USAFacts’ top 10 articles of 2024

In 2024, Americans came to USAFacts seeking information about safety and homelessness across the US, how many people are immigrating here, the 2024 election, and government spending related to foreign aid and foreign debt.

Here are the 10 most-read articles of the year.

10. How many voters have a party affiliation?

With the presidential election on the horizon, Americans wanted to understand how many voters have a political affiliation. But such a thing isn’t on record nationwide: 32 states and Washington, DC, require party affiliation as part of voter registration.

As of late September, Wyoming had the highest percentage of registered Republican voters (81%), and Washington, DC, had the highest percentage of registered Democrats (76%). Maryland had the highest percentage of registered Democrats of all states (52%).

9. Which cities have the highest murder rates?

Safety in cities was a concern among Americans — and USAFacts readers — in 2024. According to the most recent data, homicide rates are highest in counties home to large cities, where the average homicide rate is 10.5 per 100,000 people. The national average homicide rate is 7.5 per 100,000.

The five cities whose home counties had the highest homicide rates were New Orleans, St. Louis, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Memphis, Tennessee.

The five urban counties with the lowest rates were home to San Jose, California; Irvine, California; Salt Lake City; San Diego; and the borough of Manhattan in New York City.

8. How many Americans voted in 2020?

In addition to voter party affiliation, Americans sought data on historical voting rates. In 2020, the voting rate hit a 30-year high, with over two-thirds of eligible Americans voting in the presidential election, according to the Census Bureau.

Election data from the Census Bureau is typically available in April following the election — 2024 election data is expected in April 2025.

7. Which states rely the most on federal aid?

Americans wanted to understand how much federal budget goes to each state: Federal grants made up a fifth of states’ total revenues in 2021, funding healthcare, education, social services, infrastructure, and public safety programs. That year, state and local governments received nearly $1.3 trillion in federal grants.

Montana led the states with the highest proportion of federal funding to the overall budget at 31.8%, followed by New Mexico (30.7%), Kentucky (30.1%), Louisiana (29.8%), and Alaska (29.0%).

Vermont had the lowest proportion of federal funding at 12.8% of its total budget.

6. How much money has the US given Ukraine since Russia’s invasion?

The Russia-Ukraine war has been ongoing since February 2022. In that time, the United States has allocated $113.4 billion in emergency funding to support Ukraine, American partners affected by the war, and US national security programs.

However, allocated money doesn’t mean spent money. Congress has set aside emergency funding for federal agencies to spend at their discretion and doles it out depending on the needs of Ukraine, US allies, and US weapons supplies.

As of March 2024, the United States has sent Ukraine over $60 billion in funding and equipment through military, economic, and humanitarian aid. Ukraine will have to repay some of these funds after the war, plus interest.

5. Which US cities have the largest homeless populations?

Although it is difficult to know the exact numbers on homelessness, the Department of Housing and Urban Development estimated that 653,104 Americans were experiencing homelessness in January 2023.

The department divides the US into 381 Continuums of Care (CoC), which are responsible for coordinating homelessness services in their area. CoCs can be a single city, a county that’s home to a large city, or a group of rural areas.

Out of the CoCs containing the nation’s 50 largest cities, the largest homeless populations were in those containing New York (88,025) and Los Angeles (71,320).

These are, of course, the nation’s two most populated cities. Homeless people in these cities have different experiences: 27% of LA’s homeless population was sheltered, meaning they were living in an emergency shelter, transitional housing, or a safe haven program. In New York, this figure was 95%. Given that homelessness counts occur during January, cities with colder climates tend to have higher proportions of sheltered people.

4. Which states have the highest murder rates?

Interest in homicide data didn’t end at the city and county levels — in this article, we zoomed out and explored homicide data at the state level.

In the three most recent years of available data — 2020 through 2022 — US homicide rates have been higher than at any other point in the 21st century. They remain below the records of the 1980s and early 1990s.

In 2022, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, New Mexico, and Missouri had the highest homicide rates per 100,00 people. New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Utah, Massachusetts, and Maine had the lowest rates.

3. Statistics on unauthorized US immigration and border crossings by year

As presidential candidates outlined different approaches for immigration and border security and as immigration rates return to pre-pandemic levels, readers sought context on immigration from the Southern border.

Between October 2019 and June 2024, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reported just under 11 million border encounters nationwide. That’s roughly equivalent to the current population of North Carolina, the ninth most populous state.

While there isn’t any definitive data on unauthorized immigrant numbers — there’s no way to know how many people entered the US without encountering someone from CPB — border encounter numbers serve as a helpful, if imperfect, proxy.

2. Which countries own the most US debt?

With the federal budget under scrutiny, Americans wanted to better understand the country’s debt.

The US government owes trillions of dollars in debt to foreign entities, including governments, central banks, companies, and individual investors. This debt includes Treasury bonds, or “Treasurys,” which foreign nations buy because they are considered safe investments.

As of April 2024, foreign countries owned approximately $7.9 trillion, or 22.9%, of total US debt. Over the past 20 years, Japan and China have owned more Treasurys than any other foreign nation.

1. What are the current swing states, and how have they changed over time?

In an election year, it’s no surprise that Americans wanted data on which states have “swung” in the past or were likely to “swing” this year.

Swing states, also known as battleground states, are states that could swing to either Democratic or Republican candidates depending on the election. Because of their potential to go either “blue” or “red,” political parties often spend a disproportionate amount of time and campaign resources on winning these states.

Swing states are characterized by having small vote margins and different political parties that win over time. In 2020, seven states were won by a margin of three percentage points or less: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

Thank you for letting us be your source for government data, without the rhetoric, in 2024. For continued information on immigration, the economy, healthcare, and much more, sign up for our weekly newsletter.