Murder in the United States Concentrated in Just a Few Areas

A study by the Crime Prevention Research Center (25 April 2017) found that murders in the United States are very concentrated: 54% of US counties in 2014 had zero murders, 2% of counties have 51% of the murders.

According to the report, "The United States can really be divided up into three types of places. Places where there are no murders, places where there are a few murders, and places where murders are very common.

In 2014, the most recent year that a county level breakdown is available, 54% of counties (with 11% of the population) have no murders.  69% of counties have no more than one murder, and about 20% of the population. These counties account for only 4% of all murders in the country.

The worst 1% of counties have 19% of the population and 37% of the murders. The worst 5% of counties contain 47% of the population and account for 68% of murders. Over half of murders occurred in only 2% of counties."

This study shows how murders in the United States are heavily concentrated in very small areas. Few appreciate how much of the US has no murders each year.  Murder isn’t a nationwide problem.  It’s a problem in a very small set of urban areas, and any solution must reduce those murders.