The graph illustrates the murder rate in the United States from 1985 to 2025. The x-axis represents the years, labeled with two-digit abbreviations from '85 to '25, while the y-axis shows the annual murder rate per 100,000 individuals. Throughout this 41-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.

In 2023, the rate of murder and nonnegligent manslaughter in the United States was at 5.7 cases per 100,000 of the population. This is a decrease from the previous year, when the murder and nonnegligent manslaughter rate stood at 6.5 per 100,000 of the population. However, due to the FBI's transition to a new crime reporting system, only not all law enforcement agencies submitted crime data to the FBI for 2023. As a result, figures may not accurately reflect the rate of murder and nonnegligent manslaughter in the U.S. in this year.

Number, rate and percentage changes in rates of homicide victims, Canada, provinces and territories, 1961 to 2024.

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 2023, the violent crime rate in the United States was 363.8 cases per 100,000 of the population. Even though the violent crime rate has been decreasing since 1990, the United States tops the ranking of countries with the most prisoners. In addition, due to the FBI's transition to a new crime reporting system in which law enforcement agencies voluntarily submit crime reports, data may not accurately reflect the total number of crimes committed in recent years. Reported violent crime rate in the United States The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation tracks the rate of reported violent crimes per 100,000 U.S. inhabitants. In the timeline above, rates are shown starting in 1990. The rate of reported violent crime has fallen since a high of 758.20 reported crimes in 1991 to a low of 363.6 reported violent crimes in 2014. In 2023, there were around 1.22 million violent crimes reported to the FBI in the United States. This number can be compared to the total number of property crimes, roughly 6.41 million that year. Of violent crimes in 2023, aggravated assaults were the most common offenses in the United States, while homicide offenses were the least common. Law enforcement officers and crime clearance Though the violent crime rate was down in 2013, the number of law enforcement officers also fell. Between 2005 and 2009, the number of law enforcement officers in the United States rose from around 673,100 to 708,800. However, since 2009, the number of officers fell to a low of 626,900 officers in 2013. The number of law enforcement officers has since grown, reaching 720,652 in 2023. In 2023, the crime clearance rate in the U.S. was highest for murder and non-negligent manslaughter charges, with around 57.8 percent of murders being solved by investigators and a suspect being charged with the crime. Additionally, roughly 46.1 percent of aggravated assaults were cleared in that year. A statistics report on violent crime in the U.S. can be found here.

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.

California reported the largest number of homicides to the FBI in 2023, at 1,929 for the year. Texas recorded the second-highest number of murders, with 1,845 for the year. Homicide victim demographics There were a total of 19,252 reported homicide cases in the U.S. in 2023. 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 to be between the ages of 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. In 1990, the murder rate per 100,000 people stood at 9.4, and stood at 5.7 in 2023. It should be noted though that the number of homicides increased slightly from 2014 to 2017, although figures declined again in 2018 and 2019, before ticking up once more in 2020 and 2021. 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 1.94 in 2023, while the homicide rate in England and Wales was even lower.

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.

The following datasets contain the crime rate for cities in the United States. The four datasets are separated based on population ranges.

FILE DESCRIPTION

File names: - 'crime_40 _60.csv': dataset for population ranging from 40,000 to 60,000. - 'crime_60 _100.csv': dataset for population ranging from 60,000 to 100,000. - 'crime_100 _250.csv': dataset for population ranging from 100,000 to 250,000. - 'crime_250 _plus.csv': dataset for population greater than 250,000.

COLUMN DESCRIPTION

For file: crime_40 _60.csv: - 'states': name of the state - 'cities': name of the city - 'population': population of the city - 'violent_crime': violent crime - 'murder': murder and nonnegligent manslaughter - 'rape': forcible rape - 'robbery': robbery - 'agrv_ The following datasets contain the crime rate for cities in the United States. The four datasets are separated based on population ranges.

FILE DESCRIPTION

File names: - 'crime_40 _60.csv': dataset for population ranging from 40,000 to 60,000. - 'crime_60 _100.csv': dataset for population ranging from 60,000 to 100,000. - 'crime_100 _250.csv': dataset for population ranging from 100,000 to 250,000. - 'crime_250 _plus.csv': dataset for population greater than 250,000.

COLUMN DESCRIPTION

For file: crime_40 _60.csv: - 'states': name of the state - 'cities': name of the city - 'population': population of the city - 'violent_crime': violent crime - 'murder': murder and nonnegligent manslaughter - 'rape': forcible rape - 'robbery': robbery - 'agrv_ assault': agrv_ assault - 'prop_crime': property crime - 'burglary': burglary - 'larceny': larceny theft - 'vehicle_theft': motor vehicle theft

crime_60 _100.csv: - 'states': name of the state - 'cities': name of the city - 'population': population of the city - 'violent_crime': violent crime - 'murder': murder and nonnegligent manslaughter - 'rape': forcible rape - 'robbery': robbery - 'agrv_ assault': agrv_ assault - 'prop_crime': property crime - 'burglary': burglary - 'larceny': larceny theft - 'vehicle_theft': motor vehicle theft

crime_100 _250.csv: - 'states': name of the state - 'cities': name of the city - 'population': population of the city - 'violent_crime': violent crime - 'murder': murder and nonnegligent manslaughter - 'rape': forcible rape - 'robbery': robbery - 'agrv_ assault': agrv_ assault - 'prop_crime': property crime - 'burglary': burglary - 'larceny': larceny theft - 'vehicle_theft': motor vehicle theft

crime_250 _plus.csv: - 'states': name of the state - 'cities': name of the city - 'population': population of the city - 'total_crime': total crime - 'murder': murder and nonnegligent manslaughter - 'rape': forcible rape - 'robbery': robbery - 'agrv_ assault': agrv_ assault - 'total_violent _crime': total violent crime - 'prop_crime': property crime - 'burglary': burglary - 'larceny': larceny theft - 'vehicle_theft': motor vehicle theft - 'tot_prop _crime': total property crime - 'arson': arson

Photo by David von Diemar on Unsplash

Age-adjusted death rate of residents due to homicide, New Jersey.

Rate: Number of homicides per 100,000 persons (age-adjusted).

Definition: Deaths where homicide is indicated as the underlying cause of death. Homicide is defined as death resulting from the intentional use of force or power, threatened or actual, against another person, group, or community. ICD-10 Codes: X85-Y09, Y87.1 (homicide)

Data Sources:

(1) Death Certificate Database, Office of Vital Statistics and Registry, New Jersey Department of Health http://www.state.nj.us/health/chs/

(2) National Center for Health Statistics and U.S. Census Bureau. Vintage 2009 bridged-rate postcensal population estimates http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/bridged_race.htm as of July 23, 2010

(3) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics. Compressed Mortality File. CDC WONDER On-line Database accessed at http://wonder.cdc.gov/cmf-icd10.html

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 35 countries was 1.7 homicides per 100,000 people. The highest value was in Russia: 9.2 homicides per 100,000 people and the lowest value was in Luxembourg: 0.3 homicides per 100,000 people. The indicator is available from 1990 to 2017. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

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.

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.

This table contains data on the rate of violent crime (crimes per 1,000 population) for California, its regions, counties, cities and towns. Crime and population data are from the Federal Bureau of Investigations, Uniform Crime Reports. Rates above the city/town level include data from city, university and college, county, state, tribal, and federal law enforcement agencies. The table is part of a series of indicators in the Healthy Communities Data and Indicators Project of the Office of Health Equity. Ten percent of all deaths in young California adults aged 15-44 years are related to assault and homicide. In 2010, California law enforcement agencies reported 1,809 murders, 8,331 rapes, and over 95,000 aggravated assaults. African Americans in California are 11 times more likely to die of assault and homicide than Whites. More information about the data table and a data dictionary can be found in the About/Attachments section.

Victims of gang-related homicides (total number of homicide victims; number of homicide victims - unknown gang-relation; number of homicide victims - known gang relation; number of gang-related homicide victims; percentage of gang-related homicide victims; rate (per 100,000 population) of gang-related homicide victims), Canada and regions, 1999 to 2024.

Number, percentage and rate (per 100,000 population) of homicide victims, by gender (all genders; male; female; gender unknown) and Indigenous identity (total; Indigenous identity; non-Indigenous identity; unknown Indigenous identity), Canada, provinces and territories, 2014 to 2020.

China: Homicides per 100,000 people: The latest value from 2017 is 0.6 homicides per 100,000 people, unchanged from 0.6 homicides per 100,000 people in 2016. In comparison, the world average is 7.4 homicides per 100,000 people, based on data from 97 countries. Historically, the average for China from 1995 to 2017 is 1.4 homicides per 100,000 people. The minimum value, 0.6 homicides per 100,000 people, was reached in 2016 while the maximum of 2.2 homicides per 100,000 people was recorded in 1995.

Historical dataset showing East Asia & Pacific murder/homicide rate per 100K population by year from 2010 to 2021.

Number of homicide victims, by method used to commit the homicide (total methods used; shooting; stabbing; beating; strangulation; fire (burns or suffocation); other methods used; methods used unknown), Canada, 1974 to 2024.