Like several of life's immutable realities, crime is one thing that will always be present no matter how much humanity progresses. Even though we have reduced global hunger, poverty, and a lack of education, crime in one form or another will always be present. This is simply due to the nature of the human mind since the diversity of personality types shaped by their childhood and life experiences end up living different lifestyles - some of which, unfortunately, include crime.
One of the worst forms of crime is murder. It is among the handful of offenses that have the death penalty in more than fifty countries that regularly execute people for both murder and other serious crimes such as rape. Since murder is literally one of the deadliest crimes, it's unsurprising that it also has an impact on the regions where these crimes take place. One of the largest impacts of murder or homicides is on the property values of the neighborhoods where people are deliberately killed. At least that's what a report from the Office of the Controller - The City of Philadelphia states. It takes a look at the 4,121 homicides in the city between 2006 and 2018 and the 220,000 property sales that took place during the same time period. Focusing only on the property values of areas located close to the murders, the report concludes that one less murder carries the potential to increase the neighborhood's property values by 2.3%. Taking a broader look, the research also outlines that in a year, if homicides are reduced by ten percent, annual property tax values grow by $13 million; and if homicides are reduced by ten percent each year for five years, overall property tax revenues can grow by $114 million with the bulk of benefits taking place in year five in the form of $43 million additional property taxes collected.
Shifting our focus from the impact of homicide reduction to the impact of technology in helping police solve crimes reveals that several new technologies are in play these days that Sherlock Holmes might consider to be a blessing. One such technology is the FARO laser scanner. This scanner enables prosecutors and police officers to create a three dimensional and life like representation of a crime scene to investigate crimes and share details with juries in the best manner possible. As of 2016, the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Justice Department had spent $1 million on these sensors while the Pentagon, with its deep, deep pockets, had forked out $18 million. The scanner was also crucial in helping police in the investigation of the deadly San Bernardino terrorist attack of 2015 to let them determine the nature of wounds to the perpetrators and the victims.
Another cool technology, and one that can help prevent murders instead of helping solve them after the damage is done is ShotSpotter. This is a gunshot detection system that uses sensors to take stock of loud sounds and an algorithm to determine if the noise is of gun firing. Then, the company's employees manually confirm this before informing the police. The system can cost as much as $90,000 per square mile, and it was used in 130 cities as of June 2022. ShotSpotter is indeed one of the solutions that can help the cities with the highest murders in 2023. ShotSpotter is made by SoundThinking, Inc. (NASDAQ:SSTI), and during the firm's earnings call for the first quarter of 2023 its management shared:
We went live in 6 new cities and delivered 8 expansion projects with the ShotSpotter solution this quarter. This included approximately 22 miles of Detroit going live within the quarter, placing them as our third largest ShotSpotter deployment with approximately 30 square miles total. We currently have over 80 contracted miles represented by 22 projects in the process of being deployed over the next 3 months plus, including 22 miles of the recently contracted Suffolk County and a modest expansion in Cape Town, South Africa. Speaking of Cape Town, South Africa, we held a very successful press conference with the Mayor Hill-Lewis; and Alderman JP Smith, who is responsible for the security portfolio for the City of Cape Town.
With these details in mind, let's take a look at America's cities with the most murders and homicides.
To compile our list of the U.S. cities with the highest number of murders, we used the FBI's Quarterly Uniform Crime Report data for 2022 to compile the list. However, this is an incomplete data set, which does not contain some of the largest cities such as New York and Los Angeles. So, we also individually searched for the homicide rates for the top fifty American cities by population that were not in the UCR list as well as those mentioned in our previous coverage for an exhaustive list. Then, for the resulting list of top U.S. cities with highest murder rates in 2022, the latest 2023 data for each city was sourced from their police departments or media sources and they were ranked accordingly. For those cities that the data wasn't available, 2022 total murders have been listed instead.
30 U.S. Cities With the Highest Murders in 2023
30. Cleveland, Ohio
Murders in 2022: 127
Cleveland is one of the smaller cities on our list with a popular under four hundred thousand people.
29. San Antonio, Texas
Murders in 2022: 227
San Antonio is one of the biggest cities in the U.S. with 1.4 million people living in its borders.
28. San Jose, California
Murders in 2023: 8
San Jose sits in the list of America's fifteen largest cities, with a population of one million. It has one of the largest economies in the U.S., courtesy of a large number of technology firms.
27. Little Rock, Arkansas
Murders in 2023: 16
While there were fewer violent crimes (3,694) in Little Rock, the city still had a similar number of murders as Minneapolis.
26. Minneapolis, Minnesota
Murders in 2023: 26
Minneapolis is the largest city in Minnesota and houses almost half a million people. The FBI reported 5,130 incidences of violent crime in the city in 2022, with 79 murders as well.
25. Fort Worth, Texas*
Murders in 2023: 26
Fort Worth is one of the largest cities in Texas with a population of almost half a million people. It has some of the lowest levels of violent crime, 4,693, cases on our list.
24. Denver, Colorado
Murders in 2023: 29
Denver is the capital of Colorado and houses more than four hundred thousand people. Its location makes it a logistics hub in its state.
23. Albuquerque, New Mexico
Murders in 2023: 34
Albuquerque is the largest city in New Mexico and has a little over half a million residents.
22. Portland, Oregon
Murders in 2023: 36
Portland is Oregon's most populous city and also one of the biggest in the U.S. It has one of the largest ports in America, handling millions of pounds of cargo annually.
21. Jacksonville, Florida
Murders in 2023: 36
Jacksonville is Florida's largest city. It is an important port city with a vibrant financial industry.
20. Charlotte, North Carolina*
Murders in 2023: 40
Charlotte is the largest city in North Carolina. It is also one of the largest banking sectors in the U.S., coming second only to New York City.
19. Atlanta, Georgia
Murders in 2023: 40
Atlanta is Georgia's largest city as well as its capital. Its metropolitan area is also one of the largest economies in America.
18. Las Vegas, Nevada
Murders in 2023: 49
Las Vegas is the tourism hub of America, known for its nightlife and casinos.
17. Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Murders in 2023: 58
Milwaukee is a hub for the industrial industry in America, with a variety of Fortune 500 firms in the sector operating there.
16. Columbus, Ohio
Murders in 2023: 59
Columbus is the capital of Ohio and houses almost a million people. It houses several large Fortune 500 companies.
15. St. Louis, Missouri
Murders in 2023: 65
St. Louis houses just over three hundred thousand people. It is an important region for biotechnology and healthcare firms in its state.
14. Memphis, Tennessee
Murders in 2023: 81
Memphis is a hub for aircraft parts manufacturing in America. It is also a transportation hub in its state.
13. Louisville, Kentucky
Murders in 2023: 89
Louisville is Kentucky's largest city and is an air and shipping hub in its state.
12. Washington, D.C.
Murders in 2023: 89
Washington, D.C. is the capital of the U.S. It has relatively low levels of violent crime but high murders in comparison.
11. Detroit, Michigan
Murders in 2023: 89
Detroit is Michigan's largest city and has historically been a hub for the American car industry.
10. Kansas City, Missouri
Murders in 2023: 96
Kansas City had fewer violent crimes than Dallas but a similar number of murders - a worrying development.
9. Indianapolis, Indiana
Murders in 2023: 96
Indianapolis is the capital of Indiana and houses nearly a million people.
8. New York City, New York
Murders in 2023: 100
New York City is the largest city in the U.S. as it houses a whopping 8.8 million people as of 2020. New York was first settled in the seventeenth century and has benefited from its port location. Despite being the largest city in the U.S., New York City reported 433 murders in 2022, significantly fewer than the next two entries on our list.
7. Los Angeles, California
Murders in 2023: 102
Los Angeles is California's largest city and the second largest in America with a population of nearly four million people. It is an economic and cultural hub in America, with its surrounding areas having a concentration of the film and entertainment industry. At the same time, the Los Angeles metropolitan area also has one of the largest economies in both America and the world. Some of its largest employers include healthcare companies and technological firms.
6. Houston, Texas
Murders in 2023: 109
Houston is the largest city in Texas with a population of 2.3 million people. There were more than twenty five thousand violent crimes in Houston in 2022 and 429 murders were committed, almost equal to New York City - the most populous city in the U.S.
