Murder Rate by State 2026

In the United States, crime rates vary significantly by state. Homicide mortality measures deaths caused by homicide, while police-reported murder statistics use law-enforcement definitions and reporting systems. These measures are related but should not be treated as interchangeable.

The rankings discussed here use the CDC’s 2024 Homicide Mortality data, on a page dated March 4, 2026. The source is the National Vital Statistics System’s death data, accessed through CDC WONDER. Rates are homicide deaths per 100,000 residents and are age-adjusted to account for differences in states’ age distributions.

For example, Alabama’s age-adjusted homicide death rate was 13.3 per 100,000 in 2024, and CDC recorded 645 homicide deaths in the state. The rate supports comparisons between populations with different age distributions; the count describes the actual number of deaths.

Because these rates are age-adjusted, multiplying a state’s population by its rate does not recover the actual number of homicide deaths. Use CDC’s reported death counts for totals. The state rankings below exclude the District of Columbia and should be distinguished from FBI murder counts and unadjusted population-based rates.

Among the 50 states in CDC’s 2024 data, the highest age-adjusted homicide death rate was Mississippi’s 19.7 per 100,000. The District of Columbia, which is not a state and is excluded from the state ranking, had a rate of 23.3 and 172 homicide deaths.

The following lists use the same 2024 CDC source and rate definition throughout. CDC notes that rates based on small numbers of deaths can be unstable, so small differences between states should be interpreted cautiously.

Top 10 States with the Highest Homicide Death Rates in 2024

Rates below are age-adjusted homicide deaths per 100,000 residents; counts are total homicide deaths:

1. Mississippi: 19.7; 548 deaths
2. Louisiana: 15.2; 659 deaths
3. Alabama: 13.3; 645 deaths
4. New Mexico: 13.2; 268 deaths
5. Tennessee: 10.0; 697 deaths
6. South Carolina: 9.9; 505 deaths
7. Missouri: 9.4; 555 deaths
8. Georgia: 9.2; 1,001 deaths
9. Maryland: 9.0; 529 deaths
10. Illinois: 8.7; 1,058 deaths

States with the Lowest Homicide Death Rates in 2024

The ten lowest state rates in the CDC data, using the same age-adjusted measure, were:

1. New Hampshire: 1.4; 18 deaths
2. Idaho: 1.8; 36 deaths
3. Rhode Island: 2.0; 20 deaths
4. Massachusetts: 2.2; 153 deaths
5. Utah: 2.3; 82 deaths
6. North Dakota: 2.5; 20 deaths
7. Maine: 2.6; 34 deaths
8. Hawaii: 2.8; 39 deaths
9. New Jersey: 2.9; 264 deaths
10. Connecticut: 3.0; 104 deaths