Cities With The Highest And Lowest Murder Rates In The United States For 2025


The cities with the highest murder rate in the US are Birmingham and Memphis for 2025 based on Saturday Night Science.

By: Chris Kolmar | About RoadSnacks
Last Updated: October 21, 2025

Murder rates by city in the United States research summary. We used Saturday Night Science to research the cities with the highest murder rates in the US for 2025. The data comes from the FBI Crimes trend which breaks down crime rates, including murder, for cities over 100,000 people every quarter. Our analysis reviews the reported murder rates in the 290 cities over 100,000 people.

  • The city with the highest murder rate in the United States is Birmingham, AL. It has 62.5 murders per 100,000 people (Equivalent to per capita, but multiplied by 100,000).

  • The city in the United States with the most murders is Chicago, IL with 499 murders.

  • The city with the lowest murder rate in the United States is El Cajon, CA. It is 0.0 murders per 100,000 people.

  • The state with the highest murder rate in the United States is Louisiana with 14 murders per 100,000 people.

Cities With The Most Murder Per Capita In The United States Map

Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table

Murder has increased since George Floyd’s death in 2020.

While there are many possible reasons for the increase, murder rates are still low by historical standards.

But “the why” is not the subject of our analysis today. Instead, we’re reporting on the facts using Saturday Night Science to show the cities with the highest and lowest murder rates in the United States.

Using the most recent data from the FBI, we’ll analyze the cities with the highest rates of murder on a per capita basis.

The ten cities in The United States with the highest murder rates per capita:

  1. Birmingham, AL
  2. Memphis, TN
  3. St. Louis, MO
  4. New Orleans, LA
  5. Baltimore, MD
  6. Detroit, MI
  7. Washington, DC
  8. Cleveland, OH
  9. Shreveport, LA
  10. Kansas City, MO

The ten cities in The United States with the lowest murder rates per capita:

  1. El Cajon, CA
  2. New Braunfels, TX
  3. Provo, UT
  4. Quincy, MA
  5. Temecula, CA
  6. Simi Valley, CA
  7. Santa Clara, CA
  8. Carmel, IN
  9. Bellevue, WA
  10. Carlsbad, CA

The city with the highest murder rate according to the most recent FBI Data? That would be Birmingham with 0.0006 murders per capita — or about 1 for every 1,600 people, which is relatively low compared to historical norms and isn’t THAT dangerous.

So, while murder might be a problem in these cities, we have a feeling that the top offenders will get their murder rates under control in the coming years.

Read on for more information on how we calculated these numbers, or feel free to check out something a little less dreary:

The 10 Cities With The Highest Murder Rate In America For 2025

1. Birmingham, AL

Birmingham Location In Alabama

Birmingham, AL

Source: Flickr User argusfoto | CC BY-ND 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 195,224
Murders: 122
Murders Per Capita: 0.0006
More on Birmingham: Data

2. Memphis, TN

Memphis Location In Tennessee

Memphis, TN

Source: Wikipedia User Thomas R Machnitzki | GFDL
Overall SnackAbility

3
/10

Population: 616,061
Murders: 351
Murders Per Capita: 0.0006
More on Memphis: Data

3. St. Louis, MO

St. Louis Location In Missouri

St. Louis, MO

Source: Flickr User Arch_Sam | CC BY 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 280,108
Murders: 158
Murders Per Capita: 0.0006
More on St. Louis: Data

4. New Orleans, LA

New Orleans Location In Louisiana

New Orleans, LA

Source: Flickr User szeke | CC BY-SA 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 364,197
Murders: 193
Murders Per Capita: 0.0005
More on New Orleans: Data

5. Baltimore, MD

Baltimore Location In Maryland

Baltimore, MD

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 565,192
Murders: 233
Murders Per Capita: 0.0004
More on Baltimore: Data

6. Detroit, MI

Detroit Location In Michigan

Detroit, MI

Source: Wikipedia User User:AE at Quicken Loans | CC BY-SA 1.0
Overall SnackAbility

3
/10

Population: 615,501
Murders: 250
Murders Per Capita: 0.0004
More on Detroit: Data

7. Washington, DC

Washington, DC

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

7.5
/10

Population: 678,972
Murders: 264
Murders Per Capita: 0.0004
More on Washington: Data

8. Cleveland, OH

Cleveland Location In Ohio

Cleveland, OH

Source: Flickr User Tim Evanson | CC BY-SA 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

3
/10

Population: 358,146
Murders: 139
Murders Per Capita: 0.0004
More on Cleveland: Data

9. Shreveport, LA

Shreveport Location In Louisiana

Shreveport, LA

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 176,906
Murders: 68
Murders Per Capita: 0.0004
More on Shreveport: Data

10. Kansas City, MO

Kansas City Location In Missouri

Kansas City, MO

Source: Wikipedia User | CC-BY-SA-3.0
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 509,855
Murders: 181
Murders Per Capita: 0.0004
More on Kansas City: Data

Methodology: How We Determined The Murder Capitals Of America For 2025

While there are surveys and public polls on what cities in a state are the most dangerous, we wanted to rely on something other than speculation and opinion. Instead, we looked to Saturday Night Science and the hard numbers from the FBI’s last year of reporting. Specifically, we analyzed the FBI’s Crime Data Explorer, which summarizes the number of murders that happen in each city per year.

We only looked at cities in America with over 100,000 people — that left us with 290 cities in America to analyze.

We then calculated the number of murders per capita for these cities to make an apples-to-apples comparison. This ranking created a “Murder Index.”

The cities with a higher Murder Index were deemed the “Murder Capitals of America For 2025.”

We must note that this report is not an analysis of the effectiveness of local police departments. It simply states where murders occurred.

We updated this report for 2025. This report is our tenth time ranking the murder capitals of America.

Most Dangerous States In The US

Summary: Locking Up Murders Row For 2025

There you have it — a look at the cities with the highest murder rates in America for 2025 with Birmingham at the top of the list.

The cities with the highest murder rate in the United States are Birmingham, AL, Memphis, TN, St. Louis, MO, New Orleans, LA, Baltimore, MD, Detroit, MI, Washington, DC, Cleveland, OH, Shreveport, LA, and Kansas City, MO.

If you’re looking for the safest cities in America when it comes to murder rates, check out El Cajon and New Braunfels.

For more reading around America:

Murder Rate Per Capita By City In The US For 2025

Rank City Population Murders Murder/100k
1 Birmingham, AL 195,224 122 62.5
2 Memphis, TN 616,061 351 57.0
3 St. Louis, MO 280,108 158 56.4
4 New Orleans, LA 364,197 193 53.0
5 Baltimore, MD 565,192 233 41.2
6 Detroit, MI 615,501 250 40.6
7 Washington, DC 678,972 264 38.9
8 Cleveland, OH 358,146 139 38.8
9 Shreveport, LA 176,906 68 38.4
10 Kansas City, MO 509,855 181 35.5
11 Milwaukee, WI 558,698 173 31.0
12 Little Rock, AR 202,986 62 30.5
13 Hartford, CT 120,710 36 29.8
14 Oakland, CA 425,484 118 27.7
15 Richmond, VA 230,789 62 26.9
16 Dayton, OH 135,181 36 26.6
17 Atlanta, GA 500,212 132 26.4
18 Philadelphia, PA 1,550,843 403 26.0
19 Pueblo, CO 111,240 28 25.2
20 Newport News, VA 183,600 46 25.1
21 North Charleston, SC 120,162 30 25.0
22 Greensboro, NC 303,237 75 24.7
23 Baton Rouge, LA 219,086 53 24.2
24 Lafayette, LA 121,361 28 23.1
25 Rochester, NY 208,452 47 22.5
26 Fayetteville, NC 209,262 47 22.5
27 Cincinnati, OH 309,484 68 22.0
28 Topeka, KS 124,967 26 20.8
29 Lancaster, CA 167,293 33 19.7
30 Hampton, VA 138,533 27 19.5
31 Albuquerque, NM 559,094 108 19.3
32 Peoria, IL 110,118 21 19.1
33 Chicago, IL 2,628,298 499 19.0
34 Indianapolis, IN 887,131 168 18.9
35 Springfield, MA 154,218 29 18.8
36 Norfolk, VA 230,849 43 18.6
37 Dallas, TX 1,304,989 242 18.5
38 Newark, NJ 303,827 53 17.4
39 Minneapolis, MN 422,341 72 17.0
40 Winston-Salem, NC 252,132 42 16.7
41 San Bernardino, CA 219,483 36 16.4
42 Vallejo, CA 122,419 20 16.3
43 Chattanooga, TN 185,370 29 15.6
44 Waterbury, CT 115,380 18 15.6
45 New Haven, CT 141,481 22 15.5
46 Beaumont, TX 110,671 17 15.4
47 Durham, NC 295,788 45 15.2
48 Stockton, CA 322,220 48 14.9
49 Houston, TX 2,304,406 343 14.9
50 Inglewood, CA 101,790 15 14.7
51 Buffalo, NY 275,922 39 14.1
52 Tacoma, WA 222,828 31 13.9
53 Mobile, AL 237,469 33 13.9
54 Albany, NY 101,930 14 13.7
55 Allentown, PA 124,782 17 13.6
56 Toledo, OH 264,341 36 13.6
57 Kent, WA 133,312 17 12.8
58 Syracuse, NY 143,295 18 12.6
59 Tuscaloosa, AL 113,956 14 12.3
60 Bridgeport, CT 148,483 18 12.1
61 Knoxville, TN 198,132 24 12.1
62 Denver, CO 712,222 85 11.9
63 Portland, OR 626,146 74 11.8
64 Grand Rapids, MI 196,019 23 11.7
65 Rockford, IL 145,873 17 11.7
66 Phoenix, AZ 1,660,686 191 11.5
67 Allen, TX 114,696 13 11.3
68 High Point, NC 115,490 13 11.3
69 San Antonio, TX 1,490,047 163 10.9
70 Suffolk, VA 100,598 11 10.9
71 Gainesville, FL 146,744 16 10.9
72 South Bend, IN 102,999 11 10.7
73 Lansing, MI 112,529 12 10.7
74 Columbus, OH 908,834 95 10.5
75 Pomona, CA 143,578 15 10.4
76 Aurora, CO 396,976 41 10.3
77 Tampa, FL 403,407 41 10.2
78 Akron, OH 187,705 19 10.1
79 Gresham, OR 110,225 11 10.0
80 Tyler, TX 110,824 11 9.9
81 Wichita, KS 395,290 39 9.9
82 Visalia, CA 145,031 14 9.7
83 Fort Wayne, IN 269,728 26 9.6
84 Paterson, NJ 155,991 15 9.6
85 Evansville, IN 114,950 11 9.6
86 Antioch, CA 115,271 11 9.5
87 Seattle, WA 753,786 68 9.0
88 Oklahoma City, OK 700,764 63 9.0
89 St. Paul, MN 300,368 27 9.0
90 Lakewood, CO 156,065 14 9.0
91 Everett, WA 111,566 10 9.0
92 Springfield, MO 170,521 15 8.8
93 Tulsa, OK 411,002 36 8.8
94 Fort Worth, TX 973,722 85 8.7
95 Los Angeles, CA 3,786,018 324 8.6
96 Waco, TX 145,741 12 8.2
97 Wilmington, NC 122,675 10 8.2
98 West Palm Beach, FL 122,697 10 8.2
99 Amarillo, TX 201,684 16 7.9
100 Spokane, WA 230,648 18 7.8

Murder Places By State

About Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar has been in the real estate business for almost ten years now. He originally worked for Movoto Real Estate as the director of marketing before founding HomeSnacks.

He believes the key to finding the right place to live comes down to looking at the data, reading about things to do, and, most importantly, checking it out yourself before you move.

If you've been looking for a place to live in the past several years, you've probably stumbled upon his writing already.

You can find out more about him on LinkedIn or his website.

 Murder, Rankings

One thought on “Cities With The Highest And Lowest Murder Rates In The United States For 2025”

  1. Your racist comment about black people in Baltimore sickens me. You clearly do not live in this city, because you would be aware of its many positive aspects.

    Reply

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