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2020 FBI Hate Crimes Statistics

In August 2021, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) released Hate Crime Statistics 2020, an annual compilation of bias-motivated incidents in the United States. Though the number of reporting agencies decreased by 452 since 2019, the overall number of reported incidents increased by 949, contributing to a total of 8,263 hate crime incidents against 11,126 victims in 2020. While annual law enforcement agency participation may fluctuate, the statistics indicate that hate crimes remain a concern for communities across the country.

According to this year’s data, 62% of victims were targeted because of the offenders’ bias toward race/ethnicity/ancestry, which continues to be the largest bias motivation category. Participating agencies reported 5,227 race/ethnicity/ancestry-based incidents in 2020, a 32% increase from 2019. Anti-Black or African American hate crimes continue to be the largest bias incident victim category, with 2,871 incidents in 2020, a 49% increase since 2019. Additionally, there were 279 anti-Asian incidents reported in 2020, a 77% increase since 2019. The other largest categories of hate crimes include anti-Hispanic or Latino incidents, with 517, and anti-White incidents, with 869 in total.

2020 Hate Crimes Statistics

Incidents related to religion decreased 18% from 2019, with 1,244 total incidents reported. The largest category included:

  • 683 anti-Jewish incidents, down 28% since 2019;
  • 110 anti-Muslim incidents, down 38%;
  • 15 anti-Buddhist incidents, up 200%; and
  • 89 anti-Sikh incidents, up 82%.

Incidents related to disability decreased 17% from 2019, with 130 total incidents reported. By category:

  • Anti-mental disability incidents decreased by 29% since 2019, and
  • Anti-physical disability incidents increased by 8%.

Incidents related to gender and gender identity increased since 2019 with increases in gender-related incidents by 9% and gender identity-related incidents by 34%. There were:

  • 50 anti-female incidents, a decrease of 4% since 2019;
  • 25 anti-male incidents, an increase of 47%;
  • 213 anti-transgender incidents, an increase of 41%; and
  • 53 anti-gender non-conforming incidents, an increase of 13%.
2020 Hate Crimes Statistics

See the Hate Crimes website for more highlights from the data. The full data set can be found on the FBI’s Crime Data Explorer website.

The FBI Hate Crime Statistics is an annual compilation of bias-motivated incidents in the United States. For the purpose of the report, a hate crime is defined as a criminal offense which is motivated, in whole or in part, by the offender’s bias(es) against a person based on race, ethnicity, ancestry, religion, sexual orientation, disability, gender, and gender identity. The 2020 data provides information voluntarily submitted from 15,136 of 18,623 law enforcement agencies around the country on offenses, victims, offenders, and locations of hate crimes.

For more information on CRS services and programs related to preventing and responding to hate crimes, view Our Work page or CRS's Programs and Services brochure for an overview of offerings.

Updated April 4, 2023