The two sources
AreaVibes (areavibes.com) republishes FBI UCR data at the city level: ten offense categories with city, state and national rates per 100,000, a total-crime figure, a 'chance of being a victim' statistic and a year-over-year change. Each city page states the FBI data year and release it is based on. It has no published update schedule.
The FBI Crime Data Explorer (cde.ucr.cjis.gov) is the FBI's own portal for UCR data. Its API (api.usa.gov/crime/fbi/cde, free key from api.data.gov) returns monthly reported-offense counts for a specific law-enforcement agency, identified by its ORI code, for each offense: homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, violent crime, burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft and property crime. The portal states the latest data date and refresh date it covers.
Where the two sources stood on September 8, 2026
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: agency counts through August 2026, refreshed August 15, 2026 — calendar year 2025 is complete and citable.
- AreaVibes: city pages based on FBI calendar year 2024, FBI release September 2025.
- Example — Chattanooga, Tennessee: the Chattanooga Police Department's 2025 counts from the CDE work out to a total crime rate of 4,001 per 100,000 residents, 113 percent above the U.S. rate, with reported offenses down 14 percent from 2024 (violent −15 percent, property −14 percent). A study citing AreaVibes on the same day would have reported 2024.
How to cite each one so a reviewer can reproduce it
The NCHMA Model Content Standards require that data sources be identifiable and replicable. For the CDE that means naming the agency and its ORI, the calendar year, the refresh date shown by the portal, and the rate basis (per 100,000 residents; state and national rates on the participating population reported to the FBI). For AreaVibes it means the page URL, the FBI data year and release the page states, and the retrieval date — AreaVibes' own figures change when it refreshes, so the retrieval date is what lets a reviewer reconcile a later difference.
Year-over-year change should be stated only as the source publishes it: AreaVibes prints its own figure; from the CDE it is computed from the FBI's reported offense counts for the two calendar years, and the report should say so.
Which to use
Use whichever publishes the newer complete calendar year for the subject's agency, and say which one the report used. When the CDE has a full twelve months for the newer year and AreaVibes does not yet show it, the CDE is the more current citation of the same FBI program. When an agency reports to the FBI incompletely (fewer than twelve months in the year), the CDE year is not complete and should not be used for that agency.
StudyScribe follows exactly that rule: its crime section defaults to the newer year, states which source it used, cites the ORI and refresh date for the CDE, and checks both publishers daily so a report can be refreshed the day a newer year appears. The current state of both is posted at studyscribe.ai/data-releases.
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Request access →Frequently asked questions
Is AreaVibes an official source?
AreaVibes republishes FBI UCR data; the underlying source is the FBI. Many state agencies accept it, and the citation should name both AreaVibes and the FBI data year it is based on.
Why does the FBI show 2025 while AreaVibes shows 2024?
The FBI Crime Data Explorer publishes agency-level counts as they are reported and refreshed (quarterly refreshes), so a completed calendar year appears there before third-party republishers update their city pages.
What is an ORI?
The Originating Agency Identifier — the FBI's code for a specific law-enforcement agency (for example a city police department). Citing it removes any ambiguity about which agency's counts the rates are built from.
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General reference for affordable-housing analysts; not legal or compliance advice. Always confirm requirements against the current QAP / market study guidelines before submission.