The graph illustrates the murder rate in the United States from 1985 to 2026. The x-axis represents the years, labeled with two-digit abbreviations from '85 to '26, while the y-axis shows the annual murder rate per 100,000 individuals. Throughout this 42-year period, the murder rate fluctuates between a high of 10.66 in 1991 and a low of 4.7 in 2014. Overall, the data reveals a significant downward trend in the murder rate from the mid-1980s, reaching its lowest point in the mid-2010s, followed by slight increases in the most recent years.

The United States had, by far, the highest homicide rate of the G7 countries between 2000 and 2023. In 2023, it reached 5.76 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants, a decrease from 6.78 in 2021. By comparison, Canada, the G7 nation with the second-highest homicide rate, had 1.98 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants in 2023. Out of each G7 nation, Japan had the lowest rate with 0.23 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants.

In 2022, the New Orleans-Metairie, LA metro area recorded the highest homicide rate of U.S. cities with a population over 250,000, at **** homicides per 100,000 residents, followed by the Memphis, TN-MS-AR metro area. However, homicide data was not recorded in all U.S. metro areas, meaning that there may be some cities with a higher homicide rate. St. Louis St. Louis, which had a murder and nonnegligent manslaughter rate of **** in 2022, is the second-largest city by population in Missouri. It is home to many famous treasures, such as the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team, Washington University in St. Louis, the Saint Louis Zoo, and the renowned Gateway Arch. It is also home to many corporations, such as Monsanto, Arch Coal, and Emerson Electric. The economy of St. Louis is centered around business and healthcare, and boasts ten Fortune 500 companies. Crime in St. Louis Despite all of this, St. Louis suffers from high levels of crime and violence. As of 2023, it was listed as the seventh most dangerous city in the world as a result of their extremely high murder rate. Not only does St. Louis have one of the highest homicide rates in the United States, it also reports one of the highest numbers of violent crimes. Despite high crime levels, the GDP of the St. Louis metropolitan area has been increasing since 2001.

California reported the largest number of homicides to the FBI in 2024, at 1,782 for the year. Texas recorded the second-highest number of murders, with 1,616 for the year. Homicide victim demographics There were a total of 15,795 reported homicide cases in the U.S. in 2024. When looking at murder victims by gender and ethnicity, the vast majority were male, while just over half of the victims were Black or African American. In addition, homicide victims in the United States were found most likely aged between 20 and 34 years old, with the majority of victims aged between 17 to 54 years old. Are murders up? In short, no – since the 1990s the number of murders in the U.S. has decreased significantly and the murder rate per 100,000 people stood at five in 2024. Despite this decline, when viewed in international comparison, the U.S. murder rate is still notably high. For example, the Canadian homicide rate stood at 1.91 in 2024, while the homicide rate in England and Wales was even lower.

The average for 2017 based on 97 countries was 7.4 homicides per 100,000 people. The highest value was in El Salvador: 61.8 homicides per 100,000 people and the lowest value was in Japan: 0.2 homicides per 100,000 people. The indicator is available from 1990 to 2017. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

In 2019, there were six deaths by homicide per 100,000 of the population in the United States, compared to 5.9 deaths by homicide in the previous year. This is an increase from 1950, when there were 5.1 deaths by homicide per 100,000 resident population in the United States. However, within the provided time period, the death rate for homicide in the U.S. was highest in 1980, when there were 10.4 deaths by homicide per 100,000 of the population in the United States.

Homicides in the United States

The term homicide is used when a human being is killed by another human being. Criminal homicide takes several forms, for example murder; but homicide is not always a crime, it also includes affirmative defense, insanity, self-defense or the execution of convicted criminals. In the United States, youth homicide has especially been seen as a problem of urban areas, due to poverty, limited adult supervision, involvement in drug and gang activities, and school failure. Both homicide rates and suicide rates in the U.S. among people aged 20 to 24 and teenagers aged 15 to 19 have vastly increased since 2001.

In 2024, the District of Columbia had the highest rate of murder and non-negligent manslaughter in the United States with a rate of 25.5 murders or non-negligent manslaughters per 100,000 inhabitants. Louisiana, New Mexico, Alabama, and Tennessee rounded out the top five states with the highest murder rates.

Haiti saw a murder rate of ** per 100,000 inhabitants, making it the most dangerous country for this kind of crime worldwide as of 2025. Interestingly, El Salvador, which long had the highest global homicide rates, has dropped out of the top 29 after a high number of gang members have been incarcerated. Meanwhile, Colima in Mexico was the most dangerous city. Violent conflicts worldwide Notably, these figures do not include deaths that resulted from war or a violent conflict. While there is a persistent number of conflicts worldwide, resulting casualties are not considered murders. Partially due to this reason, homicide rates in Latin America are higher than those in Afghanistan or Syria. A different definition of murder in these circumstances could change the rate significantly in some countries. Causes of death Also, noteworthy is that murders are usually not random events. In the United States, the circumstances of murders are most commonly arguments, followed by narcotics incidents and robberies. Additionally, murders are not a leading cause of death. Heart diseases, strokes and cancer pose a greater threat to life than violent crime.

Data Collection

The Washington Post collected data on more than 52,000 criminal homicides over the past decade in 50 of the largest American cities.

The data included the location of the killing, whether an arrest was made and, in most cases, basic demographic information about each victim.

Reporters received data in many formats, including paper, and worked for months to clean and standardize it, comparing homicide counts and aggregate closure rates with FBI data to ensure the records were as accurate as possible.

In some cases, departments provided only partial information about the homicides, so reporters consulted public records, including death certificates, court records and medical examiner reports, to fill in the gaps. The data is more specific than the federal homicide data gathered annually by the FBI from police agencies nationwide.

The Post mapped each homicide, identifying arrest rates by geography in each city, sharing the analysis with the local police department prior to publication.

Definitions

When possible, The Post followed definitions used in the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program. In that program, homicides include murder and non-negligent manslaughter but exclude suicides, accidents, justifiable homicides and deaths caused by negligence.

The Post considered a homicide to be closed by arrest when police reported that to be the case.

Cases were counted as closed without arrest if they were reported by police to be “exceptionally cleared.” Those are cases in which there is sufficient evidence but an arrest is not possible, for example, if the suspect has died.

All other cases were classified as having no arrest.

Mass shootings or terrorist attacks in the cities of Las Vegas, Dallas, the District and San Bernardino, Calif., were included on the maps but not factored into annual local arrest rates.

The Cities

The 50 police departments were selected based on the size of the city and their violent crime reported to the the FBI in 2012, the middle of the survey period. Most departments provided a decade of data, ending in 2017. New York City, however, provided only two years.

Mapping Methodology

To explore the geography of homicide arrests, The Post created grids of almost 2 million uniformly sized squares over the cities. A kernel density analysis was used to estimate the arrest rate for each square based on the homicides and arrests in its vicinity.

Because the shading takes into account homicides inside of a square and nearby, a square may contain no homicides but be shaded.

The methodology is commonly used by police departments to visualize crime patterns. The algorithm was taken from the CrimeStat Spatial Statistics Program from the National Institute of Justice.

Areas shaded in orange are places where fewer than one-third of the homicides resulted in an arrest. The overall arrest average for these areas nationally was 14 percent.

Areas shaded in blue are where two-thirds or more of the homicides resulted in an arrest. The national arrest rate for these areas was 89 percent.

Maps may also include zones with high concentrations of killings, outlined in orange or blue. Unsolved zones, outlined in orange, had more than eight killings and an arrest rate of less than 30 percent. Zones outlined in blue had more than eight killings and an arrest rate of greater than 70 percent.

To provide information about homicides in your area, send us an email at unsolved@washpost.com. To explore the data further, download it from GitHub.

Links

Read the story: https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2018/investigations/where-murders-go-unsolved/ See the maps: https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2018/investigations/unsolved-homicide-database/

Number and rate (per 100,000 population) of homicide victims, Canada and Census Metropolitan Areas, 1981 to 2024.

United States Crime Analysis Report (1979–2023)

Introduction
This dataset and report present a comprehensive view of U.S. crime from 1979 to 2023, based on FBI Summary Reporting System (SRS) data. It analyzes national and state-level trends, per-capita patterns, and the divide between property and violent crimes.

1. Peak Crime Years

• 1991: Highest combined total (14.87 million)
• 1992: Peak violent crime (1.93 million)
• 1991: Peak property crime (12.96 million)
• Crime stayed elevated from 1990 to 1996
• Decline began post-1994

2. National Crime Decline (1991–2023)

• Total crime ↓ 48.4% (14.8M → 7.6M)
• Property crime ↓ 50.5% (12.96M → 6.42M)
• Violent crime ↓ 34.4% (1.91M → 1.25M)

U.S. population increased — crime per capita fell even more sharply.

3. Crime Rate per 100,000 People (2023)

• Total crime rate: ~2.2%
• Property crime: ~2.0%
• Violent crime: ~0.2%

4. State-Level Per Capita Drop (1991–2023)

• Total crime: 5.37% → 2.23% (↓ 58.4%)
• Property crime: 4.78% → 1.87% (↓ 60.8%)
• Violent crime: 0.60% → 0.36% (↓ 38.9%)

5. Highest Crime States (1979–2023)

District of Columbia
- Total crimes: 2.15M
- Population: 27.6M
- Crime-to-population ratio: 7.8% (highest in the nation)

6. Lowest Crime States (1979–2023)

7. Property vs. Violent Crime (Key States)

8. Total Crimes by Type (1979–2023)

• Larceny: 300,122,525
• Burglary: 105,391,108
• Motor Vehicle Theft: 50,070,081
• Robbery: 20,031,836
• Rape (legacy): 3,477,001
• Rape (revised): 1,447,857
• Homicide: 844,649

Larceny alone makes up nearly half of all crime.

9. Key Patterns and Insights

• Most U.S. crime is property-related, not violent.
• High-crime states range between 4%–5.2%
• Low-crime states range between 2.4%–3.3%
• Crime has fallen sharply since 1991 despite population growth.
• Property crime outpaces violent crime by 4–7x across all states.
• Larceny and burglary dominate the national crime profile.
• Alaska is a statistical outlier (low total, high per-capita rate)

Executive Summary

This report provides a thorough analysis of criminal activity in the United States from 1979 to 2023, covering both violent and property crime trends at the national and state levels. Crime rates in the United States reached their highest recorded levels during the early 1990s. In 1991, the combined total of property and violent crimes peaked at nearly 14.9 million offenses, with violent crime remaining exceptionally high from 1991 to 1993—each year recording close to 1.9 million violent incidents, the highest sustained period in the report’s history. After 1994, both violent and property crime began a sustained and significant decline.

Between 1991 and 2023, the United States experienced a dramatic reduction in reported crime. Total crime fell by approximately 48%, dropping from 14.8 million incidents in 1991 to 7.6 million in 2023. Property crime declined by 50.5%, while violent crime decreased by 34.4%. These improvements occurred even as the U.S. population continued to grow, further lowering the per-capita crime rate nationwide. By 2023, national crime rates reached historic lows, with the total crime rate at roughly 2.2%, property crime at about 2.0%, and violent crime just 0.2%. These figures confirm a substantial and sustained improvement in public safety across the country.

State-level averages mirrored the national trend, with nearly all states showing consistent decreases in crime rates between 1991 and 2023. Property crime dropped by 60.8%, total crime by 58.4%, and violent crime by 38.9%, reflecting widespread reductions not confined t...

The average for 2017 based on 9 countries was 11.9 homicides per 100,000 people. The highest value was in Brazil: 30.5 homicides per 100,000 people and the lowest value was in Chile: 4.3 homicides per 100,000 people. The indicator is available from 1990 to 2017. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

Number, percentage and rate (per 100,000 population) of homicide victims, by racialized identity group (total, by racialized identity group; racialized identity group; South Asian; Chinese; Black; Filipino; Arab; Latin American; Southeast Asian; West Asian; Korean; Japanese; other racialized identity group; multiple racialized identity; racialized identity, but racialized identity group is unknown; rest of the population; unknown racialized identity group), gender (all genders; male; female; gender unknown) and region (Canada; Atlantic region; Quebec; Ontario; Prairies region; British Columbia; territories), 2019 to 2024.

The average for 2017 based on 6 countries was 1.8 homicides per 100,000 people. The highest value was in the USA: 5.3 homicides per 100,000 people and the lowest value was in Japan: 0.2 homicides per 100,000 people. The indicator is available from 1990 to 2017. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

The average for 2017 based on 18 countries was 23.6 homicides per 100,000 people. The highest value was in El Salvador: 61.8 homicides per 100,000 people and the lowest value was in Canada: 1.8 homicides per 100,000 people. The indicator is available from 1990 to 2017. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

In 2024, the District of Columbia had the highest reported violent crime rate in the United States, with ******* violent crimes per 100,000 residents. In contrast, Maine had the lowest reported violent crime rate, with around *** offenses per 100,000 of the population. Life in the District The District of Columbia has seen fluctuating population growth over the past few decades. Its population declined throughout the 1990s, when crime rates were at their peak, but has recovered since then. While unemployment in the district has also been falling, it still had a high poverty rate in recent years. Law enforcement in the U.S. Crime rates in the U.S. have decreased compared to previous years, although many Americans still perceive crime as an important issue. The number of law enforcement officers in the U.S. has recently increased. Additionally, initiatives by the Justice Department, focused on community-based prevention and intervention programs, have further helped lower violent crime rates.

In 2024, approximately ***** violent crimes per 100,000 residents were reported in Memphis, Tennessee, making it the most dangerous city in the United States that year. This was followed by Oakland, California, with around **** violent crimes per 100,000 residents during the same period.

These data examine the effects on total crime rates of changes in the demographic composition of the population and changes in criminality of specific age and race groups. The collection contains estimates from national data of annual age-by-race specific arrest rates and crime rates for murder, robbery, and burglary over the 21-year period 1965-1985. The data address the following questions: (1) Are the crime rates reported by the Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) data series valid indicators of national crime trends? (2) How much of the change between 1965 and 1985 in total crime rates for murder, robbery, and burglary is attributable to changes in the age and race composition of the population, and how much is accounted for by changes in crime rates within age-by-race specific subgroups? (3) What are the effects of age and race on subgroup crime rates for murder, robbery, and burglary? (4) What is the effect of time period on subgroup crime rates for murder, robbery, and burglary? (5) What is the effect of birth cohort, particularly the effect of the very large (baby-boom) cohorts following World War II, on subgroup crime rates for murder, robbery, and burglary? (6) What is the effect of interactions among age, race, time period, and cohort on subgroup crime rates for murder, robbery, and burglary? (7) How do patterns of age-by-race specific crime rates for murder, robbery, and burglary compare for different demographic subgroups? The variables in this study fall into four categories. The first category includes variables that define the race-age cohort of the unit of observation. The values of these variables are directly available from UCR and include year of observation (from 1965-1985), age group, and race. The second category of variables were computed using UCR data pertaining to the first category of variables. These are period, birth cohort of age group in each year, and average cohort size for each single age within each single group. The third category includes variables that describe the annual age-by-race specific arrest rates for the different crime types. These variables were estimated for race, age, group, crime type, and year using data directly available from UCR and population estimates from Census publications. The fourth category includes variables similar to the third group. Data for estimating these variables were derived from available UCR data on the total number of offenses known to the police and total arrests in combination with the age-by-race specific arrest rates for the different crime types.

There has been little research on United States homicide rates from a long-term perspective, primarily because there has been no consistent data series on a particular place preceding the Uniform Crime Reports (UCR), which began its first full year in 1931. To fill this research gap, this project created a data series on homicides per capita for New York City that spans two centuries. The goal was to create a site-specific, individual-based data series that could be used to examine major social shifts related to homicide, such as mass immigration, urban growth, war, demographic changes, and changes in laws. Data were also gathered on various other sites, particularly in England, to allow for comparisons on important issues, such as the post-World War II wave of violence. The basic approach to the data collection was to obtain the best possible estimate of annual counts and the most complete information on individual homicides. The annual count data (Parts 1 and 3) were derived from multiple sources, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Uniform Crime Reports and Supplementary Homicide Reports, as well as other official counts from the New York City Police Department and the City Inspector in the early 19th century. The data include a combined count of murder and manslaughter because charge bargaining often blurs this legal distinction. The individual-level data (Part 2) were drawn from coroners' indictments held by the New York City Municipal Archives, and from daily newspapers. Duplication was avoided by keeping a record for each victim. The estimation technique known as "capture-recapture" was used to estimate homicides not listed in either source. Part 1 variables include counts of New York City homicides, arrests, and convictions, as well as the homicide rate, race or ethnicity and gender of victims, type of weapon used, and source of data. Part 2 includes the date of the murder, the age, sex, and race of the offender and victim, and whether the case led to an arrest, trial, conviction, execution, or pardon. Part 3 contains annual homicide counts and rates for various comparison sites including Liverpool, London, Kent, Canada, Baltimore, Los Angeles, Seattle, and San Francisco.

US: Intentional Homicides: Male: per 100,000 Male data was reported at 8.512 Ratio in 2016. This records an increase from the previous number of 7.929 Ratio for 2015. US: Intentional Homicides: Male: per 100,000 Male data is updated yearly, averaging 8.551 Ratio from Dec 2000 (Median) to 2016, with 17 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 10.383 Ratio in 2001 and a record low of 6.988 Ratio in 2014. US: Intentional Homicides: Male: per 100,000 Male data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s USA – Table US.World Bank: Health Statistics. Intentional homicides, male are estimates of unlawful male homicides purposely inflicted as a result of domestic disputes, interpersonal violence, violent conflicts over land resources, intergang violence over turf or control, and predatory violence and killing by armed groups. Intentional homicide does not include all intentional killing; the difference is usually in the organization of the killing. Individuals or small groups usually commit homicide, whereas killing in armed conflict is usually committed by fairly cohesive groups of up to several hundred members and is thus usually excluded.; ; UN Office on Drugs and Crime's International Homicide Statistics database.; ;