There were 22,380 homicides in the US in 2023 — an average of 6.8 deaths per 100,000 people (the homicide rate). Over half (53.7%) occurred in major metropolitan areas with populations over 1 million.

While the national homicide rate has decreased (-9.1%) since 2022, many counties and metro areas have seen numbers climb. Notably, Washington, DC (District of Columbia) has experienced a 42.4% increase in its homicide rate since last year.

Why are we talking about counties?

The most geographically granular homicide data published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is county-level, which means that we have to approximate city homicide numbers from county data. Some counties map to a single city; their data is the most straightforward. Others contain multiple cities or a broader metropolitan area. This data is less exact, but still instructive.

Which counties have cities with the most homicides?

Cook County, the largest county in the Chicago metropolitan area, had 805 homicides — the most in the nation. The second highest total was Los Angeles County in the Los Angeles, California metro area, with 659 homicides.

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Which large cities have the highest homicide rates?

The top five homicide rates among large population centers — those with more than a million residents — were the cities of:

  1. Memphis, Tennessee (Shelby County)
  2. St. Louis, Missouri (St. Louis city)
  3. Baltimore, Maryland (Baltimore city)
  4. Washington, DC, (District of Columbia, DC)
  5. Birmingham, Alabama (Jefferson County).

In large, urban municipalities with 20 or fewer reported murders, the rates are considered unreliable. In 2023, this applied to 45 counties nationwide.

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How many homicides did the US have in 2023?

Which smaller cities have the highest homicide rates?

Some less-populated urban counties also have higher-than-average homicide rates, particularly in the Southeast. The five cities with the highest rates were:

  1. Jackson, Mississippi (Hinds County)
  2. New Orleans, Louisiana (Orleans Parish)
  3. Little Rock, Arkansas (Pulaski County)
  4. Baton Rouge, Louisiana (East Baton Rouge Parish)
  5. August, Georgia (Richmond County

Which cities have rising murder rates?

From 2018 to 2023, murder rates rose in 71 of the 97 metro area counties with reliable data.

The biggest change was in Shelby County, Tennessee, home to Memphis, where the homicide rate grew by 16.6 homicides per 100,000,. Rates grew by more than 10 homicides per 100,000 in both Washington, DC, and St. Clair County, Illinois, part of the St. Louis metro area.

Murder rates didn’t rise in every county — they remained stable in four counties, and fell in 22. Baltimore city, Maryland (-6.9 homicides per 100,000 people); St. Louis city, Missouri (-6.3) and Essex County, New Jersey in the New York metro area (-4.9) were the most improved.

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Page sources and methodology

All of the data on the page was sourced directly from government agencies. The analysis and final review was performed by USAFacts.

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