Cities with a murder rate ≥9 and > 250,000 population
| City | Pop | Murder and non-negligent man-slaughter | Av. rate/
100,000 |
2001 | 2002 | 2003 |
1 | New Orleans | 475,128 | 213 | 258 | 274 | 52.3 |
2 | Washington, D.C. | 563,384 | 231 | 264 | 247 | 43.9 |
3 | Detroit | 927,766 | 395 | 402 | 366 | 41.8 |
4 | Baltimore | 671,028 | 256 | 253 | 271 | 38.7 |
5 | Atlanta | 435,494 | 143 | 152 | 149 | 34.0 |
6 | St. Louis | 340,256 | 148 | 111 | 73 | 32.5 |
7 | Birmingham | 244,972 | 73 | 65 | 85 | 30.3 |
8 | Newark, NJ | 279,269 | 90 | 65 | 81 | 28.2 |
9 | Oakland, CA | 414,161 | 84 | 108 | 114 | 24.6 |
10 | Memphis | 650,100 | 159 | 151 | 126 | 22.4 |
11 | Chicago | 2,898,374 | 666 | 648 | 599 | 22.0 |
12 | Philadelphia | 1,524,226 | 309 | 288 | 347 | 20.6 |
13 | Kansas City | 441,545 | 103 | 83 | 82 | 20.2 |
14 | Milwaukee | 597,000 | 127 | 118 | 109 | 19.8 |
15 | Cincinnati | 324,297 | 55 | 64 | 71 | 19.5 |
16 | Buffalo | 288,187 | | 43 | 63 | 18.4 |
17 | Miami | 379,044 | 66 | 65 | 74 | 18.0 |
18 | Dallas | 1,241,481 | 240 | 196 | 235 | 18.0 |
19 | Pittsburgh | 335,302 | 55 | 47 | 67 | 16.8 |
20 | Cleveland | 468,446 | 77 | 80 | 73 | 16.4 |
21 | Los Angeles | 3,838,838 | 588 | 654 | 505 | 15.2 |
22 | Phoenix | 1,404,938 | 209 | 177 | 247 | 15.0 |
23 | Norfolk | 242,077 | 30 | 39 | 40 | 15.0 |
24 | Houston | 2,041,081 | 267 | 256 | 276 | 13.0 |
25 | Stockton | 265,593 | 30 | 36 | 37 | 12.9 |
26 | Columbus | 715,739 | 81 | 81 | 112 | 12.8 |
27 | Minneapolis | 378,602 | 43 | 47 | 46 | 12.0 |
28 | Long Beach | 477,368 | 49 | 67 | 49 | 11.5 |
29 | Las Vegas | 1,189,388 | 133 | 137 | 141 | 11.5 |
30 | Jacksonville | 776,417 | 75 | 90 | 92 | 11.0 |
31 | Tulsa | 393,907 | 34 | 26 | 61 | 10.2 |
32 | Charlotte-Mecklenburg | 668,003 | 66 | 67 | 66 | 9.9 |
33 | Sacramento | 439,811 | 40 | 47 | 43 | 9.9 |
34 | Albuquerque | 468,764 | 34 | 51 | 51 | 9.7 |
35 | Jersey City | 241,443 | 25 | 21 | 24 | 9.7 |
36 | Denver | 565,905 | 45 | 51 | 63 | 9.4 |
37 | Boston, MA | 589,795 | 65 | 60 | 39 | 9.3 |
38 | San Francisco | 772,065 | 62 | 68 | 69 | 8.6 |
39 | New York | 8,098,066 | 660 | 587 | 596 | 7.6 |
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Cities with population > 500,000 and the lowest murder rates (2003)
City | Pop. | Murders | Rate |
Honolulu | 905,301 | 15 | 1.7 |
San Jose | 909,890 | 29 | 3.2 |
El Paso | 586,392 | 21 | 3.6 |
Austin | 682,319 | 27 | 4.0 |
Portland | 545,271 | 27 | 5.0 |
San Diego | 1,272,746 | 65 | 5.1 |
Seattle | 576,296 | 34 | 5.9 |
Boston | 589,795 | 39 | 6.6 |
Louisville | 623,771 | 42 | 6.7 |
San Antonio | 1,212,789 | 85 | 7.0 |
New York | 8,098,066 | 597 | 7.4 |
San Francisco | 772,065 | 69 | 8.9 |
Tucson | 514,618 | 47 | 9.0 |
Oklahoma City | 521,681 | 49 | 9.4 |
Source: FBI - Uniform Crime Reports - Crime in the US - 2003, Document (pdf), Spread Sheet
RELATIONSHIP OF MURDERER TO VICTIM (1976-2004)
MURDERER | MALE | FEMALE |
Intimate | 5.3% | 30.1% |
Family | 6.7% | 11.7% |
Acquaintance | 35.5% | 21.8% |
Stranger | 15.5% | 8.8% |
Undetermined | 37.1% | 27.7% |
Total | 100.1% | 100.1% |
Intimate:Spouse or boyfriend/girlfriend
Family:Non-spousal family member,
Source: Ben Best's Death by Murder summarized from Trends in the U.S.: Intimate homicide at the DOJ.
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Number of murders and nonnegligent manslaughter by Circumstance 2003.
Total | 14,408 |
Felony type total: | 2,359 |
Robbery | 1,056 |
Narcotic drug laws | 666 |
Burglary | 93 |
Rape | 43 |
Larceny-theft | 22 |
Motor vehicle theft | 30 |
Arson | 77 |
Prostitution and commercialized vice | 16 |
Other sex offenses | 10 |
Gambling | 6 |
Other - not specified | 340 |
Suspected felony type | 88 |
Other than felony type total: | 7,070 |
Argument over money or property | 220 |
Other arguments | 3,806 |
Juvenile gang killings | 819 |
Gangland killings | 115 |
Romantic triangle | 98 |
Child killed by babysitter | 29 |
Brawl due to influence of alcohol | 128 |
Brawl due to influence of narcotics | 53 |
Institutional killings | 13 |
Sniper attack | 2 |
Other - not specified | 1,787 |
Unknown | 4,891 |
Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reports - Murder Circumstances, 1999-2003
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See Also:
Murder statistics for the World and US.
City Stats for the World and US.
Homicide Rankings of 67 Major Cities at Georgia State
Gang murders in the US
International
According to Ben Best at Death by Murder:
"International murder rates for cities are difficult to obtain outside the developed world. According to some reports Bagota, Cali (112 deaths per 100,000) & Medellin (Columbia), Karachi (Pakistan), Lagos (Nigeria), Dhaka (Bangladesh) and Port Moresby (Papua New Guinea) have some of the highest murder rates in the world, but there are no reliable statistics and Interpol refuses to make its statistics public. Caracas, Venezuela reputedly has a murder rate over 100 per 100,000."
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Countries with ten worst murder rates, 2003
Country | murders/ 100,000 |
Columbia | 84 |
El Salvador | 50 |
Puerto Rico | 42 |
Brazil | 32 |
Albania | 28 |
Venezuela | 25 |
Russian Federation | 18 |
Ecuador | 16 |
Mexico | 15 |
Panama | 14 |
US rate for 2003 was 5.7
Source: BenBest.com
See World Crime Rates
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Slovenia, Austria, Sweden, Switzerland, Israel, Hong Kong, Norway, Ireland, Finland and SIngapore had the lowest rates with less than 5 murders per Million
(0.5 / 100,000).
In Columbia Seventy-five percent of the reported murders were the result of street crime and common criminals, while the remaining 25% were attributed to guerrilla activity and narcoterrorists.
From 1980-2004, the U.S. Embassy in Bogota has learned of 112 U.S. citizens kidnapped in Colombia and adjacent border areas. Although the majority were released, 14 were murdered, one died from malnutrition during captivity, and the whereabouts of several others remain unknown.
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See Also: Crime Rate by State
World Crime Rates
Return to Deaths
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