The national homicide death rate fell by 7.8% from 2022 to 2023, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The age-adjusted homicide rate had reached a 21st-century peak in 2021, rising by 36.7% between 2019 and 2021.
Since then, the rate has declined by 13.4%, dropping from 8.2 deaths per 100,000 people in 2021 to 7.1 deaths in 2023.
The homicide rate fell from 2022 to 2023 but remains 39% above its 2014 low.
Age-adjusted homicide death rate per 100,000 people
Calculating homicide rates per 100,000 people makes it possible to compare the number of incidents across cities and states regardless of population sizes. The CDC also provides age-adjusted data which allows for a better picture of comparisons between different demographics and over time.
Our government is complex. Our data doesn’t have to be.
Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get data-backed answers to today’s most debated issues
Homicide rates by state
In 2023, 27 states had homicide rates less than half the national average, while four of the top five states exceeded twice the national rate. (Data was unreliable in Wyoming.)
Which states have the highest murder rates?
These five states had 2023’s highest homicide rates:
- Mississippi
- Louisiana
- Alabama
- New Mexico
- Tennessee
According to preliminary data from the CDC, gun-related deaths were 2% lower in August 2024 than they were in July 2024.
Which states have the lowest murder rates?
These five states had 2023’s lowest homicide rates:
- New Hampshire
- Utah
- Rhode Island
- Massachusetts
- Idaho
Here are the 2023 homicide rates for every state:
Mississippi has the highest homicide rate, while New Hampshire has the lowest.
Age-adjusted homicide death rate and total homicides by state, 2023
Although Washington, DC, had a higher age-adjusted homicide rate (33.1 homicide deaths per 100,000 people) than every state, the national capital is entirely urban, and it’s more appropriate to compare it to counties in major metropolitan areas. Among those, Washington, DC, had the fifth-highest crude homicide death rate (not age-adjusted) in 2023. The large metropolitan counties with the highest rates were:
Orleans Parish (home to New Orleans) has the highest crude homicide rate of large metro counties.
Crude homicide death rate and total homicides by large metropolitan county, 2023
How has the murder rate changed over time?
The age-adjusted national homicide rate largely decreased through the 1990s and 2000s, dropping 48.5% from 1991 to a recent low of 5.1 in 2014. Since then, it has risen nearly 40%.
In 2020, the US recorded its biggest single-year increase in the homicide rate since record collecting began, jumping from 6.0 in 2019 to 7.8 in 2020. The previous record annual increase was a 20 percent increase between 2000 (5.9) to 2001 (7.1), which the CDC attributes to the September 11 terrorist attacks.
Which states have had the largest change?
From 2013 to 2023, homicide rates increased in 44 of the 47 states with available data.
Mississippi had the largest increase in homicide rate, nearly doubling, from 10 homicides per 100,000 people to 19.4. New Mexico (up 8.0 homicides), Louisiana (up 7.1), Alabama (up 5.9), and Tennessee (up 5.1) had the next biggest increases.
Murder rates doubled in two states (New Mexico and Oregon) and rose over 50% in 21 more.
Homicide rates increased in 44 of 47 states with available data from 2013 to 2023.
Change in homicide rates per 100,000 people, by state
How different government agencies report on homicide
The CDC and FBI are the federal government’s two main homicide data sources. The agencies have slightly different definitions of homicide and different methodologies for collecting and analyzing their data.
The CDC reports on homicide as a cause of death, allowing comparisons among mortality rates, while the FBI reports on homicide in its crime data, allowing comparisons among crime rates.
USAFacts relies on CDC data because of its more complete dataset and consistency over time. The CDC collects homicide data from standardized death certificates, which contain medical information typically entered by coroners or medical examiners. The FBI, meanwhile, relies on local law enforcement agencies voluntarily reporting crime data, which many do not. Still, deaths could be miscounted by either agency as homicides (or not) based on limited detail on the circumstances.
Read more about which cities have the highest murder rates, and get an array of government facts every week by signing up for our newsletter.
Keep exploring
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.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
WONDER
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Health Data Finder
