The 10 Murder Capitals Of America For 2022


These are the cities in America where people were killed most often, according to the latest FBI numbers.

Chris Kolmar, RoadSnacks
April 15, 2022 - 127,501 views
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Crime in America has been slowly but steadily dropping for the past several decades.

And despite a small, recent uptick, it's basically as safe as it's ever been.

However, much like how some parts of a city are more dangerous than others, there are parts of America that still haven't got the memo that were in a more peaceful time. These are the cities in America were murder is relatively common -- yet, we must stress, still very uncommon.

In an effort to you make you better aware of these potential danger zones, we dug into the most recent FBI data to determine where the murder rates are the highest amongst America's largest cities.

In a surprise to no one that's looked at the data before, Chicago isn't in the top ten -- it's such a huge city that even high absolute numbers don't translate into actually high murder rates.

These are the 10 cities in America with the highest murder rates per capita:

  1. St. Louis, MO
  2. New Orleans, LA
  3. Detroit, MI
  4. Baton Rouge, LA
  5. Memphis, TN
  6. Cleveland, OH
  7. Shreveport, LA
  8. Kansas City, MO
  9. Dayton, OH
  10. Milwaukee, WI

The city with the highest murder rate according to the most recent FBI Data? That would be St. Louis with 0.0009 murders per capita -- or about 1 for every 1,134 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 comming years.

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

Editor's Note: We updated this article for 2022. This is our ninth time ranking the murder capitals of America. This article is an opinion based on facts and is meant as infotainment -- don't freak out.

The 10 Cities With The Highest Murder Rate In America For 2022

1. St. Louis, MO

Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 298,422
Rank Last Year: 1 (No Change)
Murders: 263 (7th worst)
Murders Per Capita: 0.0009 (worst)
More on St. Louis:  Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

St. Louis, MO

Source: Flickr User Arch_Sam | CC BY 2.0

2. New Orleans, LA

Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 393,779
Rank Last Year: 6 (Up 4)
Murders: 201 (10th worst)
Murders Per Capita: 0.0005 (2nd worst)
More on New Orleans:  Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

New Orleans, LA

Source: Flickr User szeke | CC BY-SA 2.0

3. Detroit, MI

Overall SnackAbility

3
/10

Population: 659,616
Rank Last Year: 3 (No Change)
Murders: 328 (5th worst)
Murders Per Capita: 0.0005 (3rd worst)
More on Detroit:  Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

Detroit, MI

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

4. Baton Rouge, LA

Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 219,245
Rank Last Year: 5 (Up 1)
Murders: 102 (20th worst)
Murders Per Capita: 0.0005 (4th worst)
More on Baton Rouge:  Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

Baton Rouge, LA

Source: Public domain

5. Memphis, TN

Overall SnackAbility

3
/10

Population: 650,937
Rank Last Year: 8 (Up 3)
Murders: 289 (6th worst)
Murders Per Capita: 0.0004 (5th worst)
More on Memphis:  Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

Memphis, TN

Source: Wikipedia User Thomas R Machnitzki | GFDL

6. Cleveland, OH

Overall SnackAbility

3
/10

Population: 379,121
Rank Last Year: 9 (Up 3)
Murders: 160 (16th worst)
Murders Per Capita: 0.0004 (6th worst)
More on Cleveland:  Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

Cleveland, OH

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

7. Shreveport, LA

Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 185,588
Rank Last Year: 20 (Up 13)
Murders: 69 (28th worst)
Murders Per Capita: 0.0004 (7th worst)
More on Shreveport:  Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

Shreveport, LA

Source: Public domain

8. Kansas City, MO

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 499,335
Rank Last Year: 7 (Down 1)
Murders: 176 (14th worst)
Murders Per Capita: 0.0004 (8th worst)
More on Kansas City:  Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

Kansas City, MO

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

9. Dayton, OH

Overall SnackAbility

3
/10

Population: 140,193
Rank Last Year: 4 (Down 5)
Murders: 46 (48th worst)
Murders Per Capita: 0.0003 (9th worst)
More on Dayton:  Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

Dayton, OH

Source: Wikipedia User | GFDL

10. Milwaukee, WI

Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 589,105
Rank Last Year: 27 (Up 17)
Murders: 191 (12th worst)
Murders Per Capita: 0.0003 (10th worst)
More on Milwaukee:  Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

Milwaukee, WI

Source: Wikipedia User Dori | GFDL

Methodology: How We Determined The Murder Capitals Of America For 2022

While there are surveys and public polls on what cities in a state are the most dangerous, we didn't want to rely on speculation and opinion. Instead, we looked at the hard numbers from the FBI's last year of reporting. Specifically, we analyzed the FBI's Uniform Crime Report 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 283 cities in America to analyze.

These Are The 10 Worst Cities In America

We then calculated the number of murders per capita for these cities to make everything an apples to apples comparison along with the raw number of murders -- because more absolute murder is more murder.

We then averaged the two rankings together to create a Murder Index.

The cities with a higher Murder Index were deemed the "Murder Capitals of America For 2022". You can download the data here.

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

Summary: Locking Up Murders Row For 2022

There you have it -- a look at the cities with the highhest murder rates in America for 2019 with St. Louis at the top of the list.

If you're looking for the safest cities in America when it comes to murder, check out Lee'S Summit and Temecula.

For more reading around America:

The 100 Cities In America With The Most Murders For 2022

Rank City Population Murders
1 St. Louis, MO 298,422 263
2 New Orleans, LA 393,779 201
3 Detroit, MI 659,616 328
4 Baton Rouge, LA 219,245 102
5 Memphis, TN 650,937 289
6 Cleveland, OH 379,121 160
7 Shreveport, LA 185,588 69
8 Kansas City, MO 499,335 176
9 Dayton, OH 140,193 46
10 Milwaukee, WI 589,105 191
11 North Charleston, SC 117,503 38
12 San Bernardino, CA 216,365 68
13 Cincinnati, OH 304,724 92
14 Chicago, IL 2,693,598 771
15 Richmond, VA 233,350 66
16 Washington, DC 712,816 198
17 South Bend, IN 102,119 28
18 Little Rock, AR 197,688 49
19 Indianapolis, IN 890,672 216
20 Buffalo, NY 254,627 61
21 Akron, OH 197,433 47
22 Rochester, NY 205,199 48
23 Oakland, CA 437,923 102
24 Syracuse, NY 142,011 32
25 Vallejo, CA 122,326 27
26 Rockford, IL 144,795 30
27 Norfolk, VA 242,516 49
28 Knoxville, TN 188,672 38
29 Fort Lauderdale, FL 184,347 37
30 Newark, NJ 282,242 56
31 Greensboro, NC 299,887 59
32 Toledo, OH 271,237 53
33 Columbus, OH 911,383 174
34 Hartford, CT 121,749 23
35 Paterson, NJ 144,947 27
36 Minneapolis, MN 435,116 79
37 Richmond, CA 111,367 20
38 Chattanooga, TN 184,211 33
39 Tulsa, OK 402,166 72
40 Hampton, VA 134,082 24
41 Stockton, CA 314,981 56
42 Wilmington, NC 125,794 22
43 Dallas, TX 1,363,028 236
44 Beaumont, TX 116,766 20
45 Houston, TX 2,346,155 400
46 Pompano Beach, FL 113,545 19
47 Bridgeport, CT 144,350 24
48 Miami Gardens, FL 110,284 18
49 New Haven, CT 130,299 21
50 West Palm Beach, FL 113,268 18
51 Victorville, CA 123,085 19
52 Des Moines, IA 215,290 33
53 Jacksonville, FL 920,508 140
54 Columbia, SC 131,777 19
55 Fresno, CA 535,472 77
56 Fort Wayne, IN 272,270 39
57 Albuquerque, NM 562,065 80
58 Pueblo, CO 113,002 16
59 Fayetteville, NC 212,033 30
60 Newport News, VA 178,896 25
61 Grand Rapids, MI 202,513 28
62 Lansing, MI 118,651 16
63 Denver, CO 737,709 97
64 Elizabeth, NJ 129,518 17
65 Springfield, MO 168,856 22
66 Inglewood, CA 107,986 14
67 Miami, FL 476,102 61
68 Peoria, IL 109,924 14
69 Tacoma, WA 220,123 28
70 Billings, MT 110,157 14
71 Durham, NC 284,925 36
72 High Point, NC 113,727 14
73 Tallahassee, FL 196,012 24
74 Charleston, SC 139,582 17
75 Waterbury, CT 107,263 13
76 Fort Worth, TX 929,509 110
77 Springfield, MA 153,084 18
78 Bakersfield, CA 388,265 44
79 Tucson, AZ 550,448 61
80 Lafayette, LA 126,679 14
81 Phoenix, AZ 1,708,960 187
82 Lubbock, TX 262,146 28
83 Orlando, FL 293,363 31
84 Lakeland, FL 113,876 12
85 Columbia, MO 124,829 13
86 Corpus Christi, TX 329,050 34
87 Odessa, TX 126,288 13
88 Hollywood, FL 156,434 16
89 Lancaster, CA 157,689 16
90 Aurora, CO 385,720 39
91 Tampa, FL 407,350 41
92 Waco, TX 140,870 14
93 Davenport, IA 101,806 10
94 St. Paul, MN 309,859 30
95 Springfield, IL 113,912 11
96 Oklahoma City, OK 663,661 63
97 Providence, RI 179,603 17
98 Independence, MO 116,648 11
99 Glendale, AZ 255,468 24
100 Clarksville, TN 161,167 15
Download The Entire Ranking Data

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