Despite feelings of crime increasing, data from cities across the US indicate murder rates fell at record pace this year

Major cities across the United States are expected to report significant drops in murder rates this past year to numbers not seen since before the pandemic, indicating violent crime is not as prevalent in the country as some believe.

According to data from cities and towns across the country, compiled by AH Datalytics, murder rates this year had one of the fastest rates of decline on record at approximately 12.8 per cent.

“Americans tend to think that crime is rising, but the evidence we have right now points to sizable declines this year (even if there are always outliers),” Jeff Asher, the co-founder of AH Datalytics said in a Substack post.

Cities often thought of as dangerous – Philadelphia, Chicago, New York, Baltimore, St Louis, San Francisco and more saw a sharp reduction in murder rates.

  • StarrWulfe (JLGatewood)
    link
    fedilink
    411 months ago

    So is it just mass shootings in the top places for murders overall going down or just in general or…

    I certainly *feel* like I didn’t see as many in the news this year but then again 1/4 of the year has been consumed by a mass genocidal rampage half a world away and its definitely sucking up all the media attention…

      • StarrWulfe (JLGatewood)
        link
        fedilink
        211 months ago

        @agitatedpotato yeah, no doubt those are factors indeed, especially the mental health one.
        Wife made a succinct point at how much more stressful life in the States is in general with regard to the “keep up or die” lifestyle we have here and I feel it’s a major contributor.

        Miss one paycheck or slip on a bar of soap in the shower and wind up with a $20000 hospital bill and cause several years of worry and paranoia (as an example). Other places in the world don’t have to deal with that, hence they also don’t have the mental illness rates we do
        (Again simple example for a complex variable just for illustration purposes; don’t flame pls 😉)