How many murders are there in the us each year

With the largest population, California also recorded the largest number of homicides in 2020, at 2,203 for the year. Texas had the second-highest number of murders, with 1,931 for the year. These high numbers are likely a result of population though, as both states had a murder rate per 100,000 residents below the national average.

Homicide victim demographics

There was a total of 21,570 reported homicide cases in the U.S. in 2020. When looking at murder victims by gender and ethnicity, the vast majority were male, while just over half of victims were African American. Geographically the rate of murders varied significantly between states. Louisiana was the most dangerous state with 15.8 murders per 100,000 residents, while New Hampshire was the safest with a murder rate of 0.9 per 100,000 population.

Are murders up?

In short, no – since the 1990s the number of murders in the U.S. has decreased significantly. In 1990, the murder rate per 100,000 people stood at 9.4; and stood at 6.5 in 2020. It should be noted though that number of homicides increased slightly from 2014 to 2017, although figures declined again in 2018 and 2019, before ticking up again in 2020. Despite this decline, when viewed in international comparison the U.S. murder rate is still notably high. For example, the Canadian homicide rate stood at 1.8 in 2019, while the homicide rate in England and Wales was even lower at 1.22 per 100,000 residents.


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Total number of homicides in the United States in 2020, by state

table column chart
CharacteristicNumber of murder victims

California	2,203
Texas	1,931
Florida	1,290
Illinois	1,151
Pennsylvania	1,009
Georgia	943
North Carolina	852
Ohio	820
New York	808
Michigan	754
Louisiana	734
Missouri	723
Tennessee	663
Maryland	553
South Carolina	549
Virginia	524
Arizona	513
Indiana	505
Alabama	471
New Jersey	329
Kentucky	323
Arkansas	321
Mississippi	315
Wisconsin	308
Washington	301
Oklahoma	296
Colorado	294
District of Columbia	201
Minnesota	190
Nevada	180
New Mexico	164
Massachusetts	160
Connecticut	140
Oregon	125
West Virginia	117
Iowa	111
Utah	102
Kansas	100
Delaware	73
Nebraska	69
Montana	54
Alaska	49
Idaho	41
Hawaii	41
South Dakota	40
North Dakota	32
Rhode Island	32
Maine	22
Wyoming	18
Vermont	14
New Hampshire	12

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