25 Cities Struggling With America’s Highest Homicide Rates
Cities often have higher homicide rates than small towns. However, not all cities suffer from high homicide rates.
Statistically, some U.S. cities are safer than others. If you’re thinking about moving to a new city, pinpointing which cities are more prone to troubling high homicide rates — and which districts within any city are the safest — is vital.
Taking into account recent statistics, WalletHub ranked the 25 big American cities with the highest homicide rates. You’ll likely expect to see many of the names on this list. Others, not so much.
Counting Homicides
WalletHub took data from the U.S. Census Bureau and Local Crime Statistics to determine which U.S. cities have the highest homicide rates. They tracked the number of homicides per capita during the same quarter of the year in 2021, 2022, and 2023 in 40 of the most populated U.S. cities.
That said, the U.S. has relatively low homicide numbers from a global perspective. According to a 2024 report, Jamaica has the highest homicide rate of any country, with the U.S. coming in at number 42. Jamaica has an estimated 53.3 homicide rate per 100,000 people, while the U.S. average falls at 6.4, right above the worldwide average of 5.8.
While the United States may not be the most dangerous in terms of overall homicide rates around the world, these are the American cities that have the highest homicide rates. WalletHub based its ranking on total scores. The higher the total score number, the more homicide cases per capita (100,000 people) a city has.
1: Washington, DC
- Total score: 94.81
- Homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023): 12.30
- Change in homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023 vs Q3 2022): 4.54
- Change in homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023 vs Q3 2021): 2.93
2: Memphis, Tennessee
- Total score: 92.44
- Homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023): 13.72
- Change in homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023 vs Q3 2022): 2.21
- Change in homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023 vs Q3 2021): 1.58
3: Detroit, Michigan
- Total score: 72.79
- Homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023): 11.77
- Change in homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023 vs Q3 2022): -2.01
- Change in homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023 vs Q3 2021): -0.46
4: Milwaukee, Wisconsin
- Total score: 68.16
- Homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023): 10.03
- Change in homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023 vs Q3 2022): -0.86
- Change in homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023 vs Q3 2021): -0.52
5: Atlanta, Georgia
- Total score: 66.01
- Homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023): 8.94
- Change in homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023 vs Q3 2022): 1.83
- Change in homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023 vs Q3 2021): -1.42
6: Baltimore, Maryland
- Total score: 62.90
- Homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023): 11.31
- Change in homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023 vs Q3 2022): -1.18
- Change in homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023 vs Q3 2021): -3.88
7: Jacksonville, Florida
- Total score: 57.34
- Homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023): 4.69
- Change in homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023 vs Q3 2022): 1.17
- Change in homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023 vs Q3 2021): 1.39
8: Kansas City, Missouri
- Total score: 55.38
- Homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023): 6.17
- Change in homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023 vs Q3 2022): -1.99
- Change in homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023 vs Q3 2021): 0.60
9: Dallas, Texas
- Total score: 54.48
- Homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023): 5.08
- Change in homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023 vs Q3 2022): 1.08
- Change in homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023 vs Q3 2021): -0.08
10: Seattle, Washington
- Total score: 53.35
- Homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023): 3.44
- Change in homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023 vs Q3 2022): 0.83
- Change in homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023 vs Q3 2021): 1.79
11: Denver, Colorado
- Total score: 51.81
- Homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023): 3.82
- Change in homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023 vs Q3 2022): 2.12
- Change in homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023 vs Q3 2021): 0.00
12: Albuquerque, New Mexico
- Total score: 49.93
- Homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023): 4.98
- Change in homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023 vs Q3 2022): -1.96
- Change in homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023 vs Q3 2021): 0.18
13: Nashville, Tennessee
- Total score: 49.20
- Homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023): 3.81
- Change in homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023 vs Q3 2022): -0.73
- Change in homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023 vs Q3 2021): 0.73
14: New Orleans, Louisiana
- Total score: 47.74
- Homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023): 7.55
- Change in homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023 vs Q3 2022): -3.39
- Change in homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023 vs Q3 2021): -3.13
15: Raleigh, North Carolina
- Total score: 47.56
- Homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023): 3.03
- Change in homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023 vs Q3 2022): -0.22
- Change in homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023 vs Q3 2021): 0.87
16: Richmond, Virginia
- Total score: 46.84
- Homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023): 7.09
- Change in homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023 vs Q3 2022): 0.89
- Change in homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023 vs Q3 2021): -5.32
17: Anchorage, Alaska
- Total score: 46.75
- Homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023): 2.39
- Change in homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023 vs Q3 2022): 1.03
- Change in homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023 vs Q3 2021): 0.68
18: Norfolk, Virginia
- Total score: 46.44
- Homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023): 6.29
- Change in homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023 vs Q3 2022): -1.68
- Change in homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023 vs Q3 2021): -2.93
19: Colorado Springs, Colorado
- Total score: 45.23
- Homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023): 1.89
- Change in homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023 vs Q3 2022): 0.21
- Change in homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023 vs Q3 2021): 1.26
20: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Total score: 44.15
- Homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023): 5.89
- Change in homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023 vs Q3 2022): -2.82
- Change in homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023 vs Q3 2021): -2.57
21: Virginia Beach, Virginia
- Total score: 44.15
- Homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023): 1.53
- Change in homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023 vs Q3 2022): 0.66
- Change in homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023 vs Q3 2021): 1.09
Note: Virginia Beach tied with Philadelphia.
22: Las Vegas, Nevada
- Total score: 43.93
- Homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023): 5.20
- Change in homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023 vs Q3 2022): -0.95
- Change in homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023 vs Q3 2021): -2.84
23: St. Louis, Missouri
- Total score: 43.33
- Homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023): 11.89
- Change in homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023 vs Q3 2022): -10.90
- Change in homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023 vs Q3 2021): -8.59
24: Minneapolis, Minnesota
- Total score: 40.93
- Homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023): 4.47
- Change in homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023 vs Q3 2022): -1.18
- Change in homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023 vs Q3 2021): -2.82
25: Indianapolis, Indiana
- Total score: 40.49
- Homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023): 4.43
- Change in homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023 vs Q3 2022): -1.14
- Change in homicide cases per capita (Q3 2023 vs Q3 2021): -2.95
DC Faces Homicide Spike
Washington, D.C., ranked as the top city in the U.S. for high homicide rates, and data from 2023 shows it’s one of the biggest cities where homicide trends aren’t dropping. New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, and Phoenix all experienced homicide rate declines of more than 10%. In Washington, D.C., though, homicides spiked more than 30% over the same calendar year.
Some reports have noted that Washington, D.C.’s shrinking police force, its split justice system, and the after-effects of the pandemic have led to an increase in homicides there. In 2023, police officers responded to 23% more emergency calls and solved the lowest number of homicides in D.C. in more than 15 years.
Homicides Decline in Milwaukee
Milwaukee may have experienced a dip in homicides from 2022 to 2023, but it still ranked fourth in the nation for big cities with high homicide rates.
In 2022, Milwaukee broke its own homicide record for the third consecutive year, leading politicians and police to come down on violence with community efforts and safety initiatives. One movement sought to keep kids off the streets during the off-school summer season by offering incentives for event participation across the city.
Illinois City Ranked Safest
In 2022, Zionsville, Illinois, ranked as the safest American city to live in with an annual crime rate of about 2.5 crimes per 1,000 residents. The statistic came from FBI crime data.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) National Center for Health Statistics also stated that Boston, Massachusetts, Naples, Florida, and Glen Cove, New York are some of the safest in the U.S.
According to the same report, the murder rate in the U.S. between 2019 and 2020 jumped approximately 30%, which was the biggest increase over one year in more than 100 years. A silver lining? Although violent crime increased by over 10% between 2010 and 2020, property crime in the U.S. decreased by 33% during the same time range.
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