Highest Homicide Rates in 2024 (Cities)

Guess what 13 of the 20 U.S. cities with the highest murder rates were in Republican-run states. Sending in an untrained National Guard. They were not trained for controlling crowds of civilians. At Camp Lejeune in 1970, they were training us and had established mock cities to train in for practice.

Pres. Trump says (in a claim) the nation’s murder problem is particularly bad in New York City, Chicago, Baltimore, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. All of which are Democratic-run cities in Democratic-led states (or district, in D.C.’s case).

• FBI crime figures from 2024?

The big picture? Thirteen (13) of the 20 U.S. cities with the highest murder rates were in Republican-run states. Many of those cities were run by Democrats who often are at odds with state officials, an Axios analysis of FBI data finds.

State of play: The nation’s homicide rate dropped to 5 per 100,000 residents in 2024 — a rate not seen since the Obama era, when overall violent crime rates were hovering around 30-year lows.

• Many cities (including those with the highest murder rates) saw declines in homicides. Crime remains a significant concern, but Trump’s criticism of big, Democrat-led cities in blue states tells only part of the story.

By the numbers: Eight of the top 10 cities with the highest murder rates and populations of at least 100,000 were in red states — Mississippi, Alabama, Missouri, Tennessee, Ohio and Louisiana (Axios).

• Jackson, Miss., had the nation’s highest homicide rate. Nearly 78 per 100,000 residents, more than 15 times the national average.
• Birmingham, Ala., was second with a homicide rate of almost 59 per 100,000 residents — more than 11 times the national average.
• St. Louis was third, followed by Memphis, Tenn.

Zoom out: Six of the next 10 cities with the highest homicide rates were in Republican-run Georgia, Ohio, Indiana and Alabama, along with Virginia and Kentucky, whose state governments are politically divided.

AB: Is politics a real factor here? Or is the Pres. trying to make it such? In which case . . .

The intrigue: Trump’s order that led National Guard troops and federal agents to patrol D.C. has drawn mixed reviews in the city, where several high-profile crimes have put a spotlight on safety.

• The city of 702,000 had a homicide rate of 25.5 per 100,000 residents in 2024. Officials say it was a 30-year low. That ranked 11th among big U.S. cities last year.
• Baltimore’s crime rate also drew criticism from Trump. It had the nation’s fifth-highest homicide rate at 34.8. Officials there say it was the lowest rate in five decades.

What they’re saying? 

Baltimore Mayor Brandon M. Scott told reporters. “No mayor in the country (myself included) is saying we have solved this issue of violent crime.”

• Scott said historic lows in cities have had to deal with high homicide rates annually have to be acknowledged, and programs that target gun violence should be expanded.
• Scott noted the cities Trump has called out for having high crime have Black mayors, and said the president appears to be overlooking many high-crime cities in red states.

Between the lines: 19 of the top 20 cities with the highest homicide rates have large percentages of Black residents in historically underserved communities plagued by poverty.

• Ranked 19th with a rate of 18.4, only Albuquerque does not have a sizable Black population. The population of which is 53% Latino or Native American.

What we should be watching?: Trump is threatening to deploy the National Guard to cities such as Oakland and Baltimore as part of a crackdown on crime.

Where homicide rates are highest: Blue cities in red states