Data / Rankings / Murder rate / US states

US states by murder rate

District of Columbia had the highest murder rate of 51 states in 2017, at 16.7 per 100,000 people. New Hampshire had the lowest, at 1 per 100,000 people. The median was 5 per 100,000 people. Source: FBI.

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Highest16.7District of Columbia
Lowest1New Hampshire
Median551 states

Map of states, 2017

Alabama: 8.6 per 100,000 peopleAlaska: 8.4 per 100,000 peopleArizona: 6 per 100,000 peopleArkansas: 8.3 per 100,000 peopleCalifornia: 4.6 per 100,000 peopleColorado: 4 per 100,000 peopleConnecticut: 2.9 per 100,000 peopleDelaware: 5.3 per 100,000 peopleDistrict of Columbia: 16.7 per 100,000 peopleFlorida: 5 per 100,000 peopleGeorgia: 6.5 per 100,000 peopleHawaii: 2.7 per 100,000 peopleIdaho: 2.4 per 100,000 peopleIllinois: 7.7 per 100,000 peopleIndiana: 6.2 per 100,000 peopleIowa: 3.1 per 100,000 peopleKansas: 4.6 per 100,000 peopleKentucky: 5.9 per 100,000 peopleLouisiana: 12.3 per 100,000 peopleMaine: 1.7 per 100,000 peopleMaryland: 9.3 per 100,000 peopleMassachusetts: 2.5 per 100,000 peopleMichigan: 5.7 per 100,000 peopleMinnesota: 2 per 100,000 peopleMississippi: 6.4 per 100,000 peopleMissouri: 9.8 per 100,000 peopleMontana: 3.9 per 100,000 peopleNebraska: 2.2 per 100,000 peopleNevada: 8.9 per 100,000 peopleNew Hampshire: 1 per 100,000 peopleNew Jersey: 3.6 per 100,000 peopleNew Mexico: 6.9 per 100,000 peopleNew York: 2.8 per 100,000 peopleNorth Carolina: 6.1 per 100,000 peopleNorth Dakota: 1.3 per 100,000 peopleOhio: 6.4 per 100,000 peopleOklahoma: 6.2 per 100,000 peopleOregon: 2.5 per 100,000 peoplePennsylvania: 5.8 per 100,000 peopleRhode Island: 2 per 100,000 peopleSouth Carolina: 7.6 per 100,000 peopleSouth Dakota: 3.1 per 100,000 peopleTennessee: 8 per 100,000 peopleTexas: 5 per 100,000 peopleUtah: 2.4 per 100,000 peopleVermont: 2.7 per 100,000 peopleVirginia: 5.6 per 100,000 peopleWashington: 3 per 100,000 peopleWest Virginia: 5.4 per 100,000 peopleWisconsin: 3.3 per 100,000 peopleWyoming: 2.4 per 100,000 people
  • Under 2.4
  • 2.4 to 3.1
  • 3.1 to 5
  • 5 to 6.1
  • 6.1 to 7.9
  • 7.9 and over
per 100,000 people, 2017. Source: Invokely calculation with data from FBI. Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundary files.

All states, 2017

District of Columbia: 16.7 per 100,000 peopleDistrict of Columbia16.7Louisiana: 12.3 per 100,000 peopleLouisiana12.3Missouri: 9.8 per 100,000 peopleMissouri9.8Maryland: 9.3 per 100,000 peopleMaryland9.3Nevada: 8.9 per 100,000 peopleNevada8.9Alabama: 8.6 per 100,000 peopleAlabama8.6Alaska: 8.4 per 100,000 peopleAlaska8.4Arkansas: 8.3 per 100,000 peopleArkansas8.3Tennessee: 8 per 100,000 peopleTennessee8Illinois: 7.7 per 100,000 peopleIllinois7.7South Carolina: 7.6 per 100,000 peopleSouth Carolina7.6New Mexico: 6.9 per 100,000 peopleNew Mexico6.9Georgia: 6.5 per 100,000 peopleGeorgia6.5Mississippi: 6.4 per 100,000 peopleMississippi6.4Ohio: 6.4 per 100,000 peopleOhio6.4Indiana: 6.2 per 100,000 peopleIndiana6.2Oklahoma: 6.2 per 100,000 peopleOklahoma6.2North Carolina: 6.1 per 100,000 peopleNorth Carolina6.1Arizona: 6 per 100,000 peopleArizona6Kentucky: 5.9 per 100,000 peopleKentucky5.9Pennsylvania: 5.8 per 100,000 peoplePennsylvania5.8Michigan: 5.7 per 100,000 peopleMichigan5.7Virginia: 5.6 per 100,000 peopleVirginia5.6West Virginia: 5.4 per 100,000 peopleWest Virginia5.4Delaware: 5.3 per 100,000 peopleDelaware5.3Florida: 5 per 100,000 peopleFlorida5Texas: 5 per 100,000 peopleTexas5California: 4.6 per 100,000 peopleCalifornia4.6Kansas: 4.6 per 100,000 peopleKansas4.6Colorado: 4 per 100,000 peopleColorado4Montana: 3.9 per 100,000 peopleMontana3.9New Jersey: 3.6 per 100,000 peopleNew Jersey3.6Wisconsin: 3.3 per 100,000 peopleWisconsin3.3Iowa: 3.1 per 100,000 peopleIowa3.1South Dakota: 3.1 per 100,000 peopleSouth Dakota3.1Washington: 3 per 100,000 peopleWashington3Connecticut: 2.9 per 100,000 peopleConnecticut2.9New York: 2.8 per 100,000 peopleNew York2.8Hawaii: 2.7 per 100,000 peopleHawaii2.7Vermont: 2.7 per 100,000 peopleVermont2.7Massachusetts: 2.5 per 100,000 peopleMassachusetts2.5Oregon: 2.5 per 100,000 peopleOregon2.5Idaho: 2.4 per 100,000 peopleIdaho2.4Utah: 2.4 per 100,000 peopleUtah2.4Wyoming: 2.4 per 100,000 peopleWyoming2.4Nebraska: 2.2 per 100,000 peopleNebraska2.2Minnesota: 2 per 100,000 peopleMinnesota2Rhode Island: 2 per 100,000 peopleRhode Island2Maine: 1.7 per 100,000 peopleMaine1.7North Dakota: 1.3 per 100,000 peopleNorth Dakota1.3New Hampshire: 1 per 100,000 peopleNew Hampshire1District of Columbia: 16.7 per 100,000 peopleDistrict of Columbia16.7Louisiana: 12.3 per 100,000 peopleLouisiana12.3Missouri: 9.8 per 100,000 peopleMissouri9.8Maryland: 9.3 per 100,000 peopleMaryland9.3Nevada: 8.9 per 100,000 peopleNevada8.9Alabama: 8.6 per 100,000 peopleAlabama8.6Alaska: 8.4 per 100,000 peopleAlaska8.4Arkansas: 8.3 per 100,000 peopleArkansas8.3Tennessee: 8 per 100,000 peopleTennessee8Illinois: 7.7 per 100,000 peopleIllinois7.7South Carolina: 7.6 per 100,000 peopleSouth Carolina7.6New Mexico: 6.9 per 100,000 peopleNew Mexico6.9Georgia: 6.5 per 100,000 peopleGeorgia6.5Mississippi: 6.4 per 100,000 peopleMississippi6.4Ohio: 6.4 per 100,000 peopleOhio6.4Indiana: 6.2 per 100,000 peopleIndiana6.2Oklahoma: 6.2 per 100,000 peopleOklahoma6.2North Carolina: 6.1 per 100,000 peopleNorth Carolina6.1Arizona: 6 per 100,000 peopleArizona6Kentucky: 5.9 per 100,000 peopleKentucky5.9Pennsylvania: 5.8 per 100,000 peoplePennsylvania5.8Michigan: 5.7 per 100,000 peopleMichigan5.7Virginia: 5.6 per 100,000 peopleVirginia5.6West Virginia: 5.4 per 100,000 peopleWest Virginia5.4Delaware: 5.3 per 100,000 peopleDelaware5.3Florida: 5 per 100,000 peopleFlorida5Texas: 5 per 100,000 peopleTexas5California: 4.6 per 100,000 peopleCalifornia4.6Kansas: 4.6 per 100,000 peopleKansas4.6Colorado: 4 per 100,000 peopleColorado4Montana: 3.9 per 100,000 peopleMontana3.9New Jersey: 3.6 per 100,000 peopleNew Jersey3.6Wisconsin: 3.3 per 100,000 peopleWisconsin3.3Iowa: 3.1 per 100,000 peopleIowa3.1South Dakota: 3.1 per 100,000 peopleSouth Dakota3.1Washington: 3 per 100,000 peopleWashington3Connecticut: 2.9 per 100,000 peopleConnecticut2.9New York: 2.8 per 100,000 peopleNew York2.8Hawaii: 2.7 per 100,000 peopleHawaii2.7Vermont: 2.7 per 100,000 peopleVermont2.7Massachusetts: 2.5 per 100,000 peopleMassachusetts2.5Oregon: 2.5 per 100,000 peopleOregon2.5Idaho: 2.4 per 100,000 peopleIdaho2.4Utah: 2.4 per 100,000 peopleUtah2.4Wyoming: 2.4 per 100,000 peopleWyoming2.4Nebraska: 2.2 per 100,000 peopleNebraska2.2Minnesota: 2 per 100,000 peopleMinnesota2Rhode Island: 2 per 100,000 peopleRhode Island2Maine: 1.7 per 100,000 peopleMaine1.7North Dakota: 1.3 per 100,000 peopleNorth Dakota1.3New Hampshire: 1 per 100,000 peopleNew Hampshire1
per 100,000 people. Source: Invokely calculation with data from FBI. Retrieved 2026-10-18.

Full ranking

RankStates2017
per 100,000 people		Change on 2016
1District of Columbia16.7-3.2 pts
2Louisiana12.3+0.5 pts
3Missouri9.8+1 pts
4Maryland9.3+0.4 pts
5Nevada8.9+1.1 pts
6Alabama8.6+0.2 pts
7Alaska8.4+1.4 pts
8Arkansas8.3+1 pts
9Tennessee8+0.6 pts
10Illinois7.7-0.6 pts
11South Carolina7.6+0.4 pts
12New Mexico6.9+0.2 pts
13Georgia6.5-0.1 pts
14Mississippi6.4-1.5 pts
14Ohio6.4+0.5 pts
16Indiana6.2-0.3 pts
16Oklahoma6.2-0.1 pts
18North Carolina6.1-0.6 pts
19Arizona6+0.4 pts
20Kentucky5.9-0.1 pts
21Pennsylvania5.8+0.5 pts
22Michigan5.7-0.5 pts
23Virginia5.6-0.1 pts
24West Virginia5.4+0.8 pts
25Delaware5.3-0.8 pts
26Florida5-0.4 pts
26Texas5-0.3 pts
28California4.6-0.3 pts
28Kansas4.6+0.1 pts
30Colorado4+0.6 pts
31Montana3.9+0.3 pts
32New Jersey3.6-0.6 pts
33Wisconsin3.3-0.7 pts
34Iowa3.1+0.8 pts
34South Dakota3.1-0.1 pts
36Washington3+0.3 pts
37Connecticut2.9+0.7 pts
38New York2.8-0.4 pts
39Hawaii2.7+0.3 pts
39Vermont2.7+0.5 pts
41Massachusetts2.5+0.5 pts
41Oregon2.5-0.3 pts
43Idaho2.4-0.5 pts
43Utah2.40 pts
43Wyoming2.4-1 pts
46Nebraska2.2-0.4 pts
47Minnesota2+0.2 pts
47Rhode Island2-0.7 pts
49Maine1.7+0.2 pts
50North Dakota1.3-0.8 pts
51New Hampshire1-0.4 pts

Other periods

About this ranking

Estimated murders and nonnegligent manslaughters known to law enforcement per 100,000 inhabitants. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program.

UCR definition: the willful killing of one human being by another, excluding deaths caused by negligence, suicides, accidents and justifiable homicides. For other countries use homicide_rate (UNODC). Per 100,000 inhabitants of the population the FBI uses, as published by the FBI, not Invokely population figures. FBI estimates for the whole population: agencies that did not report, or reported part of the year, are filled in by the FBI. The FBI revises earlier years in each annual release, and from 2021 the estimates are built from incident-based (NIBRS) reports. The national series has no values for 2017 to 2020 in the FBI estimates file.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the states are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

Federal Bureau of Investigation, Uniform Crime Reporting Program, Crime Data Explorer. FBI UCR Summary Reporting System estimated crimes, 1979 on: murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, rate per 100,000 inhabitants. https://cde.ucr.cjis.gov/LATEST/webapp/#/pages/downloads. Retrieved 2026-10-18.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

Federal Bureau of Investigation, Uniform Crime Reporting Program. (2026). FBI UCR Summary Reporting System estimated crimes, 1979 on: murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, rate per 100,000 inhabitants (US states by murder rate, 2017) [Data set]. Retrieved October 18, 2026, from https://cde.ucr.cjis.gov/LATEST/webapp/#/pages/downloads

MLA 9

FBI UCR Summary Reporting System estimated crimes, 1979 on: murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, rate per 100,000 inhabitants, US states by murder rate, 2017. Federal Bureau of Investigation, Uniform Crime Reporting Program, 14 Aug. 2026, https://cde.ucr.cjis.gov/LATEST/webapp/#/pages/downloads. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/murder-rate/us-states?period=2017. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

Federal Bureau of Investigation, Uniform Crime Reporting Program. 2026. FBI UCR Summary Reporting System estimated crimes, 1979 on: murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, rate per 100,000 inhabitants. US states by murder rate, 2017. Dataset. Accessed October 18, 2026. https://cde.ucr.cjis.gov/LATEST/webapp/#/pages/downloads. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/murder-rate/us-states?period=2017.

Harvard

Federal Bureau of Investigation, Uniform Crime Reporting Program (2026) FBI UCR Summary Reporting System estimated crimes, 1979 on: murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, rate per 100,000 inhabitants, US states by murder rate, 2017 [Dataset]. Available at: https://cde.ucr.cjis.gov/LATEST/webapp/#/pages/downloads, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/murder-rate/us-states?period=2017 (Accessed: 18 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{federal_us_states_by_murder_2017,
  author = {{Federal Bureau of Investigation, Uniform Crime Reporting Program}},
  title = {{FBI UCR Summary Reporting System estimated crimes, 1979 on: murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, rate per 100,000 inhabitants: US states by murder rate, 2017}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://cde.ucr.cjis.gov/LATEST/webapp/#/pages/downloads},
  urldate = {2026-10-18},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/murder-rate/us-states?period=2017. Publisher attribution: Federal Bureau of Investigation, Uniform Crime Reporting Program, Crime Data Explorer. FBI UCR Summary Reporting System estimated crimes, 1979 on: murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, rate per 100,000 inhabitants. https://cde.ucr.cjis.gov/LATEST/webapp/\#/pages/downloads. Retrieved 2026-10-18.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - Federal Bureau of Investigation, Uniform Crime Reporting Program
TI  - FBI UCR Summary Reporting System estimated crimes, 1979 on: murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, rate per 100,000 inhabitants: US states by murder rate, 2017
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/08/14
PB  - Federal Bureau of Investigation, Uniform Crime Reporting Program
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://cde.ucr.cjis.gov/LATEST/webapp/#/pages/downloads
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/murder-rate/us-states?period=2017
Y2  - 2026/10/18
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/murder-rate/us-states?period=2017.
N1  - Publisher attribution: Federal Bureau of Investigation, Uniform Crime Reporting Program, Crime Data Explorer. FBI UCR Summary Reporting System estimated crimes, 1979 on: murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, rate per 100,000 inhabitants. https://cde.ucr.cjis.gov/LATEST/webapp/#/pages/downloads. Retrieved 2026-10-18.
ER  -
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Questions

Which state has the highest murder rate?

District of Columbia, with 16.7 per 100,000 people in 2017, according to FBI.

Which state has the lowest murder rate?

New Hampshire, with 1 per 100,000 people in 2017.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: Federal Bureau of Investigation, Uniform Crime Reporting Program, FBI UCR Summary Reporting System estimated crimes, 1979 on: murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, rate per 100,000 inhabitants. Retrieved 2026-10-18.

US states: more rankings