Anti-Semitism in the United States: Statistics on Religious Hate Crimes
The following data about anti-Jewish and religiously-biased hate crimes in the United States has been exceprted from the annual Report on Hate Crimes released by the Uniform Crime Reporting Program of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
To read the full Hate Crime Reports, archived from 1996, click here.
In 2017, law enforcement agencies across the United States participating in the Hate Crimes Statistics program reported 7,175 hate crime incidents involving 8,437 offenses. The number of incidents increased from 6,121 in 2016 in part because more police departments reported data to the FBI. Another possible factor in the change in the number of incidnets over time is the growth of the U.S. population. A third influence on the statistics is that because “Jews have special sensitivity, and are more likely to report incidents,” according to Jonathan Sarna, a professor of American Jewish history at Brandeis University.
Hate crimes motivated by religious bias accounted for 21.8% of incidents during 2017, involving 1,009 offenders and 1,749 victims.
A breakdown of the offenses shows that 60% of religious hate crimes were anti-Jewish, 17% were anti-Islamic and 5% were anti-Catholic. Anti-Semitic hate crimes increased 37% while anti-Islamic crimes declined by 11%.
Josh Nathan-Kazis noted that three quarters of anti-Jewish hate crimes involved vandalism, 7% were assaults and less than one percent were aggravated assaults. “There were just 64 instances of assault targeting Jews, and only eight of them were considered serious enough to be charged as a felony,” he observed. “That’s a far different breakdown than for nearly every other group included in the FBI’s report. Across all hate crimes in 2017, roughly a third were assaults and a third were vandalism.” This pattern is consistent with past years.
The following table tracks hate crimes by religious bias as reported by U.S. law enforcement agencies since 1996.
| Year | Incidents | ||||||
| Anti-Jewish | Change | Anti-Islamic | Change | Total Religious | Total Change | % Change | |
| 2017 | 938 | 254 | 273 | -34 | 1,564 | 291 | 23% |
| 2016 | 684 | -11 | 307 | 50 | 1,273 | -81 | -6% |
| 2015 | 695 | 86 | 257 | 103 | 1,354 | 340 | 34% |
| 2014 | 609 | -16 | 154 | 19 | 1,014 | -17 | -2% |
| 2013 | 625 | -49 | 135 | 5 | 1,031 | -68 | -6% |
| 2012 | 674 | -97 | 130 | -27 | 1,099 | -134 | -11% |
| 2011 | 771 | -116 | 157 | -3 | 1,233 | -89 | -7% |
| 2010 | 887 | -44 | 160 | 53 | 1,322 | 19 | 1% |
| 2009 | 931 | -82 | 107 | 2 | 1,303 | -216 | -14% |
| 2008 | 1,013 | 44 | 105 | -10 | 1,519 | 119 | 9% |
| 2007 | 969 | 2 | 115 | -41 | 1,400 | -62 | -4% |
| 2006 | 967 | 119 | 156 | 28 | 1,462 | 235 | 19% |
| 2005 | 848 | -106 | 128 | -28 | 1,227 | -147 | -11% |
| 2004 | 954 | 27 | 156 | 7 | 1,374 | 31 | 2% |
| 2003 | 927 | -4 | 149 | -6 | 1,343 | -83 | -6% |
| 2002 | 931 | -112 | 155 | -326 | 1,426 | -402 | -22% |
| 2001 | 1,043 | -66 | 481 | 453 | 1,828 | 356 | 24% |
| 2000 | 1,109 | 0 | 28 | -4 | 1,472 | 61 | 4% |
| 1999 | 1,109 | 28 | 32 | 11 | 1,411 | 21 | 2% |
| 1998 | 1,081 | -6 | 21 | -7 | 1,390 | 5 | 0% |
| 1997 | 1,087 | -22 | 28 | 1 | 1,385 | -16 | -1% |
| 1996 | 1,109 | 27 | 1,401 | ||||
| Year | Incidents | |||
| % Anti-Jewish | Change | % Anti-Islamic | Change | |
| 2017 | 60% | 6% | 17% | -7% |
| 2016 | 54% | 2% | 24% | 5% |
| 2015 | 51% | -9% | 19% | 4% |
| 2014 | 60% | -1% | 15% | 2% |
| 2013 | 61% | -1% | 13% | 1% |
| 2012 | 61% | -1% | 12% | -1% |
| 2011 | 63% | -5% | 13% | 1% |
| 2010 | 67% | -4% | 12% | 4% |
| 2009 | 71% | 5% | 8% | 1% |
| 2008 | 67% | -3% | 7% | -1% |
| 2007 | 69% | 3% | 8% | -2% |
| 2006 | 66% | -3% | 11% | 0% |
| 2005 | 69% | 0% | 10% | -1% |
| 2004 | 69% | 0% | 11% | 0% |
| 2003 | 69% | 4% | 11% | 0% |
| 2002 | 65% | 8% | 11% | -15% |
| 2001 | 57% | -18% | 26% | 24% |
| 2000 | 75% | -3% | 2% | 0% |
| 1999 | 79% | 1% | 2% | 1% |
| 1998 | 78% | -1% | 2% | -1% |
| 1997 | 78% | -1% | 2% | 0% |
| 1996 | 79% | 2% | ||
| Year | Victims | ||||||
| Anti-Jewish | Change | Anti-Islamic | Change | Total Religious | Total Change | % Change | |
| 2017 | 1,017 | 155 | 325 | -63 | 1,749 | 165 | 10% |
| 2016 | 862 | 131 | 388 | 81 | 1,584 | 182 | 13% |
| 2015 | 731 | 83 | 307 | 123 | 1,402 | 262 | 23% |
| 2014 | 648 | -89 | 184 | 17 | 1,140 | -83 | -7% |
| 2013 | 737 | -99 | 167 | 12 | 1,223 | -117 | -9% |
| 2012 | 836 | -100 | 155 | -30 | 1,340 | -140 | -9% |
| 2011 | 936 | -104 | 185 | -12 | 1,480 | -72 | -5% |
| 2010 | 1,040 | -92 | 197 | 65 | 1,552 | -23 | -1% |
| 2009 | 1,132 | -13 | 132 | 2 | 1,575 | -157 | -9% |
| 2008 | 1,145 | 18 | 130 | -12 | 1,732 | 104 | 6% |
| 2007 | 1,127 | -17 | 142 | -66 | 1,628 | -122 | -7% |
| 2006 | 1,144 | 167 | 208 | 57 | 1,750 | 345 | 25% |
| 2005 | 977 | -99 | 151 | -50 | 1,405 | -181 | -11% |
| 2004 | 1,076 | 51 | 201 | 26 | 1,586 | 97 | 7% |
| 2003 | 1,025 | -59 | 175 | 1 | 1,489 | -170 | -10% |
| 2002 | 1,084 | -112 | 174 | -380 | 1,659 | -459 | -22% |
| 2001 | 1,196 | -73 | 554 | 518 | 2,118 | 419 | 25% |
| 2000 | 1,269 | -20 | 36 | 2 | 1,699 | 13 | 1% |
| 1999 | 1,289 | 54 | 34 | 11 | 1,686 | -34 | -2% |
| 1998 | 1,235 | -12 | 23 | -9 | 1,720 | 134 | 8% |
| 1997 | 1,247 | 38 | 32 | -1 | 1,586 | 51 | 3% |
| 1996 | 1,209 | 33 | 1,535 | ||||
* The term victim may refer to a person, business, institution, or society as a whole.
| Year | Victims | |||
| % Anti-Jewish | Change | % Anti-Islamic | Change | |
| 2017 | 58% | 4% | 19% | -6% |
| 2016 | 54% | 2% | 24% | 3% |
| 2015 | 52% | -5% | 22% | 6% |
| 2014 | 57% | -3% | 16% | 2% |
| 2013 | 60% | -2% | 14% | 2% |
| 2012 | 62% | -1% | 12% | -1% |
| 2011 | 63% | -4% | 13% | 0% |
| 2010 | 67% | -5% | 13% | 4% |
| 2009 | 72% | 6% | 8% | 1% |
| 2008 | 66% | -3% | 8% | -1% |
| 2007 | 69% | 4% | 9% | -3% |
| 2006 | 65% | -4% | 12% | 1% |
| 2005 | 70% | 2% | 11% | -2% |
| 2004 | 68% | -1% | 13% | 1% |
| 2003 | 69% | 3% | 12% | 1% |
| 2002 | 65% | 9% | 10% | -16% |
| 2001 | 56% | -18% | 26% | 24% |
| 2000 | 75% | -2% | 2% | 0% |
| 1999 | 76% | 5% | 2% | 1% |
| 1998 | 72% | -7% | 1% | -1% |
| 1997 | 79% | 0% | 2% | 0% |
| 1996 | 79% | 2% | ||
Full Hate Crime Reports
Sources: Federal Bureau of Investigation;
Josh Nathan-Kazis, “FBI Data Shows Plenty Of Vandalism, Little Violence Against U.S. Jews,” Forward, (November 15, 2018).