While safety is an integral aspect of life, it's a metric that experiences significant disparities among regions and cities worldwide. The United States, in particular, witnesses a wide variance in safety levels, with a multifaceted range of factors contributing to these divides. According to the Global Peace Index, the United States is ranked 128th in the list of safest countries in the world. A significant contributor to this ranking is the country's murder rate. In 2018, the US had a total of 15,498 murders or a rate of 5.0 murders per 100,000 people, implying that some regions have significantly higher murder rates than others.
Key findings from the data include:
- St. Louis, MO tops the list with a significantly high murder rate of 69.4 per 100k people, followed by Baltimore, MD (51.1) and New Orleans, LA (40.6). These cities significantly exceed the national average murder rate.
- Major metropolises such as Chicago, IL (24.0), Philadelphia, PA (20.2), and Washington, D.C. (17.0) also report concerning rates. This suggests that while large population size doesn't inherently correlate with high murder rates, certain populous cities are still coping with high levels of violence.
- Of note, cities associated with tourism and entertainment like Las Vegas, NV (31.4), and New Orleans, LA (40.6), have substantially high murder rates which could be due to various factors, including the transient nature of these cities and socio-economic conditions.
FAQs
What is the city with the highest murder rate? ›
In 2023, Celaya in Mexico ranked as the world's most dangerous city with a homicide rate of 109.4 per 100,000 inhabitants. The six cities with the highest murder rates worldwide are all found in Mexico.
What is the #1 crime state in America? ›
1. Alaska. The most dangerous state in the US is Alaska, having the highest combined violent and property crime rate out of any state. Out of a population of 736,081, Alaska's crime rate was 32.14 per 1,000 people in 2022, making it the state with the highest crime rate.
Are homicides plummeting in American cities? ›
Violence is plummeting in the United States. All available data from 2023 show a decline in homicide that is so large that it is near the top of all-time, one-year crime declines. Now, crime data from the first quarter of 2024 are becoming available, and they show a homicide decline almost twice as large as in 2023.
What is the current murder capital of America? ›
Topping the charts with a staggering murder rate of 69.4 per 100k people, St. Louis, MO, has the highest rate, with Baltimore, MD, following with a rate of 51.1.
What is the most criminal city in the US? ›
St. Louis, Missouri, often ranks as the city with the highest crime rate in the U.S. based on violent crime rates, particularly for aggravated assaults and other violent offenses.
What city is the murder capital of the world? ›
Tijuana - Mexico
Tijuana is regarded as the murder capital of the world, with 138 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants each year.
What city has the most gun violence in the United States? ›
Our data placed St. Louis at the top of the list for the highest number of gun-related injuries per 10,000 residents (18.6) as well as the highest incidence of gun-related deaths (9.1 per 10,000 people). However, Ocala, Florida is another city that has to be in the spotlight when it comes to firearm-related incidents.
Is Chicago crime getting worse? ›
Even though the number of violent crimes in Chicago grew to its highest level in a decade last year, the arrest rate dropped. Robbery and vehicle theft both rose by over 30% last year. Homicides dropped 14% in 2023 from the year before, totaling 625 dead, but that's still nearly 50% more homicides than a decade ago.
What is the safest state in the US in 2024? ›
Safest States
| Rank | Region | Safety Index Score |
|---|
| 1. | Massachusetts | 80.4 |
| 2. | New Jersey | 79.4 |
| 3. | New Hampshire | 78.8 |
| 4. | Rhode Island | 78.1 |
46 more rowsThe safest state in the U.S., according to the U.S. News methodology, is New Hampshire. With a violent crime rate of 126 per 100,000 and a property crime rate of 1,011 per 100,000, New Hampshire enjoys a high rate of public safety.
What state has the least murders? ›
New Hampshire, the state with the lowest rate, has a murder rate of 1.1 per 100,000 inhabitants, with states like Vermont (1.5) and Maine (1.7) tailing closely. There's a clear discrepancy in murder rates among states with large metropolis areas when compared to less densely populated regions.
What city has the most killings in 2024? ›
St. Louis, Missouri has the highest murder rate of any US city of 69.4 murders per 100,000 people.
What state had the most homicides? ›
Murder rates in red states were 33% higher than in blue states in both 2021 and 2022. As in 2019 and 2020, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama hold the first, second, and third highest murder rates in the country, respectively.
Is crime dropping in the US? ›
The latest preliminary quarterly crime figures from the FBI show dramatic decreases: a 26% drop in murders, robberies down by nearly 18% and violent crime overall down 15% in the first quarter of 2024, compared to last year in the same period.
How many murders in Chicago in 2024? ›
Crime and Public Safety | Chicago homicides in 2024: 213 people slain. Here's how that compares with previous years.
What city in Florida has the highest crime rate? ›
What City Has the Highest Crime Rate in 2023? The city with the highest crime rate in Florida is Lake City, which is situated between Jacksonville and Tallahassee, where 12,329 residents live. Lake City has a crime rate of 77.59 crimes for every 1,000 citizens, which is higher than in 98.6% of United States cities.
What is the murder rate in the United States? ›
U.S. murder/homicide rate for 2022 was 0.00, a 100% decline from 2021. U.S. murder/homicide rate for 2021 was 6.81, a 6.02% increase from 2020. U.S. murder/homicide rate for 2020 was 6.42, a 28.78% increase from 2019. U.S. murder/homicide rate for 2019 was 4.99, a 1.14% increase from 2018.
What years has the highest crime rate? ›
Within the better data for crime reporting and recording available starting in the 1930s, crime reached its broad, bulging modern peak between the 1970s and early 1990s.
