Which states have the highest murder rates?

In 2025 the District of Columbia had the highest murder rate, about 16.7 per 100,000 people, followed by New Mexico (9.0), Alabama (8.6) and Louisiana (8.1). New Hampshire (1.2) and Massachusetts (1.3) had the lowest; the U.S. rate was about 4.3. Small states have few murders, so their rates can swing from year to year. Rates count only the police agencies that reported to the FBI; in a few states, such as Florida and Mississippi, those cover only about 80 to 85% of residents.

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Key facts

Measure: Murders per 100,000 people. Written from the data below.

  • District of Columbia has the highest figure, 16.7, followed by New Mexico (9) and Alabama (8.6).
  • New Hampshire has the lowest figure, 1.2, followed by Massachusetts (1.3) and North Dakota (1.5).
  • The highest is 14 times the lowest.
  • U.S. overall: 4.3. Of the 51 compared, 23 are above it, 27 below, and 1 the same.

Source and date

Source
FBI Crime Data Explorer, Uniform Crime Reporting Program
License
Public domain (U.S. government work); source FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program
Data as of
Published

Citation

Chartly. “Which states have the highest murder rates?” Chart. Data: FBI Crime Data Explorer, Uniform Crime Reporting Program, https://cde.ucr.cjis.gov/LATEST/webapp/#/pages/explorer/crime/crime-trend (data as of December 31, 2025). https://chart.ly/charts/murder-rate-by-state (accessed October 15, 2026).

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The data

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The file has the numbers in this table, with the source, license and date. Please credit the source and Chartly.

State Murders per 100,000 people
District of Columbia 16.7
New Mexico 9
Alabama 8.6
Louisiana 8.1
Mississippi 7.6
Missouri 7.3
Tennessee 6.6
North Carolina 6.5
South Carolina 6.5
Alaska 6.4
Arkansas 6.4
Georgia 5.6
Maryland 5.4
Indiana 5
Nevada 5
Oklahoma 5
Ohio 4.9
Arizona 4.8
Kansas 4.7
Texas 4.7
Illinois 4.6
Michigan 4.5
West Virginia 4.4
U.S. overall 4.3
Virginia 4.3
Delaware 4.2
Pennsylvania 4.2
Wisconsin 4.1
Colorado 3.9
California 3.5
South Dakota 3.3
Wyoming 3.3
Florida 3
Oregon 3
Washington 3
Kentucky 2.8
Montana 2.8
Utah 2.5
New York 2.4
Minnesota 2.3
Nebraska 2.3
Hawaii 2
New Jersey 2
Connecticut 1.9
Idaho 1.9
Iowa 1.7
Rhode Island 1.7
Vermont 1.7
Maine 1.5
North Dakota 1.5
Massachusetts 1.3
New Hampshire 1.2

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