The homicide rate in the U.S. experienced a rapid increase during the past few years, so much so that President Joe Biden made tackling the problem a priority. Fortunately, the trend may be starting to reverse, though. Homicide rates have fallen by an average of roughly 5% in 40 of the most populated U.S. cities between Q3 2021 and Q3 2023. For comparison, in Q1 2023, the homicide rate in those cities was 10% higher than Q1 2021.
In order to determine which cities have the biggest homicide rate problems, WalletHub compared 40 of the largest U.S. cities based on per capita homicides in Q3 2023, as well as per capita homicides in Q3 2023 vs. Q3 2022 and Q3 2021.
Main Findings
Cities with the Biggest Homicide Rate Problems
Overall Rank* | City | Total Score | Homicide Cases per Capita** (Q3 2023) Rank | Change in Homicide Cases per Capita** (Q3 2023 vs Q3 2022) Rank | Change in Homicide Cases per Capita** (Q3 2023 vs Q3 2021) Rank |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Washington, DC | 94.81 | 12.30 (2) | 4.54 (1) | 2.93 (1) |
2 | Memphis, TN | 92.44 | 13.72 (1) | 2.21 (2) | 1.58 (3) |
3 | Detroit, MI | 72.79 | 11.77 (4) | -2.01 (36) | -0.46 (21) |
4 | Milwaukee, WI | 68.16 | 10.03 (6) | -0.86 (25) | -0.52 (22) |
5 | Atlanta, GA | 66.01 | 8.94 (7) | 1.83 (4) | -1.42 (26) |
6 | Baltimore, MD | 62.90 | 11.31 (5) | -1.18 (30) | -3.88 (37) |
7 | Jacksonville, FL | 57.34 | 4.69 (17) | 1.17 (5) | 1.39 (4) |
8 | Kansas City, MO | 55.38 | 6.17 (11) | -1.99 (34) | 0.60 (10) |
9 | Dallas, TX | 54.48 | 5.08 (15) | 1.08 (6) | -0.08 (16) |
10 | Seattle, WA | 53.35 | 3.44 (22) | 0.83 (9) | 1.79 (2) |
11 | Denver, CO | 51.81 | 3.82 (20) | 2.12 (3) | 0.00 (14) |
12 | Albuquerque, NM | 49.93 | 4.98 (16) | -1.96 (33) | 0.18 (12) |
13 | Nashville, TN | 49.20 | 3.81 (21) | -0.73 (23) | 0.73 (8) |
14 | New Orleans, LA | 47.74 | 7.55 (8) | -3.39 (39) | -3.13 (35) |
15 | Raleigh, NC | 47.56 | 3.03 (23) | -0.22 (17) | 0.87 (7) |
16 | Richmond, VA | 46.84 | 7.09 (9) | 0.89 (8) | -5.32 (39) |
17 | Anchorage, AK | 46.75 | 2.39 (24) | 1.03 (7) | 0.68 (9) |
18 | Norfolk, VA | 46.44 | 6.29 (10) | -1.68 (32) | -2.93 (33) |
19 | Colorado Springs, CO | 45.23 | 1.89 (29) | 0.21 (12) | 1.26 (5) |
20 | Philadelphia, PA | 44.15 | 5.89 (12) | -2.82 (38) | -2.57 (29) |
21 | Virginia Beach, VA | 44.15 | 1.53 (31) | 0.66 (10) | 1.09 (6) |
22 | Las Vegas, NV | 43.93 | 5.20 (14) | -0.95 (26) | -2.84 (32) |
23 | St. Louis, MO | 43.33 | 11.89 (3) | -10.90 (40) | -8.59 (40) |
24 | Minneapolis, MN | 40.93 | 4.47 (18) | -1.18 (29) | -2.82 (31) |
25 | Indianapolis, IN | 40.49 | 4.43 (19) | -1.14 (28) | -2.95 (34) |
26 | Omaha, NE | 40.42 | 1.84 (30) | -0.82 (24) | 0.20 (11) |
27 | Chicago, IL | 38.80 | 5.73 (13) | -2.01 (35) | -4.74 (38) |
28 | Boston, MA | 38.78 | 1.34 (33) | -0.59 (22) | 0.15 (13) |
29 | Los Angeles, CA | 38.42 | 2.23 (25) | -0.97 (27) | -0.92 (24) |
30 | Fort Worth, TX | 37.72 | 1.43 (32) | -0.44 (21) | -0.44 (20) |
31 | New York, NY | 36.35 | 1.10 (35) | -0.33 (18) | -0.56 (23) |
32 | Phoenix, AZ | 36.17 | 2.01 (27) | -1.51 (31) | -1.13 (25) |
33 | St. Petersburg, FL | 35.63 | 1.94 (28) | 0.39 (11) | -2.32 (28) |
34 | St. Paul, MN | 35.63 | 0.32 (38) | 0.00 (13) | 0.00 (14) |
35 | Madison, WI | 34.35 | 1.13 (34) | 0.00 (13) | -1.51 (27) |
36 | Chandler, AZ | 34.17 | 0.37 (37) | -0.37 (19) | -0.37 (18) |
37 | Tucson, AZ | 34.10 | 2.04 (26) | 0.00 (13) | -2.79 (30) |
38 | Sacramento, CA | 33.45 | 0.19 (39) | -0.39 (20) | -0.39 (19) |
39 | Lincoln, NE | 30.12 | 0.00 (40) | -2.08 (37) | -0.35 (17) |
40 | Chesapeake, VA | 28.34 | 0.81 (36) | 0.00 (13) | -3.24 (36) |
Notes:
*With the exception of “Total Score,” all of the columns in the table above depict the relative rank of that city, where a rank of 1 represents the highest homicide rate and highest change in homicides, respectively.
**Calculated as rate per 100,000 residents.
- Highest
- 1. Memphis, TN
- 2. Washington, DC
- 3. St. Louis, MO
- 4. Detroit, MI
- 5. Baltimore, MD
- Lowest
- 36. Chesapeake, VA
- 37. Chandler, AZ
- 38. St. Paul, MN
- 39. Sacramento, CA
- 40. Lincoln, NE
- Highest
- 1. Washington, DC
- 2. Memphis, TN
- 3. Denver, CO
- 4. Atlanta, GA
- 5. Jacksonville, FL
- Lowest
- 36. Detroit, MI
- 37. Lincoln, NE
- 38. Philadelphia, PA
- 39. New Orleans, LA
- 40. St. Louis, MO
- Highest
- 1. Washington, DC
- 2. Seattle, WA
- 3. Memphis, TN
- 4. Jacksonville, TN
- 5. Colorado Springs, CO
- Lowest
- 36. Chesapeake, VA
- 37. Baltimore, MD
- 38. Chicago, IL
- 39. Richmond, VA
- 40. St. Louis, MO
Note: Above rankings from the infographic are based on the scores obtained by each city for the indicated metrics. Cities with the same metric score were attributed the same ranking. Based on historical values, cities for which the metric value crossed a certain threshold were attributed the same score.
Blue Cities vs. Red Cities
Ask the Experts
In order to better understand the causes and impact of the recent homicide rate problem, WalletHub turned to a panel of experts. You can click on the photos of the experts below to read their bios and responses to the following key questions:
- What will it take for the homicide rate to decrease?
- Will more homicides renew police reputation, or have the opposite effect?
- Will the second half of 2023 bring new solutions to the homicide rate problem??
Ask the Experts
Methodology
In order to assess the changes in homicides across cities, we calculated the number of homicides per capita in Q3 2023 and the change in the number of homicides per capita in the third quarter of 2023 compared to the third quarter of 2022 and 2021.
In determining our sample, we included 40 of the most populated U.S. cities that had locally published homicide data available for our specific time period. We used the UCR definition for criminal homicide. Data from this study is based in some cases on preliminary police department crime data, which is subject to reclassification upon further investigation.
The metrics used are listed below with their corresponding weights. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the highest homicide rates.
We then determined the weighted average across all metrics to calculate an overall score for each city and used the resulting scores to rank-order the cities.
- Homicides per Capita in Q3 2023: Double Weight (~50.00 Points)
- Change in Homicides (Q3 2023 vs. Q3 2022): Full Weight (~25.00 Points)
Note: This is the absolute difference in the homicide rate per capita. - Change in Homicides (Q3 2023 vs. Q3 2021): Full Weight (~25.00 Points)
Note: This is the absolute difference in the homicide rate per capita.
Sources: Data used to create this ranking were collected from the U.S. Census Bureau and Local Crime Statistics.
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