Erie County saw a small uptick the homicide rate last year, but the overall crime rate dropped slightly, according a Buffalo News analysis of data released by the FBI on Monday.

Both the violent and property crime rates fell last year in Buffalo, according to FBI data.

Reports of violent crime increased in Niagara County by 9 percent, where the overall crime rate also grew by 4 percent, according to the News' analysis.

Nationally, violent crime and homicides surged for the second straight year, though overall crime levels dropped across the United States, according to the New York Times.

"Crime remains near historic lows, with an uptick in murder and violence driven in part by problems in some of our nation’s largest cities. At the same time, other cities like New York are keeping crime down," Ames Grawert of the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University said in a news release.

The News analyzed crime data reported to the FBI by 19 law enforcement agencies in Erie County and seven in Niagara County for 2015 and 2016.