US Counties With the Highest Homicide Rates

1,144 US counties ranked by homicide rate, from highest to lowest. First are Phillips County, AR (57.4), St. Louis city, MO (50.6) and Leflore County, MS (48.4). The middle one of the 1,144 has 6.4.

What this measures

Deaths recorded as homicide per 100,000 people. It comes from death certificates, not police reports. Source: County Health Rankings.

For most measures, a national ranking mostly sorts places by income and by how urban they are. Each county’s own page compares it with the 50 counties most like it instead, which is often the fairer view.

The 100 highest counties

Rank	County	deaths per 100,000
1	Phillips County, AR	57.4
2	St. Louis city, MO	50.6
3	Leflore County, MS	48.4
4	Washington County, MS	46.9
5	Lowndes County, AL	46
6	Petersburg city, VA	46
7	Baltimore city, MD	45.5
8	Macon County, AL	44.8
9	Holmes County, MS	44.3
10	Wilkinson County, MS	41.6
11	Dallas County, AL	41.5
12	Hinds County, MS	40.7
13	Oglala Lakota County, SD	40.6
14	Orleans Parish, LA	40.6
15	Wilcox County, AL	39.5
16	Dillon County, SC	37.8
17	Jefferson County, AR	37.3
18	Sunflower County, MS	35.9
19	Coahoma County, MS	33.1
20	Allendale County, SC	32
21	Madison Parish, LA	30.7
22	Montgomery County, MS	30.4
23	Adams County, MS	28.8
24	Mississippi County, AR	28.7
25	Claiborne County, MS	28.7
26	Crittenden County, AR	28.5
27	Shelby County, TN	28.3
28	Tunica County, MS	27.8
29	Danville city, VA	27.8
30	Robeson County, NC	27.7
31	Kusilvak Census Area, AK	27.7
32	St. Helena Parish, LA	27.4
33	Bolivar County, MS	27.3
34	Yazoo County, MS	27.1
35	Colleton County, SC	26.8
36	St. Francis County, AR	26.7
37	Montgomery County, AL	26.2
38	Philadelphia County, PA	26.1
39	Jefferson County, AL	26
40	Jefferson Davis County, MS	25.6
41	East Baton Rouge Parish, LA	25.5
42	Lee County, SC	25.4
43	Caddo Parish, LA	25.2
44	Humphreys County, MS	25.1
45	Morehouse Parish, LA	25
46	Chicot County, AR	25
47	Vance County, NC	24.8
48	Todd County, SD	24.5
49	Marlboro County, SC	24.4
50	Wyandotte County, KS	23.9
51	Big Horn County, MT	23.9
52	Jackson County, MO	23.7
53	Bibb County, GA	23.7
54	Portsmouth city, VA	23.5
55	Barnwell County, SC	23.2
56	Concordia Parish, LA	23.1
57	District of Columbia, DC	23
58	Richmond city, VA	22.9
59	Lee County, AR	22.6
60	Anson County, NC	22.6
61	Pike County, MS	22.4
62	Grenada County, MS	22.4
63	Pemiscot County, MO	22.4
64	Lauderdale County, MS	22.3
65	Tallahatchie County, MS	22.2
66	Scotland County, NC	22.2
67	Hale County, AL	21.3
68	Hamilton County, FL	21.2
69	Hampton County, SC	21.1
70	Bethel Census Area, AK	21.1
71	Muscogee County, GA	21.1
72	Bullock County, AL	21
73	Fairfield County, SC	20.9
74	Lincoln County, MS	20.8
75	Sumter County, AL	20.7
76	Marion County, IN	20.6
77	St. John the Baptist Parish, LA	20.5
78	Copiah County, MS	20.3
79	McKinley County, NM	20.3
80	Orangeburg County, SC	20.2
81	Carroll County, MS	20.1
82	Darlington County, SC	20
83	Russell County, AL	19.9
84	Marion County, SC	19.8
85	Pulaski County, AR	19.4
86	St. James Parish, LA	19.3
87	East Feliciana Parish, LA	19.3
88	Chickasaw County, MS	19.3
89	Leake County, MS	19.2
90	Columbus County, NC	19
91	Macon County, GA	19
92	McDowell County, WV	19
93	Dougherty County, GA	18.9
94	Wayne County, MI	18.9
95	Hopewell city, VA	18.9
96	Marshall County, MS	18.8
97	Hertford County, NC	18.7
98	Choctaw County, OK	18.6
99	Bienville Parish, LA	18.4
100	St. Clair County, IL	18.2

Every state, highest first

Each state’s own published figure, not an average of its counties.

Rank	State	deaths per 100,000
1	District of Columbia	23
2	Mississippi	16
3	Louisiana	15.9
4	Alabama	12.7
5	Missouri	11
6	New Mexico	10.8
7	South Carolina	10.4
8	Maryland	9.97
9	Arkansas	9.93
10	Tennessee	9.59
11	Illinois	9.36
12	Georgia	9.08
13	Alaska	8.64
14	Oklahoma	7.96
15	Indiana	7.76
16	North Carolina	7.56
17	Kentucky	7.23
18	Ohio	7.2
19	Nevada	7.1
20	Delaware	7.05
21	Michigan	6.88
22	Pennsylvania	6.8
23	Arizona	6.66
24	Texas	6.54
25	Florida	6.37
26	Virginia	5.89
27	West Virginia	5.85
28	Kansas	5.65
29	California	5.32
30	Colorado	5.22
31	Wisconsin	4.57
32	South Dakota	4.56
33	Montana	4.37
34	Washington	3.85
35	New Jersey	3.84
36	New York	3.65
37	Oregon	3.54
38	Wyoming	3.44
39	Connecticut	3.36
40	Nebraska	3.09
41	Minnesota	2.9
42	North Dakota	2.89
43	Iowa	2.87
44	Hawaii	2.72
45	Utah	2.49
46	Massachusetts	2.3
47	Rhode Island	2.29
48	Idaho	2.19
49	Vermont	2.04
50	Maine	1.59
51	New Hampshire	1.52

More on homicide rate

A ranking describes places, not the people in them, and a high or low place does not by itself say why. All US rankings.