This statistic shows the death rate for homicide in the U.S. from 1950 to 2017. In 1950, there were 5.1 deaths by homicide per 100,000 resident population in the United States.

Homicides in the United States

The term homicide is used when a human being is killed by another human being. Criminal homicide takes several forms, for example murder; but homicide is not always a crime, it also includes affirmative defense, insanity, self-defense or the execution of convicted criminals.

Youth homicide is especially seen as a problem of urban areas, poverty, no adult supervision, involvement in drug and gang activities and school failure. Young men, aged 15-24 show the highest risk of being killed in the United States in 2008. There is a large difference between female and male 15-24 agers: about 20.1 male homicide deaths per 100,000 residents and 3.3 female homicide deaths per 100,000 residents were counted that year.

Comparing regions around the world, Africa is the continent with the highest number of homicides in 2010. America is ranked second, with a homicide rate of 15.5 homicides per 100,000 of population.

As of 2008, about 90 percent of homicide victims in the Unites States were male and only 10 percent of homicide victims were female. Whereas in Europe, about 27 percent of homicide victims were female and approximately 73 percent of homicide victims were male.