New FBI Data Is In: Murder Rates in U.S. Cities, Ranked

The U.S. murder rate is often regarded as one of our country’s vital signs: Are Americans more or less safe than last year, when it comes to their odds of meeting a violent end? But misinformation abounds. Is the murder rate really “the highest it’s been in 45 years,” as claimed by then-presidential candidate Donald Trump? (No.) Is Chicago America’s murder capital? (Also no.) Because the vast majority of American homicides are committed with guns, both the national murder rate and the more relevant citywide and neighborhood murder rates — about which, more below — frequently figure into our reporting at The Trace. In this guide, we’ve collected the most up-to-date statistics on murders in America, as well as the critical context that often gets missed. The long-term trend is clear: America is a much less murderous place than it once was. But it didn’t seem that way in 2020, when a wave of gun violence began in tandem with the coronavirus pandemic. Cities across the United States reported a rise in murders last year, and newly released FBI data has clarified the national picture: the murder rate rose by 29 percent in 2020, the largest relative increase since national data collection began in 1960. It now stands at 6.4 murders per 100,000 people, the highest rate since 1998.

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