Violent and property crime rates in Denver and Aurora saw sharp declines over three years, though Colorado’s most populous city led the list in violent crimes, a new report found.

Denver’s crime rates declined steadily since 2022, mirroring a statewide trend, according to the report from the Common Sense Institute. Still, Denver topped the list of cities in violent crimes, with more than 234 per 100,000 people, the report said.

Aurora also saw a noticeable decline since its 2022 apex, which, at the time, ranked it as the most violent city in the state with 318 crimes per 100,000.

The violent crimes included in the report were murder, aggravated assault, robbery and non-consensual sex assault. The cities listed in the report were Aurora, Lakewood, Centennial, Denver, Thornton, Westminster, Arvada, Fort Collins and Colorado Springs.

Notably, the only city to see an increase in the violent crime rate per 100,000 people since 2022 was Colorado Springs, which jumped by more than 12%, according to the report. Aurora’s violent crime rate dropped by over 36% — the most — and Denver’s by over 14%.

Colorado as a whole saw a drop of 21%.

“We’ve doubled down on our data-driven policing efforts, really focusing on the areas where violent crime is most prevalent,” said Denver Police Department Chief Ron Thomas on Wednesday afternoon. “We’re identifying persistently violent hot spots and really driving down on what is responsible for the violence in that area.”

Thomas specifically mentioned the downtown and Lower Downtown areas of Denver as places the police have targeted in the past few years in the city’s campaign to curb violence. He also said the department has worked with city agencies on infrastructure improvements that have reduced violent crime in certain neighborhoods.

“I hate to take credit for it all, but 2022 is when I became Chief, and one of my chief priorities was to lower crime, so I studied the best practices and things that had been successful in other cities like Boston and Dallas,” Thomas said. “I employed some of those things here, and I think that’s why we’ve seen a lot of those similar successes.”

Property crime rates saw similar trends.

After having the highest property crime rate of any city in the report in 2024, Lakewood dropped below Denver in 2025. Centennial has seen the largest decrease since 2021, with a near-50% drop across the four-year period.

Aurora saw the second-largest drop since 2021, with property crime rates decreasing by 44%, according to the report. Denver’s property crime rate dropped by 35% over the same time frame; the statewide rate dropped by 42%.

Centennial continued its trend of having the lowest rates of violent and property crimes in 2025, according to the report.

A spokesperson for the Aurora Police Department outlined strategies the department is using to lower crime, including proactive policing and long-term prevention efforts.

“We are committed to proactive policing,” the spokesperson said. “Our focus is on ensuring that the right individuals are being held accountable through arrest, while also being careful not to over-police specific areas, locations or events.”

Violent and property crime cost the state $27 billion in economic losses in 2022 between the impacts of reported and unreported crime, the Common Sense Institute report said. The study used Colorado Bureau of Investigation data collected was through the first two quarters of each year.