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The number of homicides in the United States is increasing at a record pace. A total of 21,570 murders were committed in 2020, most in one year over the past two and a half decades and nearly 30% more than in 2019 – the largest annual increase on record, according to a recent FBI report.
The rise in homicides came during a turbulent year. The COVID-19 pandemic has closed schools and left millions of Americans jobless. Footage of the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer shattered trust in American law enforcement agencies and sparked protests across the country. Firearm sales soared and tens of millions of new weapons spread to communities across the country. Here’s a look at the states where arms sales are increasing.
Some experts speculate that each of these factors likely played a role in rising murder rates across the country. Although it can take years to identify the exact causative factors, many U.S. cities bear the brunt of the deadly violence. In metropolitan areas across the country, the surge in homicides over the past year has dwarfed the national surge – in some cases, multiple times.
Cedar Rapids, Iowa, reported a 500% year-over-year increase in homicides, by far the highest increase of any major US metropolitan area. A total of 12 murders were reported in the metropolitan area in 2020, up from two the previous year. Despite the nation’s worst surge, the local homicide rate of 4.4 per 100,000 remains below the US rate of 6.5 per 100,000.
The majority of the murder victims in the city were under 30 years old last year. City police attributed the surge in part to the pandemic, which boosted unemployment and exacerbated certain stressors associated with violent crime. Unemployment in the greater Cedar Rapids area more than doubled from 3.0% in 2019 to 6.2% in 2020.
All of the data in this story is from the FBI at the greater area level. Only metropolitan areas with at least 250,000 inhabitants and at least one homicide in 2019 were taken into account.
| rank | state | 1 year change in reported murders (%) | Total murders in 2020 | Murders per 100,000 people | Violent crimes per 100,000 population |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cedar Rapids, IA | 500.0 | 12th | 4.4 | 251.9 |
| 2 | Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL | 225.0 | 26th | 6.9 | 475.9 |
| 3 | Brownsville-Harlingen, TX | 225.0 | 13th | 3.1 | 360.8 |
| 4th | Greeley, CO | 220.0 | 16 | 4.8 | 324.2 |
| 5 | Sioux Falls, SD | 200.0 | fifteen | 5.5 | 477.7 |
| 6th | Wilmington, NC | 188.9 | 26th | 8.6 | 372.1 |
| 7th | Lubbock, TX | 181.8 | 31 | 9.5 | 919.4 |
| 8th | Killeen Temple, TX | 152.6 | 48 | 10.3 | 377.2 |
| 9 | Flint, MI | 150.0 | 75 | 18.6 | 577.6 |
| 10 | Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY | 142.9 | 34 | 3.9 | 272.4 |
| 11 | Gainesville, Florida | 142.9 | 17th | 5.1 | 760.3 |
| 12th | Trenton-Princeton, New Jersey | 141.2 | 41 | 11.2 | 358.6 |
| 13th | Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA | 130.8 | 30th | 5.2 | 350.0 |
| 14th | Madison, WI | 112.5 | 17th | 2.5 | 201.7 |
| fifteen | Canton of Massillon, Ohio | 111.1 | 19th | 4.8 | 366.2 |
| 16 | Grand Rapids-Kentwood, MI | 108.3 | 50 | 4.6 | 350.1 |
| 17th | Shreveport-Bossier City, LA | 107.3 | 85 | 21.6 | 683.0 |
| 18th | Santa Cruz-Watsonville, California | 100.0 | 12th | 4.4 | 357.1 |
| 19th | Laredo, TX | 100.0 | 12th | 4.3 | 335.9 |
| 20th | Merced, CA | 100.0 | 24 | 8.7 | 598.6 |
| 21st | College Station-Bryan, TX | 100.0 | 10 | 3.7 | 298.0 |
| 22nd | Raleigh-Cary, NC | 95.8 | 47 | 3.3 | 223.6 |
| 23 | Vallejo, California | 90.5 | 40 | 8.9 | 525.7 |
| 24 | Milwaukee-Waukesha, Wisconsin | 85.6 | 206 | 13.1 | 678.2 |
| 25th | McAllen Edinburg Mission, TX | 84.2 | 35 | 4.0 | 274.8 |
| 26th | Rockford, Illinois | 80.0 | 36 | 10.8 | 770.7 |
| 27 | Reno, NV | 80.0 | 27 | 5.6 | 462.9 |
| 28 | Syracuse, NY | 75.0 | 35 | 5.4 | 303.8 |
| 29 | New Haven-Milford, CT | 75.0 | 49 | 6.1 | 256.3 |
| 30th | Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL | 73.9 | 40 | 5.4 | 286.8 |
| 31 | Cleveland-Elyria, Ohio | 72.1 | 210 | 10.3 | 440.6 |
| 32 | Columbus, OH | 69.9 | 192 | 9.0 | 313.2 |
| 33 | Stockton, California | 68.0 | 84 | 11.0 | 722.8 |
| 34 | Akron, OH | 66.7 | 55 | 7.8 | 378.4 |
| 35 | Kalamazoo-Portage, MI | 66.7 | 20th | 7.5 | 663.3 |
| 36 | Salt Lake City, UT | 62.2 | 60 | 4.8 | 384.0 |
| 37 | Green Bay, Wisconsin | 60.0 | 8th | 2.5 | 225.0 |
| 38 | Asheville, NC | 60.0 | 24 | 5.1 | 317.1 |
| 39 | Knoxville, TN | 60.0 | 56 | 6.4 | 381.9 |
| 40 | Toledo, OH | 55.6 | 56 | 8.8 | 485.6 |
| 41 | Ogden-Clearfield, UT | 55.6 | 14th | 2.0 | 172.9 |
| 42 | Tucson, Arizona | 53.6 | 86 | 8.1 | 473.5 |
| 43 | Springfield, MO | 52.9 | 26th | 5.5 | 631.6 |
| 44 | Visalia, California | 45.0 | 29 | 6.2 | 366.0 |
| 45 | Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT | 42.9 | 40 | 4.3 | 163.9 |
| 46 | Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA | 42.9 | 20th | 6.5 | 363.6 |
| 47 | Colorado Springs, Colorado | 42.4 | 47 | 6.2 | 486.6 |
| 48 | Rochester, NY | 42.1 | 54 | 5.1 | 262.0 |
| 49 | San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, California | 40.0 | 7th | 2.5 | 289.6 |
| 50 | Tallahassee, Florida | 40.0 | 35 | 9.0 | 555.7 |
https://www.southernminn.com/around_the_web/news/article_d04a2019-3abf-55ef-970a-27f33a40ffc6.html
