In 2017, there were 5.3 murders for every 100,000 Americans. Fortunately, that figure is down from 8.0 in the 1980s.
The most dangerous city in the country is St. Louis. It had the highest murder rate in the nation — 66.1 murders per 100,000 people in 2017. In fact, it’s had the highest rate for four straight years.
Pew Research Center noted that the "next highest cities on the list were Baltimore (55.8 per 100,000), Detroit (39.8 per 100,000), New Orleans (39.5 per 100,000) and Baton Rouge, Louisiana (38.3 per 100,000)."
As it has for many years recently, Chicago suffered a larger number of murders than any other city — 653. But, relative to its population, Chicago is just the 14th deadliest city in the nation.
New York, the nation’s largest city, experienced 292 murders in 2017. That’s way down from 2,245 in 1990. Pew reports that "New York’s murder rate – 3.4 homicides per 100,000 people – is now below the national average."
Los Angeles has also seen a major decline in its murder rate over the past generation.
These figures are based on FBI data counting "homicides and non-negligent manslaughters that are reported by police." Data is reported only for cities with 100,000 residents or more.
Each weekday, Scott Rasmussen’s Number of the Day explores interesting and newsworthy topics at the intersection of culture, politics, and technology. Columns published on Ballotpedia reflect the views of the author.
Scott Rasmussen is founder and president of the Rasmussen Media Group. He is the author of "Mad as Hell: How the Tea Party Movement Is Fundamentally Remaking Our Two-Party System," "In Search of Self-Governance," and "The People’s Money: How Voters Will Balance the Budget and Eliminate the Federal Debt." Read more reports from Scott Rasmussen — Click Here Now.
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