• The person offense case rate declined 60% between 2005 and 2020.[Read more]
  • The case rate for drug offenses declined 73% between the 1997 peak and 2020 - from 6.47 to 1.75 cases per 1,000 youth under juvenile court jurisdiction.[Read more]
  • Male and female delinquency case rates declined steadily between 2008 and 2020. [Read more]
  • Drug offense case rates for males and females have declined considerably. [Read more]
  • Between 2005 and 2020, the person offense case rate decreased most for Asian/NHPI youth (68%), followed by Black youth (62%), Hispanic youth (58%), white youth (56%), and American Indian youth (42%). [Read more]
  • Across race/ethnicity groups, drug offense case rates declined between 2005 and 2020.[Read more]
  • The relative decline in the petitioned status offense case rate was about the same for males (70%) and females (71%) between 2005 and 2020. [Read more]
  • Since 2005, the relative decline in petitioned curfew violation case rates was about the same for males (83%) and females (84%). [Read more]
  • Between 2005 and 2020, the petitioned runaway case rate decreased most for Asian/NHPI youth (88%), followed by white youth and Black youth (70% each), Hispanic youth (68%), and American Indian (66%) youth. [Read more]
  • Petitioned curfew violation case rates in 2020 were at their lowest level since at least 2005 for all race/ethnicity groups. [Read more]
  • In 2020, courts with juvenile jurisdiction disposed approximately 508,400 delinquency cases, the fewest number of cases handled since the early 1960s.[Read more]
  • Delinquency case rates generally increase with the age of the youth; however, within offense categories, there are variations in the pattern of age-specific case rates.[Read more]
  • Females accounted for over one-fourth (27%) of the 508,400 delinquency cases handled by juvenile courts in 2020, youth under age 16 accounted for 53% of all cases, and white youth accounted for 43% of all cases.[Read more]
  • The typical delinquency case involves a white male under the age of 16; however, the demographic profile of varies by offense.[Read more]
  • Since 2005, the proportion of cases involving detention increased for property offense cases but declined for drug offense cases.[Read more]
  • The proportion of formally handled cases that did not result in a delinquency adjudication increased between 1985 and 2020.[Read more]
  • In 2020, an estimated 57,700 petitioned status offense cases were handled in juvenile court.[Read more]
  • Females accounted for 44% of the estimated 57,700 petitioned status offense cases handled by juvenile courts in 2020, youth under age 16 accounted for 60%, and white youth accounted for 60%.[Read more]
  • Since 2005, truancy cases were least likely to involve detention.[Read more]
  • While the use of informal sanctions remained relatively stable between 2005 and 2020, a larger proportion of petitioned status offense cases were dismissed in 2020 (61.6%) than in 2005 (35.1%).[Read more]

Quick Links


Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
Statistical Briefing Book
National Center for Juvenile Justice