By Ted Dabrowski and John Klingner, of Wirepoints

Chicago was once again the nation’s homicide capital in 2024 with 573 murders – the 13th year in a row that the Windy City has suffered more murders than anywhere else in the country. New York, Houston, Philadelphia and Los Angeles rounded out the top five for most murders. 

St. Louis was the nation’s other murder capital when based on homicides per capita. The Gateway City suffered 52.9 homicides per 100,000 residents, marking the third year in a row St. Louis has held that title. Memphis was in 2nd-place with 38.0 homicides per 100,000. 2024 marks the second year in a row the city has been the runner-up. Rounding out the top five were Baltimore with 35.6 murders per 100,000, New Orleans with 34.1 and Detroit with 32.1.

The data compiled by Wirepoints is based on 2024 homicide totals for the nation’s 75 biggest cities, assembled via year-end city police compstat reports, various news articles and other sources.

Murders in 2024 continued their downward trend after peaking in the early pandemic/George Floyd period.

Remarkably, Jacksonville murders fell by 48% last year, while cities like New Orleans, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. dropped by more than 30%. In contrast, Chicago and New York missed most of that drop, falling just 8% and 4%, respectively. 

The report below includes the following sections:

• Homicides, America’s 20 biggest cities, 2024
• Change in total homicides, 2024 vs. 2023
• Change in homicides per capita, 2024 vs. 2023
• Total homicides, 2024 vs. 2019 

Homicides across the 20 biggest cities, 2024

The nation’s list of top five most-murderous cities has changed over time, with cities like Los Angeles, Detroit, Philadelphia, Houston, New York, and Baltimore falling on and off depending on the year.

The one constant for more than a decade has been Chicago. The Windy City has always taken the top spot, often by a large margin.

In 2024, Chicago’s 573 murders once again led the nation. New York came in 2nd with 377 murders, followed by Houston’s 322. Rounding out the top five were Philadelphia (269) and Los Angeles (259).

Chicago also took the top spot of highest murder rate among big cities in 2024, a position usually held by Philadelphia. However, Philadelphia’s significant drop in homicides in 2024 caused its homicide rate to fall from 26.4 in 2023 to 17.3, below Chicago’s own 21.5. 

Indianapolis ended up in 2nd with 19.7 murders per 100,000, and Philly placed 3rd. Dallas at 14.0 and Houston with 13.9 murders comprised the nation’s top five.

Chicago’s murder rate of 21.5 per 100,000 population was 3 times that of Los Angeles and nearly 5 times higher than New York’s.  That’s a staggering difference. 

Chicago would have had just 122 homicides last year if it had the same murder rate as the Big Apple. Conversely, New York City would have suffered 1,775 murders if it had Chicago’s homicide rate (compared to the 377 it had).

Total homicides, 2024 vs. 2023

Homicides have steadily declined over the past several years from their peak during the early pandemic period. That falling trend continued in 2024. In all, 19 of the top 20 cities for total homicides experienced fewer murders in 2024 as compared to 2023. Only Indianapolis stayed flat with 173 murders, same as last year.

Those declines were not evenly distributed, however. Some cities experienced double-digit decreases while others saw little difference in their level of bloodshed.

The nation’s best performer was Jacksonville, where homicides collapsed almost 50% versus 2023, a decrease of 76 deaths. New Orleans and Washington D.C. homicides dropped by over a third with 68 and 87 fewer murders, respectively. 

Philadelphia’s murders also fell by a third in 2024 with 140 less deaths – a remarkable drop considering the city has been nearly as murder-prone as Chicago in previous years. 

On the opposite end of the homicide decline are cities like Chicago and St. Louis.

St. Louis experienced a small decline of just 7% – leaving it as the nation’s homicide-per-capita capital for the third year in a row. And Chicago’s 8% decline – 573 murders in 2024 versus 620 in 2023 – was the 4th-lowest among the top 20.

Some might note that murders in Chicago’s big-city peers New York City and Houston also dropped by relatively small amounts, just 4% and 7%, respectively. But it’s important to note that both cities, especially New York, already have far lower murder rates, making big percentage drops more difficult for them. 

The 2024 homicide rate in Houston was just 13.9 per 100,000 and New York’s was even lower at 4.6 per 100,000, far lower than Chicago’s 21.5.

Chicago’s poor performance vis-à-vis the rest of the country should give city leaders pause before celebrating the Windy City’s decline in homicides. The simple fact is the city is still experiencing far too much bloodshed. 

Mayor Brandon Johnson talks about getting homicides below 500 a year – but that’s far too unambitious.

Chicago’s first goal should be to match the homicide rate of a city like Houston, with 13.9 per 100,000 murders. At that rate, Chicago would have just 371 murders.

If Chicago finally reformed its criminal justice policies and brought down its per capita homicides to the levels of Los Angeles or New York City, its murders would fall to 181 or 122, respectively. It’s not impossible. Los Angeles and New York City used to be just as violent as Chicago in the 1990s. 

Homicides per capita, 2024 vs. 2023

Like above, a vast majority of cities with the most homicides per capita experienced declines in 2024, many of them significant. Greensboro, NC had the biggest year-over-year decline of 42%. The city’s homicide rate dropped from 24.5 to 14.2 per 100,000 residents. And the cities of New Orleans, Philadelphia, Las Vegas, Washington D.C. and Oakland all experienced rate declines of about a third.

On the flip side, the nation’s per-capita homicide capital St. Louis saw a murder rate drop of just 8%, the nation’s 6th-worst decline out of the top 20 most-murderous cities. 

Atlanta’s murder rate declined just 6% over the year, falling to 24.9 murders per 100,000. And Louisville experienced a 1% drop in its rate, coming down to a rate of 23.1.

Overall, 18 of the top 20 cities for homicides per capita experienced fewer murders in 2024 vs. 2023. Indianapolis stayed flat with 19.7 murders per 100,000 and Cincinnati experienced a small increase of 1% (from 22.5 to 22.8).

Total homicides, 2024 vs. 2019

Most cities’ 2024 homicides, while down far from their 2020-2021 peak, are still higher than they were in 2019.

Of the top 20 cities with the most 2024 homicides, 15 still had more homicides in 2024 than they did in 2019. Collectively, there were 4,205 homicides in 2024 versus 3,980 in 2019.

Atlanta is the worst off with 127 homicides in 2014 – 81% more than in 2019. New Orleans homicides are still 59% higher. Louisville homicides are 55% higher. Milwaukee and San Antonio murders are still up by about a third of their 2019 levels. Chicago ranks near the middle of the list. It had 73 more homicides in 2024 compared to 2019, or 15% more.

Interestingly, there are a few notable cities that have managed to drop their homicides below 2019 levels, some of them significantly.

Kansas City and Dallas managed small declines of 5% and 8%, respectively. And Baltimore’s homicides are down by 42% – the result of having 147 less homicides than in 2019.

Unfortunately for St. Louis, the 45 fewer murders it experienced in 2024 compared to 2019 was not enough for another city to take the title of nation’s homicide rate capital.

Note: The following cities of the nation’s 75 most-populous were excluded from this report as no reliable 2024 homicide data was found: Raleigh city, NC, Miami, FL, Bakersfield, CA, Wichita, KS, Anaheim, CA, Irvine, CA, Santa Ana, CA, Anchorage, AK, North Las Vegas, NV, Chula Vista, CA, Lubbock, TX, St. Petersburg, FL, Irving, TX, Chesapeake, VA. The next-most populous cities with available homicide data were included in their place.