States With the Highest Murder Rates

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Understanding Murder Rates in the U.S.

Homicides in the U.S. are compiled in the CDC WONDER database. Individual homicides are reported based on death certificate data in all 3,144 U.S. counties.

To accommodate for various population sizes, we use per capita rates to calculate the rate of homicides in a state (states with larger populations have more homicides, but that doesn’t mean people are more likely to be murdered in those places). The per capita rates in this article compare the numbers of homicides per 100,000 people in each state.

Murder rates in the U.S. increased by 17% from 2018 to 2023. 2021 was the deadliest year since 1994 (when there were 8.5 murders per 100,000 people). In 2021, there were 7.8 murders out of every 100,000 people in the U.S. All states in the U.S. exhibited an increase in homicides that year. ^{1, 8}

States With the Highest Murder Rates

Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, and Washington, D.C. represent the top five highest murder rates in the U.S.

• Between 2020 and 2023, Washington, D.C., had the highest homicide rate at 30 per 100,000 (higher than Belize, Ecuador or Mexico). ⁷
• Louisiana and Mississippi exhibited an average of 18 murders per 100,000 between 2020 and 2023.
• Alabama and New Mexico rounded out the top five with murder rates of 14 and 13 per 100,000, respectively.

In total, 23 states and Washington, D.C., had homicide rates higher than the national average between 2020 and 2023. ¹

Homicide Trends by Region

The Southeast has had higher homicide rates than any other region dating back to 1968 (when the CDC began compiling death certificate data). ⁸

Here are some quick facts about each region:

• The Northeastern U.S. has an average of 4.7 homicides per 100,000 (2020–2023). This region also has the highest graduation rate (94%), second highest clearance rate (63.40%), and highest recidivism rate (40%).
• The Western U.S. had an average of 5.5 homicides per 100,000 (2020–2023). This region has the second lowest graduation rate (90%), highest clearance rate (63.7%), and second highest rate of poverty (11%), as well as a low recidivism rate (34%).
• The Midwest had an average of 7.7 homicides per 100,000 people (2020–2023). This region has a lower clearance rate (52.4%) than any other region, as well as a high graduation rate (92%) and low poverty rate (9.8%).
• The Southeastern U.S. had the highest average number of homicides between 2020 and 2023: 9.4 murders per 100,000 residents. This region has the highest number of police per resident (3.7/1,000), lowest graduation rate (89%), second lowest clearance rate (56.1%), and highest number of people living below the poverty line (12.4%).

^{1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}

How Murder Rates Have Changed Over Time

The national homicide rate increased by 17% from 2018 to 2023. Louisiana and Mississippi had the highest increases in murder rates during this time. Missouri, New Jersey, West Virginia and Wyoming were the only states with fewer homicides in 2023 than in 2018. ¹

The Safest and Most Dangerous States in the U.S.

Hawaii, Idaho, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Utah and Wyoming are the five safest states in the U.S., with homicide rates below 2 per 100,000. Louisiana and Mississippi are the most dangerous states in the U.S., with more than 18 homicides per 100,000.

• Other Safe States - North Dakota, Iowa, New Jersey, Nebraska, Vermont, Minnesota, Maine, and New York (homicide rates below 4 per 100,000). ¹
• Other Dangerous States - Alabama, New Mexico, Tennessee, Arkansas, South Carolina, Missouri, Georgia, Maryland, Illinois, Alaska, North Carolina, and Nevada (homicide rates above 8 per 100,000). ¹

Wrap-Up

Although murder rates increased nationally in 2020, individual states’ murder rates remained relatively constant. Louisiana and Mississippi saw the most significant increases in murder rates, while only a few states’ murder rates declined.

Sources:

1. CDC WONDER Database (2018–2023)
2. Crime Clearance Rates in the U.S. by Region (2023)
3. Poverty in the U.S.: 2023 (U.S. Census Bureau)
4. High School Graduation Rates by State
5. U.S. Criminal Justice Data (The Sentencing Project)
6. States Ranking: Recidivism Rates
7. Murder Rate by Country: 2024
8. CDC WONDER Compressed Mortality Rates