In 2023, there were 14,327 murder offenders in the United States who were male, in comparison to 1,898 who were female. However, there were also 5,279 murder offenders where their gender was unknown. Homicides in the U.S. Murder and non-negligent manslaughter in the United States is defined as the willful killing of another human being. Justifiable homicides, or cases where a felon is killed by an officer in the line of duty or a felon is killed during a felony by a private citizen, are not included in murder counts by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The total number of murders varies from state to state in the U.S., with more populous states having higher numbers of murders. Murder offenders and victims Most murder offenders in the United States are between the ages of 17 and 39, with the number of offenders declining steadily after age 40. Additionally, the highest rate of death by homicide was found among males between the ages of 15 and 24. The highest rate of death by homicide for females was for girls under the age of one.

In 2023, the FBI reported that there were 9,284 Black murder victims in the United States and 7,289 white murder victims. In comparison, there were 554 murder victims of unknown race and 586 victims of another race. Victims of inequality? In recent years, the role of racial inequality in violent crimes such as robberies, assaults, and homicides has gained public attention. In particular, the issue of police brutality has led to increasing attention following the murder of George Floyd, an African American who was killed by a Minneapolis police officer. Studies show that the rate of fatal police shootings for Black Americans was more than double the rate reported of other races. Crime reporting National crime data in the United States is based off the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s new crime reporting system, which requires law enforcement agencies to self-report their data in detail. Due to the recent implementation of this system, less crime data has been reported, with some states such as Delaware and Pennsylvania declining to report any data to the FBI at all in the last few years, suggesting that the Bureau's data may not fully reflect accurate information on crime in the United States.

Number, percentage and rate (per 100,000 population) of persons accused of homicide, 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.

In 2022, there were slightly more female victims of violent crime than male victims in the United States, with about ********* male victims and ********* female victims. These figures are a significant increase from the previous year, when there were ********* male victims and ********* female victims. What counts as violent crime? Violent crime in the United States includes murder, rape, sexual assault, robbery, and assault. While violent crime across all areas has been steadily falling over the past few decades, the rate of aggravated assault is still relatively high, at ***** cases per 100,000 of the population. In 2021, there were more property crimes committed in the U.S. than there were violent crimes. Keep your enemies closer It is usually said that most victims know their attacker, and the data backs this up. In 2021, very few murders were committed by strangers. The same goes for rape and sexual assault victims; the majority were perpetrated by acquaintances, intimate partners, or relatives.

In 2020, there were 257 women killed by male single offenders in the state of Texas. Texas was the state with the highest number of women murdered by men in single offender homicides. California had the second most women killed by male single offenders, at 222 cases.

In 2023, 8,842 murderers in the United States were white, while 6,405 were Black. A further 461 murderers were of another race, including American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander. However, not all law enforcement agencies submitted homicide data to the FBI in 2023, meaning there may be more murder offenders of each race than depicted. While the majority of circumstances behind murders in the U.S. are unknown, narcotics, robberies, and gang killings are most commonly identified.

As of 2021, Black men had the highest firearm homicide rate in the United States, with ***** homicides by firearm per 100,000 of the population. In comparison, Black women had a firearm homicide rate of **** per 100,000 of the population. In that year, the risk of gun homicide was lowest among Asian people across all genders.

In 2023 in the United States, 12 people were murdered by their employer. However, 3,527 people were killed by an acquaintance compared to 1,674 who were killed by a stranger. A ranking of the total number of murders by U.S. state can be found here.

3,013 murderers in the United States in 2023 were individuals between the ages of 20 and 24. In the same year, there were seven murderer offenders aged between one and four years. Murder rate in the United States Despite some feeling that violent crime in the United States is on the rise, perhaps due to sensationalized media coverage, the murder and nonnegligent manslaughter rate has declined steeply since 1990. The murder rate has risen some since 2014, but it is nowhere near its peak in 1991. Murder victims in the U.S. The vast majority of murders in the U.S. were committed with firearms, including handguns, rifles, shotguns, and other unidentified guns or firearms. This is generally attributed to the high rate of gun ownership in the United States, which makes guns more accessible than in other countries.

Intimate partner femicide—the killing of women based on their gender by their former or current partners—is a global long-standing manifestation of violence against women. Despite the enactment of femicide-specific laws in Latin America, femicide rates have remained relatively constant throughout the last decade. Often perpetrators are pathologized as suffering from mental illness, yet the data on their mental health status is still relatively unknown. Thus, more research is needed to understand the extent of poor mental health among these individuals. The purpose of this study was to compare levels of psychopathy, psychological distress, and treatment history among an all-male sample of intimate partner femicide perpetrators, male-male homicide perpetrators, and offenders convicted of other violent crimes in Buenos Aires, Argentina. This study utilized a cross-sectional survey based on data derived from a two-stage sampling strategy. The questionnaire included two standardized instruments for the measurement of psychopathy (revised Psychopathy checklist and the Levenson Self-Report Psychopathy scale) and one for general distress (Spanish version of 12-item General Health Questionnaire). The final sample included 205 prisoners including 68 intimate partner femicide perpetrators, 73 homicide perpetrators, and 64 individuals convicted of other violent crimes. There were no significant differences across these groups based on their socio-demographic characteristics. Participants did not differ in terms of their psychopathology; however, femicide perpetrators were statistically more likely to experience psychological distress. In addition, femicide perpetrators self-reported more prior episodes of mental and substance use treatments. The findings of increased psychological distress and prior mental health and substance use treatment among femicide perpetrators suggest that there may be missed opportunities for femicide prevention within the public health subspecialties of mental health and substance use disorders. This study suggests that femicide perpetrators likely require distinctive interventions, including self-assessments and harm mitigation tactics, to prevent their potential for femicide perpetration.

Between 1982 and August 2025, 84 out of the 155 mass shootings in the United States were carried out by white shooters. By comparison, the perpetrator was Black in 26 mass shootings and Latino in 12. When calculated as percentages, this amounts to 54 percent, 17 percent, and eight percent, respectively. Race of mass shooters reflects the U.S. population Broadly speaking, the racial distribution of mass shootings mirrors the racial distribution of the U.S. population as a whole. While a superficial comparison of the statistics seems to suggest African American shooters are over-represented and Latino shooters underrepresented, the fact that the shooter’s race is unclear in around nine percent of cases, along with the different time frames over which these statistics are calculated, means no such conclusions should be drawn. Conversely, looking at the mass shootings in the United States by gender clearly demonstrates that the majority of mass shootings are carried out by men. Mass shootings and mental health With no clear patterns between the socio-economic or cultural background of mass shooters, increasing attention has been placed on mental health. Analysis of the factors Americans considered to be to blame for mass shootings showed 80 percent of people felt the inability of the mental health system to recognize those who pose a danger to others was a significant factor. This concern is not without merit – in over half of the mass shootings since 1982, the shooter showed prior signs of mental health issues, suggesting improved mental health services may help deal with this horrific problem. Mass shootings and guns In the wake of multiple mass shootings, critics have sought to look beyond the issues of shooter identification and their influences by focusing on their access to guns. The majority of mass shootings in the U.S. involve firearms which were obtained legally, reflecting the easy ability of Americans to purchase and carry deadly weapons in public. Gun control takes on a particular significance when the uniquely American phenomenon of school shootings is considered. The annual number of incidents involving firearms at K-12 schools in the U.S. was over 100 in each year since 2018. Conversely, similar incidents in other developed countries exceptionally rare, with only five school shootings in G7 countries other than the U.S. between 2009 and 2018.

In the United States, Black people have higher rates of gun homicide than White people across all age groups. As of 2022, gun homicide rates were highest among Black people aged between 15 and 24 years, at ***** gun homicides per 100,000 of the population. In comparison, there were only **** gun homicides per 100,000 of the White population within this age range. However, the risk for gun homicide was greatest among all adolescents and adults between the ages of 15 to 44 in that year. The impact of guns on young Americans In the last few years, firearms have become the leading cause of death for American children and teenagers aged one to 19 years old, accounting for more deaths than car crashes and diseases. School shootings also remain on the rise recently, with the U.S. recording ** times as many school shootings than other high-income nations from 2009 to 2018. Black students in particular experience a disproportionately high number of school shootings relative to their population, and K-12 teachers at schools made up mostly of students of color are more likely to report feeling afraid that they or their students would be a victim of attack or harm. The right to bear arms Despite increasingly high rates of gun-related violence, gun ownership remains a significant part of American culture, largely due to the fact that the right to bear arms is written into the U.S. Constitution. Although firearms are the most common murder weapon used in the U.S., accounting for approximately ****** homicides in 2022, almost **** of American households have at least one firearm in their possession. Consequently, it is evident that firearms remain easily accessible nationwide, even though gun laws may vary from state to state. However, the topic of gun control still causes political controversy, as the majority of Republicans agree that it is more important to protect the right of Americans to own guns, while Democrats are more inclined to believe that it is more important to limit gun ownership.

In the United States, more children died due to abuse or maltreatment at the hands of their parents than in other relationships. In 2023, around 364 children died due to abuse by two parents, and 459 children died due to abuse by their mother.

From 1966 to January 2024, ** percent of mass public shooters who carried out the shooting at K-12 schools in the United States identified as White, followed by ** percent who were Native American and * percent who were Latinx. For mass public shootings occurring at colleges and universities, the shooter was most likely to identify as Asian, at ** percent, followed by ** percent who were White. In addition, Black and Middle Eastern shooters each made up ** percent. The source defines a mass public shooting as a multiple homicide incident in which 4 or more victims are murdered with firearms—not including the offender(s)—within one event, and at least some of the murders occurred in a public location or locations in close geographical proximity (e.g., a workplace, school, restaurant, or other public settings), and the murders are not attributable to any other underlying criminal activity or commonplace circumstance (armed robbery, criminal competition, insurance fraud, argument, or romantic triangle). Mass shootings attributable to gangs, as well as most domestic homicides, are therefore excluded from this definition.

Most femicides registered in the Brazilian states in 2024 were committed by partners or former partners of the victims. Unknown people to the victim accounted for 5.8 percent of femicides.

Between 2021 and 2024, the homicide rate for people of the Black ethnic group was **** homicides per million population in England and Wales, far higher than that of the white ethnic group, which was *** victims per million population for the same time period.

In 2023, the child abuse rate for children of Hispanic origin was at 6.7, indicating 6.7 out of every 1,000 Hispanic children in the United States suffered from some sort of abuse. This rate was highest among American Indian or Alaska Native children, with 13.8 children out of every 1,000 experiencing some form of abuse. Child abuse in the U.S. The child abuse rate in the United States is highest among American Indian or Alaska Native victims, followed by African-American victims. It is most common among children between two to five years of age. While child abuse cases are fairly evenly distributed between girls and boys, more boys than girls are victims of abuse resulting in death. The most common type of maltreatment is neglect, followed by physical abuse. Risk factors Child abuse is often reported by teachers, law enforcement officers, or social service providers. In the large majority of cases, the perpetrators of abuse were a parent of the victim. Risk factors, such as teen pregnancy, violent crime, and poverty that are associated with abuse and neglect have been found to be quite high in the United States in comparison to other countries.