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U.S. Cities with the Highest Murder Rate

Name the major American cities with the highest murder rates.
Cities with a population of 250,000 or greater
Based on 2020 FBI stats. More info here.
Rate = Murders per 100,000
Change = change since 2016
Quiz by Quizmaster
Rate:
Featured Quiz
Last updated: November 26, 2021
More quiz info >>
First submittedOctober 29, 2012
Times taken92,633
Average score45.0%
Rating4.58
Quiz and answer stats >>
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Rate
% Change
Cities
87.2
45
St. Louis
52.3
18
New Orleans
51.3
15
Detroit
51.0
-1
Baltimore
45.6
49
Memphis
42.9
27
Cleveland
34.6
27
Kansas City
33.1
40
Milwaukee
29.7
51
Cincinnati
28.7
44
Washington D.C.
Rate
% Change
Cities
28.1
-1
Chicago
24.3
41
Indianapolis
23.7
23
Louisville
23.1
14
Oakland
21.9
28
Buffalo
19.7
63
Greensboro
19.6
48
Toledo
18.8
0
Pittsburgh
19.2
60
Columbus
18.4
118
Minneapolis
What
+6
Level 32
Nov 26, 2012
One of my new favorites.
thalassemia
+6
Level 29
Nov 26, 2012
damn Buffalo, what happened?
dt1
+38
Level 47
Jul 6, 2014
shooting presidents since 1901
bflosenrab
+3
Level 37
May 19, 2015
LOL
Morker
+3
Level 52
Jun 29, 2016
lol
IsleAuHaulte
+16
Level 87
Oct 4, 2019
Now known as President Denali.
Xenobiologista
+3
Level 60
Sep 28, 2020
Well, you'll be glad to know it's gone down now, because they're green and your comment is lost on me.
IsleAuHaulte
+1
Level 87
Nov 26, 2021
Back up 28%. All presidents safe.
burchbeer101
+3
Level 60
May 19, 2015
Unfortunately, we get a shooting I'd say around once every week to 2 week's, sometimes multiple deaths in just one shooting case. Just in December 2014 we had a recorded 12 homicides. You eventually just get used to hearing it on the news.
jm
+6
Level 81
May 22, 2015
Where I grew up, Philly-area, they once announced on the evening news that there had been no murders that day. They used to have around 500 per year. Now its much less.
brandybuck96
+35
Level 81
Nov 30, 2015
^probably because the Americans are allowed to run around with guns.
Balikati
+10
Level 67
Apr 10, 2017
^try to tell that to people.
ADPW
+6
Level 56
May 4, 2018
@Sunisa yeah living in the UK, a murder makes the national news, very rare here
ander217
+18
Level 77
Nov 7, 2019
Over the past few years London's homicide rate has ranged from 83 to around 140 homicides per year according to Wikipedia, and one year over 200 were reported. That's still lower than most US cities, but not what I would call rare.
chipguy8
+1
Level 45
Oct 22, 2021
@jm I also grew up in the philly-area
ruftytufty
+7
Level 76
Nov 26, 2021
Ander, London is a very big city so those numbers are still very low compared with these ones. The 140 you quote is 1.59 homicides per 100,000. So, not just lower but tiny in comparison.
Cooldrive
+1
Level 60
Nov 27, 2021
i'LL GET them before theyget me.
LudwigVonKoopa
+1
Level 55
Nov 30, 2021
Yeah, when it comes to London the rates went down and all but there is still plenty and now the murders are just stabbings instead of shootings.
Foulfortune
+3
Level 32
Nov 26, 2012
Missed a few obvious ones, but at least got Stockton
caribdevist
+3
Level 63
May 19, 2015
Totally forgot about Stockton. I feel silly.
jon12
+8
Level 57
Nov 26, 2012
nice to see that nyc is not on the list. that's where i live and every morning when you turn on ur tv, u'll see a bunch of reports of shootings and murders and all that stuff. also, all of these cities are in the east coast or else in central but never in the west. seems like its safer there. im considering moving there. =/
noodles
+5
Level 68
Nov 27, 2012
Except for Oakland ;)
Barnacle
+12
Level 13
Nov 27, 2012
NYC has more murders than most other cities, but this is murder rate, so it doesn't qualify
IsleAuHaulte
+8
Level 87
Oct 4, 2019
Wyoming, the least populous, very rural state, has a higher murder rate than NYC now.
kalbahamut
+24
Level 83
Oct 23, 2013
All American cities are safe if you use common sense, mind your own business, and don't go out of your way to do something stupid in a rough neighborhood. The west coast is nice but you could still get yourself killed if you wanted to go pick a fight with some gang bangers in Los Angeles or Oakland or San Diego.
PrinceEric
+8
Level 56
May 19, 2015
Right, because if we took the guns away, then all the socioeconomic disparity would just vanish with them. I'm facepalming at how simple it is!
kalbahamut
+33
Level 83
May 19, 2015
Guns are certainly part of the problem. Just not the whole problem. There are countries (South Africa, Jamaica, El Salvador) with much higher murder rates than the USA that have much fewer guns per capita (none have more), as well as countries with very high numbers of firearms (Switzerland, Canada) where the murder rate is tiny. As well as countries with a lot of guns and a similar murder rate (Yemen).

By some ways of measuring (check WHO stats), there are countries as developed as the USA with higher murder and violent crime rates (the UK), but not that many, and none that have anywhere near as many gun-related deaths. It is a complex issue, more complex than both supporters and opponents of gun control like to make it out to be.

kalbahamut
+11
Level 83
May 19, 2015
Wealth inequality is another thing that seems at first glance like it may be correlated... but while the USA ranks near the top of the list in this category, both Switzerland and Denmark have more wealth inequality and almost no homicides. Switzerland has a ton of guns, Denmark has almost none. On the other hand, Yemen has very very high wealth equality, and Jamaica ranks better than Canada or Singapore. So again, it can't be the whole story.
ander217
+7
Level 77
Dec 21, 2015
I wonder if there's a correlation with illegal drug use?
ChocolateMoose
+2
Level 35
Dec 27, 2015
The problem is that gangs are in big cities AND the fact that too many people have mental illness
kalbahamut
+2
Level 83
Jun 29, 2016
ander, moose: drugs and gangs play a very big part. When I said that by the WHO's way of measuring, the UK has more murder and violent crime than the USA, that's because the WHO doesn't include gang-related violence in the intentional homicide rate.

This also plays into what I was saying earlier about safety and common sense. If you don't join a gang in one of these cities, or try to sell drugs on someone else's turf, or do something to provoke a gang, probably you can go your whole life without seeing any violent crime perpetrated in front of you.

kalbahamut
+3
Level 83
Jun 29, 2016
Are you sure about that, Gandalf? I'd heard the same thing before. But I met a guy from Switzerland in Sofia recently, and we were having a discussion about gun control along with some gunsmith from St Louis that had been volunteering with the Peshmerga. Swiss guy said that this was not true, and that nobody is required to have a firearm in his country. ::shrug::
FlabberBapper
+3
Level 69
Jan 2, 2018
I'm pretty sure most of these murders are used with other weapons than guns, like knives. And most of the time when it is a murder with a gun, it's a firearm that has been obtained illegally.
CrayCray
+8
Level 63
Jan 27, 2018
"Wealth inequality is another thing that seems at first glance like it may be correlated... but while the USA ranks near the top of the list in this category, both Switzerland and Denmark have more wealth inequality and almost no homicides."

Where did you get this info? Because from what I found, the wealth inequality index for Denmark is about 28 (making it one of the top 20 countries when it comes to wealth equality), Switzerland 32 and USA 41, making it the least equal out of the three (and not by such a small number either).

I agree that wealth inequality isn't the ONLY problem America has in regards to violence, but don't twist reality.

kalbahamut
+2
Level 83
Jan 28, 2018
I'm not.
TWM03
+2
Level 66
Aug 16, 2018
Cray's stats are for income inequality, whereas kal's are for wealth inequality. I'm not sure why they would be different, or which is more important. Maybe the correlation is in income inequality. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_income_equality should give all the necessary evidence.
kalbahamut
+2
Level 83
Oct 14, 2018
wealth is the money you've already got. income is the money you're still getting.
TWM03
+2
Level 66
Nov 7, 2018
Thank you for those definitions. I already knew that. I just mean that income is be heavily correlated with wealth, so it is surprising that one of the more equal nations in income is one of the less equal ones in wealth. My suggestion was that maybe income inequality has more of a correlation with murder rate, and was wondering why it might be.
kalbahamut
+4
Level 83
Jul 22, 2019
A lot of comments above have gone missing. It looks like I'm talking to myself like a crazy person.
ander217
+3
Level 77
Nov 7, 2019
Welcome to my world. :)
Ferbin
+2
Level 73
Jul 19, 2021
Wealth inequality is a poor measure, because wealth is very hard to account, and cause it's easy to distort it.
bostjan
+2
Level 69
Nov 30, 2021
"All American cities are safe if you use common sense, and stay out of them" - Fixed that for you.

I grew up in Detroit. I knew a handful of people who were minding their own business and shot by mistaken identity or being in the wrong place at the wrong time. One of my coworkers was shot 9 times from just a few feet away (and survived) while he was playing with his 3 year old son at a playground. The shooter reportedly thought he was someone else. It's not just me, look at any newspaper and you see tons of people shot by police for things like calling for help (Justine Dammond) or having a broken tail light (Philando Castile). The midwestern cities are death traps and if you don't know that, I assume you never lived in a big midwestern city long enough to make any friends.

Quizmaster
+5
Level ∞
Nov 30, 2021
I've been to Detroit several times and I haven't even been murdered once!
jmellor13
+1
Level 67
Nov 30, 2021
I always use this exact same joke when my suburban relatives back home ask how I can possibly live in Chicago.
kalbahamut
+1
Level 83
Dec 1, 2021
bost, super convincing and compelling.
AchillesFirstStand
+3
Level 75
Jan 27, 2018
New York City has some impressively low crime statistics. Homicide rate is only 3.4 per 100000 people! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_in_New_York_City
IsleAuHaulte
+2
Level 87
Jun 18, 2018
Why not quote the actual government source instead of anyone's-an-editor Wikipedia?
Quizmaster
+2
Level ∞
Nov 26, 2021
The reason is simple @ihaveanewname. The government source is badly designed and doesn't even have a URL that can be easily referenced. The fact that you yourself didn't post the official source is evidence that Wikipedia might be better in this case.
shortyoh
+3
Level 79
Nov 7, 2019
Age of building stock might actually have something to do with it.

There is a well established correlation between violent crime rates and lead exposure as a child. It's uncanny how crime rates plummet as lead exposure drops. A lot of the affordable housing supply in older cities is still full of lead paint and has lead service lines for water. Western cities have expanded much more recently and are significantly less likely to have either.

Cooldrive
+3
Level 60
Nov 7, 2019
"My sister got bit by a rat last night,

And Whitey on the moon."

"

IsleAuHaulte
+3
Level 87
Sep 4, 2020
Gil Scott-Heron for the comeback.
buck1017
+2
Level 75
Aug 7, 2013
Tulsa? Wow.
PsychoGunnar
+2
Level 34
Apr 22, 2014
Where ya from? Oakland, smokin'....
jennywren21
+7
Level 60
Jul 6, 2014
Tried to think of the cities with the strictest gunlaws!
hwes
+11
Level 82
Nov 15, 2015
And I went with southern cities and rust belt cities (which also have a large "southern" population arriving during the great migration of the early 20th century).
shortyoh
+7
Level 79
Nov 7, 2019
Yeah, that would have been a miserable failure for getting these answers.
hannina
+5
Level 55
Jul 24, 2014
This was an interesting quiz! The rates seemed so high I had to check what is the murder rate for US in total. According to Wikipedia it's 4.8. Not even close to these top cities but anyway quite high for a developed country, compared to Western Europe (0.9), Eastern Asia (1.0), Australasia (1.1) or even the neighbour Canada (1.6).
benjaminmarker
+12
Level 69
May 19, 2015
Gun control. You yanks love them weapons.
fuanacdc
+9
Level 78
May 19, 2015
Yeah, and criminals all love to follow laws. We'll just tell them they can't have them, problem solved!
kalbahamut
+22
Level 83
May 19, 2015
@fuanacdc: such airtight logic!! I guess we should legalize or decriminalize things like rape, theft and murder as well, right? Because... what's the use? Criminals won't follow the laws anyway! There's just no point trying.
kalbahamut
+1
Level 83
May 19, 2015
Though SophR is actually correct. If you throw out gang-related murders in both countries (which occur more in the US.. spillover from Latin American drug gangs mostly), the UK has a higher murder rate than the US and a much higher rate of assault, robbery, and various other violent crimes. They just use knives and clubs and whatnot.
TheWombat
+13
Level 75
Jun 6, 2016
Why would you take out the gang-related crime? Dead is dead, regardless of who pulled the trigger. Also, the major Latin-American gangs were founded in the USA and exported to Latin America, so their crimes can't be attributed to foreigners. Aaaannnd...the rate of violent crime in the UK is nowhere near the rate of the United States. It's not only not in the same ballpark, it's a completely different sport. This was a claim made by some TV person a few years back and repeated ad infinitum by the US gun lobby but, like many of the claims made by the US gun lobby, it's not true. The way the UK records violent crime is so very different from the way the US records violent crime that it's difficult to make a comparison. All that is certain is that violent crime in the USA is much worse than in the UK.
kalbahamut
+3
Level 83
Jun 29, 2016
@Wombat: I guess because most people know if they're in a gang or not and it's their choice? I'm talking about gang-on-gang violence. I didn't compile those stats and they had nothing to do with the gun lobby. I've walked through Baltimore and London before in the middle of the night and felt perfectly safe both places. However, I think last year I was trying to find those same stats again and couldn't locate them. So.. ::shrug:: You really have to go out of your way either place most of the time to be the victim of violent crime.
KiwiTyke
+9
Level 58
Jun 29, 2016
Although it's worth pointing out that the US suicide rate is almost double the UK rate. An often overlooked effect of access to weapons is suicide, not homicide. Complex issue for the people of the US to tackle, not helped by politicians more interested in their campaign finances than actual informed debate. Too many politicians use Second Amendment rights as a fig leaf.
kalbahamut
+1
Level 83
Jun 29, 2016
But those statistics are also hysterically pointed to and exaggerated by people who think they mean something, when in reality, your chances of getting shot are miniscule in either location. It makes sense to point this out. I mean... I meet so many people who actually believe the USA is dangerous. Which is just insane. I have to laugh out loud when they ask me.. is it safe to travel to so and so? I lived in the country almost 30 years and never once did I witness so much as someone being slapped in public, much less gunned down. I had some British friends come to Florida and we were playing basketball outside. Every time a car started driving up the street they would get skittish because they expected a drive-by shooting. Saying "much higher risk" makes it sound like there is a real and salient difference, which is just dumb.
kalbahamut
+5
Level 83
Jun 30, 2016
To put this in real terms, if you are a British tourist visiting the United States, to pull stats from one particularly murderous year (4 British tourists killed out of about 5 million), your chances of being killed on your trip are about 0.0000008%.

To pick out another particularly murderous year in British history (1 American tourist killed out of 1.3 million), then your chances of being killed on a trip to the UK is 0.00000078%.

So... a difference of 0.00000002%. Wow. Staggering difference. You're right, Drunken Gandalf. The US is practically a warzone.

FlabberBapper
+3
Level 69
Aug 5, 2017
It's not the guns, statistically cities with more gun owners have a lower crime rate, probably a reason why not Texas cities are a murder capitol.
TWM03
+2
Level 66
Aug 16, 2018
While I disagree with the use of statistics to support a claim that they don't actually relate to, and think it is dangerously stupid to believe that it is unsafe to travel to the USA because of the murder rate, I disagree with excluding gang violence in murder statistics. If you exclude certain types of murder on the grounds that "it doesn't affect the average person", then you will need to exclude pretty much all murder. If you are putting together statistics advising people about which countries to visit based on murder rates, you should exclude murders committed by a family member or spouse or ex-spouse. These constitute the majority of murders in many countries. Keep it simple. A murder is a murder.
kalbahamut
+2
Level 83
Oct 14, 2018
^ well whatever. It's still a minuscule difference and both the United States and virtually all of Europe are extremely safe.
TWM03
+3
Level 66
Nov 7, 2018
It depends what you're worried about. If you are a traveller deciding which countries to go to based on murder rate, basically stop basing your decision based on that. It's pretty pointless because the probability is tiny wherever you go (possibly with some exceptions that don't include the US or the vast majority of Europe). If, on the other hand, you are a public policy maker wanting to devise a system whereby crime can be prevented, then reducing the murder rate fivefold (which is approximately the difference between the rates in the US and UK, for example) is a useful achievement because it actually is a significant release of burden on the justice system and prisons (or in some parts of the US, and Belarus, executioners). It is possible for the difference in probability to be negligible while the differences in the actual numbers are not.
CaoMaru
+2
Level 50
Feb 2, 2020
It's true that there is no reason to fear going to the US because of murder rates or gun laws, but the numbers of shootings are something that needs to be addressed. You may only have a minuscule chance of being shot, but it is still a problem that anyone is.
IsleAuHaulte
+3
Level 87
Sep 4, 2020
Kalbahamut, you seem to have lived in very secluded circles if you never saw anyone even slapped in public in 30 years, let alone never knowing people who were murdered or were murderers. Baffling.
kalbahamut
+1
Level 83
Sep 16, 2020
someone: and I would say you sound like someone who cavorts with gangsters and criminals or lives some place very much more dangerous than the USA... I grew up in the suburbs of Washington DC and spent a lot of time in the city. I then moved to Richmond, CA, outside of San Francisco. One of the highest-crime districts of the Bay area. I moved up to Davis, CA, and commuted to Sacramento where I worked for the next year and a half. When I moved back to Virginia my cousin was living in Baltimore, another city on the above list, and I'd go up to see him regularly. Also spent a non-negligible amount of time in Miami, Orlando, Jacksonville, New York, Chicago, Youngstown, and Los Angeles. I'm not kidding. I've never seen anyone struck in public aside from small children being spanked by their parents, and even that is rare. I don't know any murderers. Again... what kind of circles do YOU hang out in? You know a lot of murderers?
kalbahamut
+1
Level 83
Sep 16, 2020
Closest person to me that I can think of who was murdered would maybe be the older brother of my sort-of friend Jeanette, who was a friend of a friend I knew 20 years ago. I had a bit of a crush on her. We hung out together about six or seven times in total.

There was also Erin, whom I went on dates with two or three times. Does that count as knowing someone? She was on the news because she was in a classroom that the Virginia Tech shooter tried to break in to. She wasn't murdered, though. Just... murder adjacent.

I used to work in the Emergency Department at a hospital that was the only Trauma-1 center in the greater Washington DC metro area, we had patients flown in from all over, and even there it was very rare that we'd receive victims of gang violence or attempted murder. I remember one guy who came in as a stabbing victim. In the two years that I worked there that was about it. Several gunshot victims but mostly self-inflicted.

kalbahamut
+1
Level 83
Sep 16, 2020
Overseas I was assaulted and hospitalized myself in Ukraine. I worked with a guy who lost two fingers trying to defend against a knife-wielding thug in Bahrain. I knocked over a guy who punched me randomly on the street, also in Bahrain. I'm struggling to remember a bar fight or something like that... honestly can't think of any specific ones. But I've spent a lot of time hanging out at pretty scuzzy bars in Thailand. I've walked alone through the slums of Manila and the shanty towns of Addis Ababa. Drove all over Eastern Europe by myself. Lived in East Jerusalem for a while in late 2014 when there was a spate of terrorists driving cars into crowded bus and rail stops; but I never saw that. Used to go out clubbing a lot in downtown Seoul and Tokyo and Bangkok and London. Lived on the wrong side of the tracks in Thessaloniki. I don't think many people would call me "secluded" that's pretty novel. Again, where do YOU live that you know so many murderers? That's bizarre.
ziuqknuptej
+1
Level 50
Nov 22, 2021
kalbahamut I agree with most of the comments you've made but you also have to consider each person on an individual basis. If I was going to rob somebody I would make sure it was a short or small person. Why take the risk of them overpowering me even if I have a weapon? Although I don't know if there would be statistics for crime based on victim height/size. You seem to have been to a lot of 'dangerous' places. Could it be that you have walked past a potential robber who thought to himself "That's not worth the risk" ?
kalbahamut
+1
Level 83
Nov 30, 2021
Quite possible and I'm not denying this relative privilege of mine. But, still, I've met many petite females in my travels who have led a similar lifestyle to mine and could say basically the same things that I typed above.
djm
+1
Level 61
Oct 27, 2014
KC? wow. Did not realize it is safer to go to DC.
colematthew
+1
Level 70
Nov 15, 2014
I live in KC. You will usually hear on the news about a kidnap, murder, or shooting every day.
DeusCaritasEst
+2
Level 58
Mar 30, 2015
I'm pretty sure it's Kansas City, MO, that made the list, not Kansas City, KS. I know they're connected, but there is still technically a difference. (I live in KC, too. Kansas side).
jwalter27
+1
Level 31
Nov 17, 2014
I've been to 15 of these not sure how to feel about that
jweld
+3
Level 70
May 19, 2015
I guessed Camden and then Trenton, but missed Newark. I knew New Jersey had to be on this list somewhere!
tschutzer
+4
Level 88
May 19, 2015
It's all about city size - Newark is the only city in the state big enough to be eligible for this list.
IsleAuHaulte
+1
Level 87
Sep 4, 2020
Small, constrictive city limit areas effect numbers greatly too. Overall, an urban area where the flowery suburbs are legally part of the city lowers the numbers versus a city that is legally just the dumpy center.
david2013
+1
Level 83
May 19, 2015
Two of my guesses as well. But both are smaller than the minimum 250,000 population for the quiz.
Elan
+2
Level 64
May 19, 2015
Wow...only 31% got Oakland...Oakland has a reputation of being really dangerous.
caribdevist
+1
Level 63
Nov 30, 2015
In CA, anyway. Most people I've encountered outside CA haven't heard of it.
Tigerstar144
+2
Level 53
Jan 27, 2018
The reputation exists out here in New England, at least my friends and I have heard of it.
NORDIQUE
+2
Level 36
Nov 2, 2020
I'm swedish and I got it :)
reboot231
+1
Level 51
May 19, 2015
lol two from Ohio. That's mildly frightening.
Roxy7699
+1
Level 30
May 22, 2015
It's strange, Cleveland and Cincinnati have high murder rates and are shrinking cities. Columbus is growing and it's not on the list. They must be doing something right there.
cosmokim
+3
Level 65
Jun 29, 2016
Well, there's a reason people are moving out...
TGCML
+1
Level 24
May 20, 2016
I typed NYC at first, and then was surprised to see that it is not. I watch many crime dramas, and many of them are based in NYC. It makes no sense to me that NYC is not on there.
Grafakos
+1
Level 37
Jun 9, 2016
Impressive that NYC and LA managed to remove themselves from the list entirely. Even 20 or 30 years ago, they would have featured prominently. Surprised that Chicago is so low on the list.
Quizmaster
+2
Level ∞
Jun 9, 2016
Source? I'm not sure L.A. would have ever appeared on the list.
FlabberBapper
+3
Level 69
Aug 5, 2017
Grafakos is probably thinking of Compton when it comes to Los Angeles.
Guam
+3
Level 62
Feb 12, 2018
Many people might think Chicago has a really high murder rate, but those people are very wrong. Many people somehow have this strange impression of Chicago as a poor, ugly, war-torn, criminal ridden, gloomy city (I'm not saying you are one of these people, Grafakos. It's just that you reminded me of them and that they do exist). But I am from Chicago, and it is nothing like that. Few murders or criminal acts of any kind have occurred close to where I live. People in my neighborhood were surprised, sad, and confused when there was even one shooting in the area, and that was when the shooting was done by police to a person they weren't trying to kill. I have been around the city a lot, and other neighborhoods are just the same in that aspect. In Chicago, we don't worry much about criminals because there aren't many to worry about. And for the gloomy and gray part, that's very wrong. We have many plants, and colorful, beautiful, well built stuff. Chicago is great compared to other cities.
buck1017
+1
Level 75
Dec 29, 2021
I hear this sentiment from all of my friends who live in Chicago as well...problem is, those people are middle-upper class white people with college educations. They aren't living in the parts of Chicago that are completely riddled with gang violence. So no, i'm sure you believe your little corner of Chicago is quite peaceful and lovely, but that doesn't mean that your city as a whole doesn't have a HUGE problem. Ignoring it because it's "Not In My Backyard" doesn't make it not exist.
Daedalus242
+1
Level 10
Jun 26, 2016
Seems I hear about a homicide here in St. Louis at least once or twice a week. Usually a result of gang activity or drugs.
emwcee
+1
Level 44
Jun 29, 2016
Surprised that New York City was not on the list.
grantdon
+1
Level 74
Jun 29, 2016
Plenty of murders but a massive population so murder rate is relatively low
VAbumpkin
+1
Level 60
Jun 29, 2016
16/20 but I forgot Detroit! Just finished the cities chain quiz and Detroit was an answer there so I thought I had entered it here.

Does anyone else ever think they enter the answer only to realize they entered it on another quiz?

ander217
+1
Level 77
Jun 29, 2016
Happens to me all too often.
kitkat90009
+1
Level 21
Jun 29, 2016
Lol this whole argument about USA vs UK is ridiculous. If we're talking about murder then why are you excluding gang murders etc? Just because a gang did it doesn't mean it didn't happen! Someone still died...
kalbahamut
+1
Level 83
Nov 1, 2017
It wasn't an argument. You see it that way because of the emotional response your defensiveness provokes upon reading something that challenges your preconceptions.
raneman11
+1
Level 61
Jun 29, 2016
St. Louis is #1 for the year 2014 with a 14.6% increase in murders from 2011. It's almost as if something happened in the St. Louis area in 2014 that caused a spike in the murder rate. I wonder what it could possibly be?
ctleng76
+2
Level 65
Jan 29, 2018
These rates are for the city proper only. Within the city limits, there are only just over 300,000 people and a total are of only 66 square miles. Because the per capita murder rate is only rated for wihin the city limits, and most of the crime happens within those city limits, the numbers are not representative of the greater St. Louis region. The entire metro area has about 2.8 million people.
Spinshot5
+1
Level 56
Dec 1, 2021
Michael brown had nothing to do with murder rate changing in stlouis. It’s horrible politicians especially AGs that are soft on crime. Not sure if u live here but We have a City/County system. The rate gets higher as fewer people live in the city and move to the county. Cause it’s not the bangers and addicts that are able to afford to leave the city for the county.
Instrumental
+2
Level 48
Jun 30, 2016
From the murder capital where we murder for capital.
jmellor13
+1
Level 67
Jul 1, 2016
Damn. Beat me to it.
Jerry928
+1
Level 75
Aug 2, 2016
"Change = change in absolute rate..."? The numbers look more like the change of percentage rate.
Keltonet
+1
Level 64
Nov 25, 2016
Cincinnati cuz of harambe :(
samiamco
+1
Level 71
Nov 10, 2017
Still too soon.
TLM
+1
Level 48
Nov 29, 2016
I think somewhere in those long comments there's an application for joining Kal's cult! ;) ...can always rely on you, Kal, for substantial and thorough input :D
catlover2496
+1
Level 44
Jan 10, 2017
New York City? Los Angeles? Houston? Las Vegas?
HectorVortac
+2
Level 50
Mar 30, 2017
Murder in Las Vegas is on the rise. I did expect to see it in the list.
trombonekid98
+1
Level 70
Nov 3, 2017
Whelp, I guess now that murder rate is going to skyrocket...
Djilas
+1
Level 80
Nov 8, 2017
Yeah, next year we'll have Vegas with an asterisk on the list.
BrosephStalin
+1
Level 63
May 3, 2017
Strange. I always feel so much safer in Pittsburgh than in Philadelphia.
AchillesFirstStand
+1
Level 75
Jan 27, 2018
These numbers aren't really a perfect measure of how safe a city is. It depends on how the city boundaries are defined - maybe the official Philadelphia city boundaries include more suburbs than Pittsburgh. I definitely agree with your sentiment though - I live in Pittsburgh and it always seems very safe to me. It depends on which part of the city you're in though. I was in the Hill District at night a few months ago and it was pretty sketchy.
brandybuck96
+1
Level 81
Nov 4, 2017
The only thing I know about St Louis is it being the setting for "Meet Me In St Louis". Jars a little with it having the highest murder rate in the US.
Elan
+1
Level 64
Jan 27, 2018
Yep. It's been on quite the decline
Suzyhomemaker
+1
Level 64
Nov 4, 2017
"Plenty of murders in NYC but it's huge so it doesn't make the list " 328 murders is miniscule for a city of 8 million people. Very proud of my city
Ctenophthalmus
+1
Level 67
Nov 5, 2017
Good info on the murder rate in Chicago
samiamco
+1
Level 71
Nov 10, 2017
Glad to see Buffalo's on the upswing, so shouldn't their change percentage been in green now because it's negative, like Cincinnati and Pittsburgh? (And kudos to all you Buffalonians out there for killing each other a full 26% less last year!)
Quizmaster
+1
Level ∞
Nov 10, 2017
Fixed the color
TinklePork
+3
Level 63
Nov 17, 2017
So does this count the muslim in Orlando who killed around 50 people? Orlando has over a 400% increase since last year so I'm assuming this is the case. I wonder how much the single incident skewed the stats.
Regtheledge1000
+2
Level 31
Sep 12, 2020
Why did you have to say “a Muslim”? There is nothing wrong wit that
FlabberBapper
+1
Level 69
Jan 2, 2018
Why is Stockton no longer on the list?
FlabberBapper
+1
Level 69
Jan 2, 2018
I was about to ask, "What happened in Orlando?" Then I remembered...
SgtMac
+1
Level 58
Jan 27, 2018
Of this list, 80% of the cities are east of the Mississippi River---and if you include St Louis which is right ON the river, it goes to 85%. Tulsa, Kansas City & Oakland are the only west cities. Rocky Mountain States: -0-. Rocky Mountain High, for sure.
JDesLauriers
+1
Level 40
Jan 27, 2018
Love that this featured on the day I'm moving to Baltimore. My friend was googling this list just a few hours ago and listed the cities... I still did poorly
Diggerdog77
+1
Level 74
Jan 27, 2018
Interestingly enough, whereas cities/states that vote Republican traditionally score worse on the "Least Educated States", most of these metro areas are predominantly Democrat in voting (not trying to argue, just presenting an interesting observation)
kalbahamut
+4
Level 83
Jan 29, 2018
All urban areas tend to vote more Democratic than the surrounding rural areas. And here we've got cities from Missouri, Louisiana, Ohio, Florida, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Georgia, Oklahoma, and Kentucky... not exactly known for their Democratic party support. Though Democratic-leaning states tend to have more large cities, the list is dominated by cities in Republican-leaning states. Also not trying to argue, but your observation perhaps isn't interesting in the way you thought it was.
ctleng76
+3
Level 65
Jan 29, 2018
St. Louis city votes almost entirely Democrat. Most of the crime happens within the city limits. So that argument doesn't work for the "most dangerous" city in America.
kalbahamut
+1
Level 83
Feb 3, 2018
Which part of "not trying to argue" did you not understand? Are you imagining things that I didn't and wouldn't say so that you have something to argue against? Or do you not know what a state is?
Malbaby
+1
Level 71
Jan 27, 2018
Think you know where the States of USA are? ….. try my "Walk the coast of USA quiz"……

here it is

Milezinator
+1
Level 59
Jan 28, 2018
Damn I live in Oakland I thought it was safe D;
pkerr116
+3
Level 74
Jan 28, 2018
I live in NJ & I'm in Newark all the time. It sure doesn't feel like a murder capital there. I know the crime is concentrated in a few wards, generally towards Irvington, but I don't hesitate to go to a Devils hockey game or to the Ironbound district for dinner or lunch. So the areas I don't see have to be in really, really bad shape.
gzx5
+1
Level 65
Jan 28, 2018
Koala, even though those drugs gangs were formed in the US they were formed by foreigners from Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala so in a way they they were from a foreign source.

Also why has Orlando had such a spike in Murders?

kalbahamut
+2
Level 83
Jan 29, 2018
one incident
Trombone
+1
Level 55
Nov 30, 2021
It's not just one, there is plenty of homicides daily, and its mostly from one area. So, I'm not sure which 'incident' you mean.
Jacktheguy
+2
Level 87
Nov 30, 2021
He's probably referring to the Pulse Nightclub shooting that happened a couple years ago as the source of the spike.
markthoma
+1
Level 72
Jan 29, 2018
Got every one but Louisville.

I look at rate of sexual crimes, especially rape, in assessing a place's safety. Murder gets all the headlines but sexual violence is extremely devastating to individuals, families and communities.

Cities' sexual violence statistics do not seem to be especially correlative to their murder rates. Many cities may not have tons of murders, but are very dangerous places for sexual violence.

It's really amazing how statistically safe New York City is these days, especially given its history.

kalbahamut
+1
Level 83
Dec 1, 2021
problem judging a lot of places that have high rates of rape is that this, more often than not, means that more rapes are reported, not that more rapes are committed. These places often have a culture and law enforcement that are more supportive toward victims and more aggressive at prosecuting offenders. In many places where rapes are severely underreported victims may feel that there's no point.
Majic
+5
Level 45
Feb 4, 2018
Where is San Andreas, Los Santos and Vice City? I personally murdered millions in there.
NikyVestern
+1
Level 53
Dec 12, 2018
There is a striking similarity between these answers and answers on some other quiz with a different topic that I did a couple of days ago, but nevermind... :)
yorksguy1865
+1
Level 38
Apr 29, 2019
Just started guessing places in the end!
Quizmaster
+8
Level ∞
Oct 4, 2019
Sadly, it would seem that protests against police brutality in St. Louis, Baltimore, Chicago have led to a decrease in the police presence in those areas, and a corresponding increase in murders. There needs to be a more constructive dialogue to decrease the amount of police brutality while also acknowledging the incredibly stressful job that officers are asked to perform.
Quizmaster
+4
Level ∞
Oct 4, 2019
More interesting stats:

  • The city of Irvine California (population 288,052) had NO murders in 2018.

  • New York City had a murder rate of 3.46. This is down from a peak of 30.7 in 1990.

  • Vinita Park, Missouri (murder rate 118.1) was the most dangerous city with a population over 10,000. The introductory sentence of their website says "Vinita Park is a Safe City". Wow.

  • Think things in St. Louis are bad? Just be glad you don't live in East St. Louis (murder rate 86.4)

TravelingMama
+1
Level 73
Oct 5, 2019
Irvine is amazing. Every city in America should be taking notes from them.
314venetian
+4
Level 59
Nov 7, 2019
As a resident of St. Louis, I want to clear up some things about St Louis. There are certain areas in St Louis which are incredibly dangerous, and every local knows exactly where those areas are. Almost every suburb is very safe, and many parts of the city are too. Ask a local where not to go and we will give you very specific instructions. St Louis as a whole gets a bad rap from a small amount of incredibly dangerous areas.
amgine
+3
Level 63
Nov 7, 2019
The common link is .............................................................................................................................Democrats !
QRU
+4
Level 74
Nov 7, 2019
And who would want to murder Democrats the most?

Republicans!

Republicans is the Murderer!

kalbahamut
+1
Level 83
Sep 16, 2020
brilliant
KevinTheCat
+1
Level 57
Jun 28, 2022
basically every single city in the us is majority blue. this measures cities on homicide rate.
vazilega
+2
Level 22
Nov 7, 2019
Nothing to be proud of.
RedLightning
+1
Level 47
Nov 7, 2019
Glad to see Detroit down
Greenland
+1
Level 50
Nov 8, 2019
Some nonsense on here - the UK has one fifth the murder rate of the US. and around 35 times fewer gun murders

Violent crime is more complicated - because what is counted as a violent crime varies greatly between countries.

The correlation between levels of gun ownership and gun violence is exceptionally clear. It is not the only factor - but in countries that are in other ways similar - wealth, democracy etc..., those with more guns have more gun deaths

stubart409
+3
Level 65
Nov 9, 2019
Anyone who has watched 'The Wire' would have got Baltimore.
kalbahamut
+1
Level 83
Nov 9, 2019
I watched every episode of Dexter and Breaking Bad but that didn't help.
luxint
+1
Level 63
Nov 10, 2019
Why is the average score so low? 10?
jmellor13
+6
Level 67
Nov 12, 2019
High murder rates do not necessarily mean these cities as a whole are unsafe. Chicago, for instance, is an exceptionally safe city as long as you stay out of the really bad parts. The overwhelming majority of murders are committed in two small clusters of neighborhoods, one on the West Side and one on the South Side. Those areas are absolute war zones, and their murders count as much as any other, but they're mostly committed in gang wars, and nobody would ever wander into those neighborhoods by accident. The North Side, downtown, and near west and near south sides (basically anywhere a visitor would go) are all very safe. I'm sure this is true of other cities on this list. That's not to belittle the horrific violence in those neighborhoods or the people there who have to deal with it, but those neighborhoods really skew the stats. I've lived here eight years, and the only crime victims I know are all from the same very distressed West Side neighborhood.
EvanAviator
+1
Level 55
Sep 23, 2020
this
JWatson24
+4
Level 70
Dec 23, 2020
I read a Malcolm Gladwell book ("Talking to Strangers") recently that talks about this... there's really no such thing as violent cities or even violent neighborhoods, just violent street segments/blocks. The majority of violent crimes take place in very specific locations. Even in neighborhoods often considered crime-ridden, most areas are safe. To borrow a statistic from the book, in Minneapolis, 3.3% of street segments are responsible for more than 50% of police calls. It's not clear exactly what makes those spots special, but it's worth remembering statistics like that before generalizing entire cities as "violent."
CyprusisinAsia
+3
Level 74
Dec 18, 2019
Wow, dont play in the AFC North Division for the NFL. All for teams' cities made the list
NauruPalau
+2
Level 52
Jan 2, 2020
Lmao I missed Detroit, Baltimore, DC, and tulsa. I’m an idiot
DuvalTilWeDie
+2
Level 56
Feb 18, 2020
Shocked there's no FL cities. (Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa)
bulldog1969
+1
Level 58
Apr 15, 2020
Got almost all of these, but was really surprised St Louis was so high, and that Indianapolis even made the list. All major cities have rough neighborhoods but those two surprised me. Haven't been there in some time things must have really went downhill.
SkittUz
+2
Level 59
Apr 17, 2020
I'm so surprised about Baltimore, Washington, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia... I thought these cities were way too busy to suffer from homicides.
MungoJerry
+1
Level 51
Nov 5, 2020
Some people are less busy than others.
Linen
+2
Level 51
Aug 9, 2020
The only cities that have never had an nfl team in their city are milwaukee, memphis, louisville (and maybe newark if you don't count MetLife stadium), does that mean American football increases homicidal thoughts? lol
Linen
+2
Level 51
Aug 9, 2020
and tulsa
Jared0309
+2
Level 73
Sep 16, 2020
According to this source, which I'm pretty sure is accurate, but maybe I can't read, Tulsa has a rate of 7.9 per 100k. Baton Rouge, on the other hand, has a rate of 14.9 per 100k; although, these might be based on MSA instead of city proper. Not sure which the quiz is referring to.

Using: http://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2018/crime-in-the-u.s.-2018/topic-pages/tables/table-6

Quizmaster
+2
Level ∞
Sep 16, 2020
You answered your own question :). Your source uses metro area which includes suburbs.
EytanMelech
+3
Level 67
Sep 16, 2020
This needs to be updated. Post police-defunding has drastically changed the murder rate in cities like Chicago and Philadelphia.
kalbahamut
+14
Level 83
Sep 16, 2020
Calls to "defund the police," which started a couple months ago, have not led to actual legislation or meaningful changes in policy anywhere. Don't be ridiculous. If it ever does lead to that, it doesn't mean that police forces would be abolished or underfunded. It means that resources the currently go to police would be refocused, and that the mission of police would be narrowed to things that they are trained for.
woshiwaiguoren
+2
Level 65
Nov 30, 2021
But obviously it was going to have a negative effect on police morale and an emboldening effect on criminals to have a nationwide anti-police and anti-policing movement. Also, there have actually been a substantial number of policy changes that may play a role, including in some cases defunding (though a small percentage of budget). In many cities across the country, DAs became much less aggressive and more focused on decarceration. New York and other states changed their bail laws. Several cities also abolished specific anti-crime or anti-gang units.

I don't know of convincing evidence that those changes had a major effect, but there definitely were real policy changes away from tough criminal enforcement.

CambodianQuizzer
+3
Level 56
Nov 30, 2021
Defunding the police is just going to make crime worse.
kalbahamut
+1
Level 83
Dec 1, 2021
you did a bang up job reading that. bravo.
YashShelar
+2
Level 47
Nov 29, 2020
I live in St. Louis :(
thegeneral823
+1
Level 27
Nov 15, 2021
i live in cleveland and every day i hear police alarms and ambulances firetrucks but sometimes it is a robbery or a homeless person dying but atleast every 2 weeks or 1 week someone gets murdered
Ghostbuster
+3
Level 87
Nov 27, 2021
DC is not working as a type in.
Quizmaster
+1
Level ∞
Nov 27, 2021
Fixed thanks.
WanderingWalrus
+1
Level 76
Nov 28, 2021
surprised not to see Miami and Los Angeles. Seems growing up in the UK in the 1970s all the shows on TV were about violence in these two cities
bburroughs
+3
Level 62
Nov 28, 2021
The population is much higher in those areas. Except for Chicago, all these cities are middle range population areas of the US. About the tv shows, that is because those tv shows are mainly done in 3 areas of the US; Los Angeles, New York and Miami. Now if the quiz was about actual number of murders in cities in the US, then Miami, Los Angeles and New York would be in the top 5 most likely. There are few other places in Texas, California and Florida that might be in there as well along with Chicago.
carrow
+1
Level 53
Nov 30, 2021
There's also the fact that a lot of America's large cities have become significantly more prosperous and safer since the 1970s - New York being the prime example - while a lot of other cities have gone backwards, i.e. note how many mid-sized Rust Belt cities there are here, which would've been the definition of wealth and harmony in the 1970s. (Well, maybe starting to slip a bit.)
woshiwaiguoren
+2
Level 65
Nov 30, 2021
That picture is pretty out of date...
Balikati
+2
Level 67
Nov 30, 2021
I really don't think the high murder rates are caused by the Mafia. Who could be the reason now...
Canuckquizzer1981
+1
Level 58
Nov 30, 2021
Should include what the "rate" is in the quiz. Right now there is no indication what the number means...Not that it would have helped me, but it would make the stats more interesting if I knew.

Also, god damn, people sure like murdering each other! I just checked and the highest one in Canada in 2019 was Thunder Bay at 5.56/100000 pop...We're so similar culturally, but sooooo different when it comes to these things.

Quizmaster
+1
Level ∞
Nov 30, 2021
Added the rate.
twogunsalute
+4
Level 57
Nov 30, 2021
Pittsburgh keeping it consistent
driehoek25
+1
Level 63
Nov 30, 2021
How high are Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Jacktheguy
+2
Level 87
Nov 30, 2021
Los Angeles: 9.0

San Francisco: 5.5

bigbob123
+2
Level 74
Dec 20, 2021
ohio now has 4 cities on this list!
buck1017
+3
Level 75
Dec 29, 2021
Jesus, Ohio!!! What is going on there?
kalbahamut
+1
Level 83
Jun 17, 2022
Ohio has been not great since my father was a child growing up in Youngstown/Boardman, which at the time was the murder capital of the country (he has very positive memories of his childhood in spite of the frequent car bombings). There is less mafia presence in the state now as industries continue to move out or go bust, as they have been steadily for the past 50-60 years, but that just means more urban decay, unemployment, homelessness, drug addiction, economic stagnation and other things that lead to higher rates of violent crime.
Spursy1
+1
Level 47
Jun 22, 2022
wow i had no idea the rust belt had so much crime

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