How Homicide Rates by U.S. State Have Changed Since 2012

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June 7, 2024 Article/Editing:

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How Homicide Rates by State Have Changed Since 2012

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

Are the United States getting more dangerous or more safe? The answer partially depends on your metric of choice.

For example, by examining homicide rates by state from 2012 to 2022, it can be seen that rates have increased almost across the board. That said, they are still lower than rates seen in the 1980s and 1990s.

This graphic from USAFacts examines the age-adjusted homicide rates by state from 2012 to 2022, and how they’ve changed. It uses CDC data available for 46 states, with no data available for New Hampshire, North Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming.

Comparing States by Homicide Rates

From 2012 to 2022, homicide rates increased in every state with available data except for Connecticut, New Jersey, and Rhode Island. Here are the rates for all 46 available states as well as their 10-year change in percentage:

StateHomicide rate
(2022, age-adjusted per 100,000)10-Year Change
(2012–2022) Mississippi20.7+103% Louisiana19.8+64% Alabama14.9+71% New Mexico14.5+120% Missouri12.8+75% Arkansas11.8+39% South Carolina11.8+44% Maryland11.4+61% Georgia11.3+74% Tennessee11.0+49% Illinois10.9+68% Alaska10.2+104% North Carolina9.2+56% Arizona9.0+45% Pennsylvania8.9+53% Michigan8.6+10% Ohio8.5+49% Indiana8.4+53% Kentucky8.3+48% Oklahoma8.3+14% Nevada7.8+73% Virginia7.8+90% Texas7.6+49% Colorado7.2+85% Florida7.2+11% Delaware7.0+1% South Dakota6.9+188% West Virginia6.2+5% Wisconsin6.0+71% California5.9+13% Kansas5.8+53% Montana5.4+125% Washington5.4+64% Oregon5.1+82% New York4.5+22% Connecticut4.3-2.3% Minnesota3.8+90% New Jersey3.8-20.8% Nebraska3.7+6% Hawaii3.0+100% Iowa2.9+38% Idaho2.7+23% Maine2.6+8% Massachusetts2.5+25% Utah2.2+29% Rhode Island2.0-33.3%
Note: Age-adjusted data helps to compare health data over time or between groups more fairly by accounting for the age differences in populations.

Mississippi had the largest increase in homicide rate,

Ranked: Top 10 Deadliest Animals for Humans

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June 2, 2024 Graphics/Design:

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Ranked: Top 10 Deadliest Animals for Humans

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

While running into wild animals in a forest can seem like the worst situation for humans, there are plenty of other animals that are far deadlier than large predators.

We rank the top 10 deadliest animals by the number of people killed per year. Data for this visualization and article is sourced from BBC Science Focus.

Spreaders of Diseases are Deadliest for Humans

Mosquitoes, of course, are the reigning champions on the toll they take on humans. Every year they kill more than 700,000 people through a multitude of deadly diseases—dengue, yellow fever, and malaria.

By some estimates, mosquitoes are responsible for the deaths of half of all the humans that have ever lived.

RankAnimalHumans Killed Annually 1🦟 Mosquitoes*725,000 2👫 Humans**400,000 3🐍 Snakes138,000 4🐕 Dogs*59,000 5🐜 Assassin Bugs*10,000 6🦂 Scorpions3,300 7🐊 Crocodiles1,000 8🐘 Elephants600 9🦛 Hippos500 10🦁 Lions200
Note: *Spreads diseases. **Homicides only.

Meanwhile, humans are (almost) their own worst enemies. Every year, nearly 400,000 homicides take place, making humans the second-deadliest animal for other human beings. And this doesn’t account for all the human-caused accidents that result in fatalities.

At fourth place, dogs may be our best friends, but as a carrier of the deadly rabies virus, they end up fourth on the list of top 10 deadliest animals.

Rounding out the top five are assassin bugs, which spread the parasite that causes Chagas disease, a condition that can go untreated for years and can result in serious complications that make it life-threatening.

Large mammals, including lions, hippos, and elephants round out the top 10. Interestingly, bears kill around one person a year on average and wouldn’t be anywhere close to making this list of the deadliest animals.