We made a list of 30 US cities with highest homicide rates in 2024, keeping a variety of information in mind. The national murder rate has gone down since the early 1990s, when it was 9.9 per 100,000 people. It is now 7.8 per 100,000 people, but the real question is what city has the most homicides this year? Mississippi has the biggest rise in murders, from 9 per 100,000 people in 2005 to 23.7 per 100,000 people in 2021. The next states with the biggest jumps were Louisiana, New Mexico, Alabama, and Illinois. Take a look at US cities with highest homicide rates in 2024 list to see which of their cities are on it.
If we look at the US cities with highest homicide rates in 2024 map, we’ll see those five states—New Jersey, California, Massachusetts, Arizona, and Idaho—saw small drops, with fewer than one murder per 100,000 people. The US murder rate rose from 6.0 in 2019 to 7.8 in 2020, which was the biggest single year rise in modern history. The previous highest annual rise was 20% from 2000 to 2001, from 5.9% to 6.9%. The CDC says this was because of the September 11 terrorist strikes. When compiling the list of US cities with highest homicide rates in 2024, we considered the opinion of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). According to them, the age-adjusted national homicide death rate rose 30% in 2020, which was a new high. It then rose another 5% in 2021. With 8.2 deaths per 100,000 people, the murder rate in 2021 was 55% higher than it had been ten years before. Even so, the murder rate in the US is still lower than it was at its highest point in the 1970s and early 1990s.
As the country moves farther away from the peak of the pandemic, as our list of the US cities with highest homicide rates in 2024 shows, crime rates are mostly back to what they were before COVID. The same trend we saw when creating the list of the 35 most dangerous cities in the world. When we calculated the most murders by city USA, we saw that there have been drops in homicides in the study cities and many other places, which is a good sign. However, the progress is not uniform, and US cities have among the highest homicide rates in the world. Also, there are other ways to get information about crime, such as household surveys of violent victims. Reports to law enforcement agencies should show higher rates and more noticeable changes. There were about 20,000 deaths from intentional violence last year, which is still too many. This is true even in places where the murder rate has gone back to what it was before 2020. Other trends, like carjacking and theft of motor vehicles, also need a lot of attention.
Motor vehicle theft is an example of a “keystone” crime because stolen cars are often used to commit robberies, drive-by shootings, and other violent crimes. Because of these reasons and to get long-term drops in crime, towns, businesses, and the federal, state, and local governments must all put money into crime prevention programs that are based on facts. In the 32 study cities that provided homicide statistics, there were 515 fewer murders in 2023 than in 2022. This is a 10% drop.
The CDC and FBI are the two main places where the federal government gets information on murders. The two agencies use slightly different definitions of homicide and different ways to gather and look at their statistics. In the past, their yearly numbers and trends have been similar.
The FBI includes homicide in its crime records, which lets you compare crime rates and helped in creating the list of the US cities with highest homicide rates in 2024. The CDC includes homicide as a cause of death, which lets you compare death rates.
USAFacts uses CDC data because it is more detailed and stays the same over time. The CDC gets information about murders from standard death certificates, which have medical information that is usually filled out by coroners or medical investigators.
The FBI, on the other hand, depends on local police forces reporting crime information on their own, which many do not do. The FBI also changed the way it collects data in 2021, so you can’t directly compare murder data from 2021 to data from before 2020. Due to low response rates, many police departments have not sent in crime data under the new system. This makes the FBI’s predictions for 2021 inaccurate.
We made a list of the 30 US cities with highest homicide rates in 2024 by comparing old and new lists of the places with the highest murder rates and crime rates. One of them is the old list, El Consejo Ciudadano para la Seguridad Pública y la Justicia Penal, a group from Mexico City that works to improve public safety and criminal justice. The second list, based on CT YE 2023 Annual Graphs_CCJ and annual rates for 2023, was more accurate than the first one, though, so we compared the results with it, too. Lastly, we used statistics from AHD Data Analytics to find the exact difference between the number of murders this year and last year. The number of killings in 2024, though, only shows the number of murders for three or four months. This is not the complete picture we need. To avoid confusion, we used facts and lists from the past. Since the murder rate for a year isn’t always accurate because people, gangs, and terrorists can change how they act, we compared it to lists from previous year. However, some places have been at the top of lists for years and they are still there this year. The top five cities with the highest murder rates in the US over the past ten years show up on more than one list. This is what our list of US cities with highest homicide rates looks like.
30. Arlington
Between 2018 and 2022, just 3.8 out of every 100,000 Arlington County people died because of homicide or a land transport incident, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. It is also among the highest gun violence by city USA. This is a lower death rate than any other county in the country with a population of at least 100,000. Arlington stands noteworthy for its minimal traffic deaths, so we put it at the bottom of the list of the US cities with highest homicide rates in 2024. Between 2018 and 2022, the county had the lowest proportion of vehicular deaths, with 2.7 per 100,000. The second-lowest county was Manhattan, with 3.2 deaths.
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.
28. Syracuse
The lowest number of murders in Syracuse in ten years happened in 2022, but numbers after that put this city on the list of the US cities with highest homicide rates in 2024. Only 18 people died in Syracuse in 2022. With 32 murders, 2021 was one of the darkest years in city history. This is a huge drop from that year. This year, at least 31 children in Syracuse lost their parents to murder.
The Community Violence Intervention (CVI) plan began as a trial program in 2023. It worked with fifty people who were seen by both the staff of the community gun violence intervention program and the police as the main causes of gun violence in Syracuse. This is about 4% of all the people in Syracuse who are involved with gangs. The Mayor’s Office to Reduce Gun Violence was able to try and improve current methods and bring new national strategies to our community through a pilot program. In 2023, there were four more murders than in 2022, but there is reason to be hopeful when killings happen in small groups.
According to the Syracuse Police Department, the number of killings that hurt or killed people dropped by 36% between 2022 and 2023. The chair of the Syracuse Common Council’s Public Safety Committee, Chol Majok, thinks that actions taken by regular people are beginning to have an effect.
27. Boston
In 2023, Boston’s death rate was the lowest it had ever been, but we have a reason to consider Boston when creating a list of the US cities with highest homicide rates in 2024. As of now, 24 of the 37 murders reported to the Suffolk District Attorney’s office have led to arrests. The number of killings has gone down from 40 in 2022. Along with that, the DA’s office said that the number of killings in the city dropped by 20% from 2022 to 2023, from 180 to 144. Sixty-seven percent of the cases (24 cases) led to arrests. In 2023, Boston’s murder rate was lower than that of many other places with similar populations, such as Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Detroit, San Francisco, and Memphis.
26. Colorado Springs
In 2022, Colorado Springs saw a record 57 homicides, more than any year since 1985, which placed it on the list of US cities with the highest numbers of homicides 2023. That amount, 34, places 2023 among the top five years for homicides, but it also reflects a downward trend in murders, both locally and nationally, following a rise that experts attribute to the epidemic. Last year, 20 of the 34 homicides killed men under the age of 35.
Other Colorado communities recorded fewer or similar numbers of homicides in 2023, according to preliminary data. Aurora reported 43 homicides, a decrease from 53 in 2022. Denver was stable but fell somewhat, with 84 homicides in 2023 compared to 88 in 2022. Pueblo had 27 in 2023, and 28 in 2022.
25. Chandler
With a noteworthy 18% decline in major crimes from the previous year and the lowest crime index (number of crimes) in over 40 years,. In a historic achievement for the Chandler Police Department, 2023 has the lowest recorded major crime rate on record. This is a significant victory for public safety and the well-being of our citizens. According to the statistics, just one category increased: criminal homicide. That increased from 5 in 2022 to 8 in 2023, so it deserves a place on the list of the US cities with highest homicide rates in 2024.
24. Charlotte
Charlotte is one of only a handful of large cities in the United States where homicides are increasing rather than decreasing this year. The prevalence of gun violence, particularly among teenagers, may be indicative of Charlotte’s ongoing upward mobility issues. According to AH Datalytics, a criminal justice analytics group, killings in Charlotte have increased by more than 40% so far in 2024 as of April 20 compared to the same period last year. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department recorded 34 homicides in the first three months of 2024, up 31% over the same period in 2023. There were 26 killings during that time last year. According to AH Datalytics, the amount has since increased to 40.
23. Raleigh
Raleigh is on the list of US cities with highest homicide rates in 2024, according to recent WalletHub research. These rankings position the City of Oaks’ homicide concerns above those of other notoriously crime-ridden towns such as Philadelphia, Chicago, and Los Angeles, putting Raleigh’s crime issues in good company. More specifically, during Q3 2023, Raleigh had a per capita homicide rate of 3.03, which means that there were 3.03 homicides per 100,000 people. Raleigh’s homicide rate was 0.22 lower than in Q3 2022, but it was still 0.87 higher than in Q3 2021, indicating that Raleigh had the 7th worst change in homicide instances during that time. This ranking appears to indicate Raleigh’s lack of progress in policing and crime prevention over the last few years, putting into question many of the city’s current responses to the issue.
22. Denver
Denver homicides are down in the recent 30 days compared to the previous 30 days, and down since the beginning of the year when compared to the same time last year. It has had 23 homicides reported this year, for an average of 5.4 per month / 0.2 per day. Denver averaged 6.0 per month in 2023, and 6.4 per month the previous year (2022). East Colfax had the most homicides of any Denver neighborhood in 2024, with two. This year’s average number of homicides per neighborhood is 0.29. In 2024, Denver’s homicide rate will be 0.1 offenses per 1,000 residents.
21. Austin
According to data from the Austin Police Department (APD), 11 homicides have occurred this year, with 15 homicides expected by the end of February 2023. Austin’s crime rate has fallen for the first time in four years. According to the statistics, there were 14 reported homicides, 51 kidnappings and abductions, and 56 rapes between January and March of this year. In comparison, in 2023, Austin had 23 homicides, 52 kidnappings, and 79 recorded rapes. All this puts Austin on the list of US cities with highest homicide rates in 2024.
According to statistics from the newly constructed Austin Police Department Open Policing Data Release website, crime in the city decreased in the first quarter compared to the same time in 2023, 2022, and 2021.
20. Seattle
According to AH Datalytics, a criminal justice consulting organization, the number of homicides in Seattle decreased by 36% in the first three months of 2024, to nine, compared to 14 in the same period in 2023.
Detective Brian Pritchard, a spokesperson for the Seattle Police Department, told Axios that as of April 9, the city had 12 homicides, compared to 19 in the same period in 2023. Pritchard claimed there were 73 killings in 2023. The SPD crime dashboard reported 36 homicides in 2019 and 53 in 2020.
19. Atlanta
Atlanta is a thriving metropolis noted for its rich history, cultural diversity, and economic opportunity. However, as in many other big American cities, crime is a difficult issue, and Atlanta is on the list of the US cities with highest homicide rates in 2024. Many diverse, multidimensional aspects influence the city’s criminal landscape and the Atlanta crime rate. For many years, crime rates in Atlanta have been a major source of concern. The city had a violent crime rate of 55.6 per 10,000 people in 2023. This was a significant decrease from previous years, indicating that safety in most Atlanta communities is improving. However, the property crime rate was 392.1 per 10,000 people that same year, representing a little increase over 2021 and 2022.
18. Detroit
Detroit completed 2023 with 252 homicides, the fewest since 1966. According to a combination of municipal, state, and federal partners, nonfatal gunshots in the city have decreased by 16% and carjackings by 34%. That homicide number is an 18% decrease from last year, when the city recorded 309 homicides. That is 57 fewer Detroiters slain, but it still should be on the list of the US cities with highest homicide rates in 2024. The Detroit Police contract, signed in November 2022, provided officers with a $10,000 raise, allowing DPD to employ 200 more officers on the streets in 2023. The enhanced police resources were employed in a targeted strategy to minimize gun violence in 2023, utilizing several tactics.
17. Omaha
Shootings in Omaha have declined by 74% in the last 15 years, while the Omaha Police Department estimates that officer-involved shootings have decreased by 90% in the last decade. In July 2007, Omaha experienced its highest level of gun violence, with 31 shootings over 31 days. Following that awful month, community leaders and Omaha officials took the initiative and began working to build a new approach to the issue.
The 40-year low was reached in 2018, with 22 homicides, then rising to 37 homicides at the start of the epidemic in 2020, and now falling to 27 so far in 2023. Organizations such as Omaha 360 and the Nebraska Collaborative for Violence Intervention and Prevention were founded with the purpose of uniting the community around collaboration, prevention, and intervention.
16. Buffalo
Between 2006 and 2023, the overall number of Part I offenses (homicide, rape, robbery, and violent assault) decreased by 33%. From 2006 to 2023, the City of Buffalo saw 948 homicides, with an average of 53 each year. In 2023, the City of Buffalo recorded 38 homicides, which puts it on the list of US cities with highest homicide rates in 2024. The monthly data demonstrate a significant decrease in the height of those peaks in criminal activity from 2006 to the present. For example, in July 2014, there were 268 burglaries; in July 2023, there were 133 burglaries, a 50% decrease.
15. San Francisco
San Francisco had nine reported killings in the first three months of 2024, compared to 13 in the same period in 2023, according to AH Datalytics, a criminal justice consulting business. That is a 31% drop. San Francisco had 54 reported killings in 2023. According to AH Datalytics, homicide rates in 204 cities fell by about 20% in the first three months of 2024 compared to the same period last year. These initiatives are the result of the work of local law enforcement, including the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD), the San Francisco Sheriff’s Office, and their state and federal counterparts at the California Highway Patrol, California National Guard, and the Drug Enforcement Agency. The San Francisco District Attorney’s Office and the United States Attorney’s Office continue to pursue drug-related prosecutions aggressively.
14. Washington, D.C.
Robberies, carjackings, and killings have become the unfortunate standard in recent years in Washington, D.C., a city that reached a gloomy milestone in 2023, posting its bloodiest year since the late 1990s and ranking fifth among cities with the highest crime rates. However, early reports indicate that the area may be on the path to redemption, with a steady decline in violent crime and homicides in the early months of 2024. According to Metropolitan Police Department figures, homicides have decreased by 33% since 2023, with only 28 people killed so far this year. In January and February 2023, there were 36 homicides. Promising changes, but it still should be on the list of the US cities with highest homicide rates in 2024.
In January and February, violent crime declined 10%, and property crime fell 11% compared to the same period the previous year. Violent crime has also dropped by 12%.
While figures show that motor vehicle theft is down 33%, carjackings, particularly on famous politicians, have persisted, with former Trump aide Mike Gill being shot and murdered during a carjacking spree last month while picking up his wife in downtown D.C.
13. Dallas
2023 saw more murders than 2022, and 2024 is already off to a deadly start in Dallas, which is why we placed it on the list of the US cities with highest homicide rates in 2024. Police and community organizations are working together to prevent crime. Dallas saw 32 more homicides in 2023 than in 2022, representing an almost 14% increase. 70% of the murder victims were involved in criminal or high-risk conduct. Even 60% of the murders occurred within apartment complexes or households. The crime plan will not address problems overnight, but they feel it is effective. In 2023, aggravated assaults fell by over 18%, robberies by nearly 8%, and total violent crime by nearly 14%.
12. Rochester
According to the Rochester Police Department’s open data portal, there were 85 homicides in 2021 and 58 in 2023. Overall, as of the end of January, violent crime in Dallas had decreased by over 30% from the previous year. The cutbacks came after the city struggled to reduce its murder rate. However, the beginning of 2024 has been different. The city’s murder rate has dropped by approximately 17%, and several categories of violent crime have seen much greater drops. Although the average crime rate has decreased, Dallas officials believe there is one outlier. Business robberies have surged by more than 60% over the last year, but Rochester will be on the list of the US cities with highest homicide rates in 2024.
11. Nashville
Rape and vehicle thefts are up in Nashville a month and a half into 2024, but homicides and robberies are decreasing, according to Metro Nashville Police Department crime statistics. According to MNPD’s year-to-date research, rape and auto thefts are up around 25% and 123% since 2023 (Jan. 1 through Feb. 3), respectively. Meanwhile, homicides are down 70.6%, as are robberies, which are down by roughly 25%. Five killings occurred between January 1 and February 3, 2024, compared to 17 over the same period last year. When it comes to rape, the statistics reveal 54 cases registered in that era, up from 43 in 2023. The data also shows that more than 650 automobiles have been stolen so far in 2024, up from over 300 in the same period last year. Overall, violent crimes are down about 13% so far this year. However, we have considered overall numbers when putting it on the list of the US cities with highest homicide rates in 2024.
10. Minneapolis
Minneapolis concluded 2023 with 86 murders and one justified homicide, the latter of which is not a crime. In 2022, Minneapolis had 83 murders, including three justified homicides, the latter of which is not a crime. According to the commonly accepted definition of murder, homicides increased in Minneapolis in 2023 (86 to 83), but remained below the three-year, post-Covid/George Floyd norm. Murders in Minneapolis in the 2020s are about double those in the late 2010s. However, a strange anomaly emerges in the city’s historical crime database, known as the Legacy Crime Dashboard. The dashboard reports 86 killings in 2022 and 74 in 2023.
9. Petersburg
Petersburg was the most murder-prone locality in Virginia in terms of killings per 100,000 people, according to preliminary, unpublished data released to the Richmond Times-Dispatch by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for Virginia. The city outperformed even Richmond, which was fourth in the state with 24.7 killings per 100,000 people. Petersburg has been continuously placed among the top three cities in terms of per capita killings since at least 2013, according to medical examiner data. In three of the last six years, the city has been rated #1. During that time, the city was the site of 77 homicides.
In contrast, nearby Chesterfield County, which has ten times the population, had five homicides last year, with a per capita homicide rate of 1.5 kills per 100,000 people, according to the medical examiner. The county scored 74th out of 82 places with at least one killing and the spot on the list of the US cities with highest homicide rates in 2024.
8. Little Rock
According to preliminary data, violent crime in Little Rock fell 1% in 2023 compared to 2022 but increased 6% over the previous five years. The LRPD reports that 63 homicides in 2023 are down nearly a quarter from 2022. However, keep in mind that 2022 was Little Rock’s bloodiest year on record, with 81 killings. According to LRPD data, the yearly homicide rate in Little Rock has been around 50 during the last decade. The total of 63 reported in 2023 is nearly quadruple that in 2013. The 12th Street Division handled 28 of the 63 homicides in Little Rock in 2023, two of which were officer-involved shootings and will most likely be removed later. Southwest Little Rock had the next highest count at 23, with 12 homicides, followed by the Northwest Division with 12.
7. Chattanooga
Chattanooga, Tennessee’s crime rate in 2022 will be 574, 2.3 times higher than the national average. It was higher than in 98.1% of US cities. The crime rate in Chattanooga declined by 12% between 2021 and 2022. Homicides were 24, a decrease of 11 from 2021. In the last five years, Chattanooga has seen an increase in violent crime while dropping in property crime. Memphis had 398 homicides at the end of 2023, which was close to 400, and the numbers of homicides and murders are already outpacing last year’s numbers. According to Memphis Police Department records, 25 homicides have occurred in the first 28 days of 2024. This time last year, MPD reported 21 homicides. All saying that we should expect that Chattanooga will be one of the US cities with highest homicide rates in 2024.
6. Baltimore
Baltimore City is one of the cities with most murders US with 16 homicides and 31 non-fatal shootings in March 2024. Following the unprecedented decline in 2023, the first month of 2024 saw a continued lower trend in killings and non-fatal shootings across the city. Baltimore Witness data from Baltimore Police Department (BPD) public releases reported a total of 16 killings and 27 non-fatal shootings for the month, down from 26 homicides and 43 non-fatal shootings in January 2023 – a 38% and 37% decrease, respectively.
Two-thirds of Baltimore’s nine police districts experienced fewer homicides in January than the previous year. The Northeast District similarly concluded January 2024 with the same amount as January 2023: zero. The Southeast District also had no homicides this month, compared to two over the same period last year.
Only the Northwest District saw an increase in homicides, with four compared to three in January 2023. All four murders occurred on the same block: the 5200 block of Fairlawn Avenue.
5. St. Louis
The data shows a 21% decrease in killings between 2022 and last year, a 24% decrease in shooting events, and a 23% decrease in shooting victims, who totaled 631 in 2023 versus 821 in 2022. According to Mayor Tishaura Jones and St. Louis Metropolitan Police Chief Robert Tracy, this figure is among the “significant improvements” made in public safety last year. Since last year, regional political leaders, police chiefs, and others have gathered to create the framework for a plan that they claim will result in at least a 10% drop in homicides and shootings each year. However, it will still be one of the US cities with highest homicide rates in 2024.
4. Philadelphia
To date, 92 homicides have occurred in 2024, representing a 35% drop from 2023. As of September 9, 2024, there were 79 deadly and 273 nonfatal gunshot victims. Pastor Carl Day of Culture Changing Christians considers it part of his life’s mission to help put an end to violence in Philadelphia. “Beat the Block,” Pastor Day’s transformative training program in the city’s Kensington neighborhood, hires 40 men aged 18 to 25 and pays them $2,000 per month for four months to get professional and personal development training. Pastor Day told NBC10 that the work his organization conducts is part of the community-based efforts that are helping to lower Philadelphia’s homicide rate. He also recognized that additional work will be required when the weather warms. Police have previously reported an increase in violence in Philadelphia over the summer months, but it is still one of the most crime ridden cities in America.
3. Los Angeles
A 24% decrease in homicides by the end of 2023, including those related to gang violence, demonstrates a hopeful move toward reducing violent crime, with numbers falling to a two-year low of 145 in the first half from a startling 402 murders in 2021. However, there is a reason why Los Angeles will be at the top of the list of US cities with highest homicide rates in 2024. The landscape of lawlessness witnessed a jump in property crimes, with a noteworthy increase in’smash and grab’ instances, mirroring a concerning trend hurting the city’s sense of safety.
In comparison to locations such as San Diego, the rise in car parts burglary and crime in Los Angeles, with a concerning 6,970 occurrences documented in 2022, frequently involving gang members, indicates a distinct difficulty. A stunning 48% drop in murders from July 1 to August 31 signaled a break in violent crimes, marking the lowest figures since 2019 and portraying a picture of a fast-changing criminal scenario during this era.
2. Memphis
Between 2023 and 2024, aggravated assault and robbery each showed a decline of approximately 100 incidents YTD. Car thefts witnessed the greatest decline, with nearly 1,100 fewer cases in 2024. On the other side, Memphis’ murder rate continues to rise, reaching 55 in 2024, so it deserves to be on the list of the US cities with highest homicide rates in 2024. These figures may appear to be overpowering, but they are comparable to those of other major cities. According to Safe Home’s 2024 Crime Rates in US Cities Report, Memphis currently has 43 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants, surpassing Baltimore, and Detroit. According to police records, the number of women killed in Memphis has more than doubled since this time last year. According to the most recent Memphis Police figures, 80 killings have occurred thus far in 2024. Of these, 15 were women. During the same period in 2023, there were 77 homicides, with only seven women. Advocates describe the figures as frightening, and Memphis is also one of the 30 most dangerous cities in US.
1. Chicago
Following a two-year increase during the pandemic and a worldwide uproar over police accountability, Chicago’s homicide rate began to fall in 2022. Homicide and nonfatal gunshot rates declined again in 2023, but the city was roiled by robbery and carjacking gangs, which contributed to an overall increase in violence. Through the first month of 2024, both gunshots and homicides in Chicago have decreased by at least 25%. According to the Chicago Police Department and US murders per capita, there were 31 killings in the first month of 2024. That’s the fewest homicides in January since 2019 (23), and the third fewest since 2015. In January 2024, the number of homicides is 26% lower than the same month the previous year. The number of shootings (124) and victims (136) are also down 25% and 27%, respectively. These numbers put Chicago at the top of the list of 30 US cities with highest homicide rates in 2024.
Check read our other articles to learn more about this topic:
30 U.S. Cities with the Highest Murders in 2023