population increases are factored into the statistics , officials note that the rate of crimes committed per 100,000 inhabitants shows an even larger decline -- 6.5 % -- from the rate of violence reported in 2009 . Independent academics and criminologists speculated on a wide range of possibilities for the decreases . Among reasons cited in conversations with CNN were an aging population , stepped-up community policing practices , local and federal government programs targeted at youths and programs aimed at newly released prison parolees . Nonetheless , the criminologists say high unemployment and housing issues that might have been expected to be factors have not noticeably affected the crime statistics .
The downward trend in violent crime continues in 2010 , the FBI says . Criminologists say an economic slump has not affected crime statistics . The aging population and community policing practices may play a role .