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Murder rate by state

Louisiana has the highest estimate (8.7 per 100,000); Hawaii has the lowest (1.2 per 100,000). Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation, Uniform Crime Reporting, estimated crimes, 2025.

Data year: 2025Source released Aug. 14, 2026Last updated Oct. 23, 2026Estimated crimes 2025: homicide

50 ranked states; DC and Puerto Rico appear as reference rows where the source supplies them. Highest does not mean best.

Lowest state estimate 1.2 per 100,000 Hawaii
Highest state estimate 8.7 per 100,000 Louisiana
Louisiana: 8.7 per 100,000 New Mexico: 8.6 per 100,000 Alabama: 8.5 per 100,000 Mississippi: 7.1 per 100,000 Missouri: 7.1 per 100,000 Tennessee: 6.5 per 100,000 North Carolina: 6.5 per 100,000 South Carolina: 6.4 per 100,000 Arkansas: 6.3 per 100,000 Alaska: 6.1 per 100,000 Georgia: 5.6 per 100,000 Maryland: 5.3 per 100,000 Oklahoma: 4.9 per 100,000 Nevada: 4.8 per 100,000 Kansas: 4.8 per 100,000 Texas: 4.6 per 100,000 Arizona: 4.5 per 100,000 Ohio: 4.5 per 100,000 Illinois: 4.4 per 100,000 Michigan: 4.4 per 100,000 Pennsylvania: 4.2 per 100,000 Virginia: 4.2 per 100,000 Delaware: 4.1 per 100,000 Wisconsin: 3.9 per 100,000 Indiana: 3.8 per 100,000 West Virginia: 3.8 per 100,000 Colorado: 3.6 per 100,000 California: 3.5 per 100,000 Florida: 3.2 per 100,000 South Dakota: 3.0 per 100,000 Washington: 2.9 per 100,000 Oregon: 2.9 per 100,000 Kentucky: 2.8 per 100,000 Wyoming: 2.7 per 100,000 Utah: 2.6 per 100,000 Montana: 2.6 per 100,000 New York: 2.4 per 100,000 Nebraska: 2.3 per 100,000 Minnesota: 2.2 per 100,000 Idaho: 2.1 per 100,000 Connecticut: 1.9 per 100,000 New Jersey: 1.9 per 100,000 Rhode Island: 1.7 per 100,000 Iowa: 1.6 per 100,000 Vermont: 1.6 per 100,000 North Dakota: 1.5 per 100,000 Massachusetts: 1.4 per 100,000 Maine: 1.4 per 100,000 New Hampshire: 1.2 per 100,000 Hawaii: 1.2 per 100,000
Each dot is a state. The scale runs from the lowest to highest estimate; intervals are not shown here. Read about uncertainty.

State distribution and comparisons

The middle of the 50-state distribution is 3.8 per 100,000: the average of the 25th and 26th ordered state estimates. This treats each state equally, so it answers a different question from a population-weighted national estimate.

Does the murder rate follow the overall violent crime rate?

These states’ ranks change the most between murder rate and violent crime rate. These comparisons identify different questions worth investigating; a rank gap does not measure a causal effect or a statistical difference between unlike units.

StateMurder rateViolent crime rate
Mississippi7.1 per 100,000 · #4226.9 per 100,000 · #36
Montana2.6 per 100,000 · #36419.1 per 100,000 · #9
Massachusetts1.4 per 100,000 · #47302.7 per 100,000 · #24

Inspect these states, definitions and pairwise differences.

Values over time

Annual estimates from the FBI’s 2025 release, 2022–2025. The FBI revises earlier years in each release; years before 2022 are less comparable because of the national switch to incident-based reporting (NIBRS) in 2021. Ranks are recalculated among the same 50 states for each year.

The state-by-state view

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Ranked among 50 states; District of Columbia shown for reference. Rank 1 = highest value.

Murder rate · 2025 · Per 100,000 residents
RankState / jurisdictionValue90% margin of errorDifference from previous rank
1Louisiana8.7 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
2New Mexico8.6 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
3Alabama8.5 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
4Mississippi7.1 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
5Missouri7.1 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
6Tennessee6.5 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
7North Carolina6.5 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
8South Carolina6.4 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
9Arkansas6.3 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
10Alaska6.1 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
11Georgia5.6 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
12Maryland5.3 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
13Oklahoma4.9 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
14Nevada4.8 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
15Kansas4.8 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
16Texas4.6 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
17Arizona4.5 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
18Ohio4.5 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
19Illinois4.4 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
20Michigan4.4 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
21Pennsylvania4.2 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
22Virginia4.2 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
23Delaware4.1 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
24Wisconsin3.9 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
25Indiana3.8 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
26West Virginia3.8 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
27Colorado3.6 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
28California3.5 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
29Florida3.2 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
30South Dakota3.0 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
31Washington2.9 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
32Oregon2.9 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
33Kentucky2.8 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
34Wyoming2.7 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
35Utah2.6 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
36Montana2.6 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
37New York2.4 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
38Nebraska2.3 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
39Minnesota2.2 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
40Idaho2.1 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
41Connecticut1.9 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
42New Jersey1.9 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
43Rhode Island1.7 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
44Iowa1.6 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
45Vermont1.6 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
46North Dakota1.5 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
47Massachusetts1.4 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
48Maine1.4 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
49New Hampshire1.2 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
50Hawaii1.2 per 100,000Not publishedNot a survey test
Ref.District of ColumbiaNot ranked among states16.7 per 100,000Not publishedReference jurisdiction

50 states plus 1 reference row.

What this ranking measures

Murders and nonnegligent manslaughters known to police per 100,000 residents in 2025.

Small states record few murders, so their rates can swing sharply from one year to the next. The FBI flags 2025 data for Florida and North Dakota as limited.

The size of the gap

The difference between the highest and lowest state estimates is 7.6 per 100,000. The U.S. benchmark is 4.1 per 100,000. It is not a simple average of the states.

22 states have point estimates above the U.S. benchmark and 28 below it. These counts do not establish statistical significance.

How much should you read into a rank?

The FBI does not publish margins of error. State figures are estimates: the FBI fills gaps for agencies that reported only part of the year or not at all. Reporting agencies covered 96.2% of the U.S. population in 2025, but coverage was limited in Florida and North Dakota. “Not published” means uncertainty is not quantified here, not that the estimates are exact.

Ranks use the full precision of the source file, so only truly equal values share a rank (1, 2, 2, 4).

Keep exploring

Read the ranking methodology.

Explore the same states in a side-by-side comparison, or combine this measure with others in the custom ranking tool.

Source and method

Producer
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Product / file
Uniform Crime Reporting, estimated crimes · Estimated crimes 2025: homicide
Period
2025
Unit
Per 100,000 residents
Calculation
100,000 × estimated homicide offenses / FBI population estimate for the same year (Census-based). These match the FBI’s published state rates. Rank = 1 + number of eligible jurisdictions with a higher value.
Coverage
The 50 states are ranked. Washington, D.C., can be added with the toggle above the table; Puerto Rico is shown for reference only, where the source covers it.
Cadence
Annual, usually in late summer. 2026 estimates expected in 2027.
Independence
Rank the States is independent. The agencies that produce the source data do not endorse these rankings.

Download, cite, or embed

Download the default full table (CSV) or use the download above for the table’s current filter and order. Data dictionary and source metadata

Updates and corrections

Last updated Oct. 23, 2026. Earlier editions stay available on the data page, and every change is listed in the update log. If a number or definition looks wrong, report an error with the state, value, and source you checked.

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State distributions: each mark is one state, from lowest to highest. Each row uses its own scale.

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