REGION 2013 Murder Rate 2012 Murder Rate Mur
Northeast 3.5 3.8
West 4.0 4.2
Midwest 4.5 4.7
South 5.3 5.5
NATIONAL 4.5 4.7

On November 10 the Justice Department released its annu­al Uniform Crime Report for 2013. The report revealed an over­all decline of 5.2% in the nation­al mur­der rate. The Northeast had the low­est mur­der rate – 3.5 mur­ders per 100,000 peo­ple – and the sharpest decline from last year. The South again had the high­est mur­der rate (5.3). The West had the sec­ond-low­est mur­der rate (4.0), fol­lowed by the Midwest (4.5). The states with the high­est mur­der rates in the coun­try were Louisiana (10.8) and Alabama (7.2). The states with the low­est rates were Iowa (1.4) and Hawaii (1.5). The Northeast has also had the fewest exe­cu­tions in the mod­ern era, with 4, and none since 2005. The South has had the high­est num­ber of exe­cu­tions (1,132) since 1976. The aver­age mur­der rate for states with the death penal­ty (4.4) was high­er than the aver­age rate for states with­out the death penal­ty (3.4).

Among the ten states with the low­est mur­der rates, six have abol­ished the death penal­ty. Overall, as the use of the death penal­ty has declined, the mur­der rate has con­tin­ued to fall.

(“Crime in the United States, 2013″, U.S. Dept. of Justice, Nov. 10, 2014). See Deterrence and Murder Rates.



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