29. Phoenix
Although it is not one of the top 25 worst cities in America, city of Phoenix has had more killings between 2020 and 2022. That much is clear. There has been an increase across the country since the COVID-19 outbreak started. Are there any plans to stop the killings right now?
Phoenix’s murder rate is down more than 13% since last year, though. During the first half of 2023, there were 98 murders, down from 113 during the same time in 2022. Eighty-two percent of the cases in 2023 involved a gun.
The rate of clearance is 96.6% through the first half of 2023. To meet UCR reporting standards, this clearance rate includes clearances of murders from past years that were not recorded before. If you don’t count the clearances from last year, the clearance rate for this year is 81.6%. So, there is a good reason to put Phoenix on the list of US cities with highest homicide rates in 2024.
