Highest Murder Rate for cities in the world

The 50 cities with the highest murder rates for 2015 are listed below. A total of 46 are in Americas, with 21 in Brazil. None are in Eurasia or Africa outside of South Africa.

32. New Orleans, USA - 41.44
28. Detroit, USA - 43.89
19. Baltimore, USA - 54.96
15. St. Louis, USA - 59.23
33. Kingston, Jamaica - 41.14

47. Johannesburg, South Africa - 30.31
42. Nelson Mandela Bay, South Africa - 35.85
41. Durban, South Africa - 35.93
9. Cape Town, South Africa - 65.63


50. Obregon, Mexico - 28.29
49. Maracaibo, Venezuela - 28.85
48. Macapa, Brazil - 30.25
47. Johannesburg, South Africa - 30.31
46. Victoria, Mexico - 30.50
45. Pereira, Colombia - 32.58
44. Curitiba, Brazil - 34.71
43. Porto Alegre, Brazil - 34.73
42. Nelson Mandela Bay, South Africa - 35.85
41. Durban, South Africa - 35.93
40. Campina Grande, Brazil - 36.04
39. Campos Dos Goytacazes, Brazil - 36.16
38. Aracaju, Brazil - 37.70
37. Recife, Brazil - 38.12
36. Victoria Da Conquista, Brazil - 38.46
35. Tijuana, Mexico - 39.09
34. Gran Barcelona, Venezuela - 40.08
33. Kingston, Jamaica - 41.14
32. New Orleans, USA - 41.44
31. Vitoria, Brazil - 41.99
30. Teresina, Brazil - 42.64
29. Goiania Y Aparecida De Goiania, Brazil - 43.38
28. Detroit, USA - 43.89
27. Feira De Santana, Brazil - 45.50
26. Belem, Brazil - 45.83
25. Guatemala City, Guatemala - 47.17
24. Cumana, Venezuela - 47.77
23. Manaus, Brazil - 47.87
22. Cuiaba, Brazil - 48.52
21. Sao Luis, Brazil - 53.05
20. Barquisimeto, Venezuela - 54.96
19. Baltimore, USA - 54.96
18. Maceio, Brazil - 55.63
17. Culiacan, Mexico - 56.09
16. Joao Pessoa, Brazil - 58.40
15. St. Louis, USA - 59.23
14. Salvador, Brazil - 60.63
13. Natal, Brazil - 60.66
12. Fortaleza, Brazil - 60.77
11. Ciudad Guayana, Venezuela - 62.33
10. Cali, Colombia - 64.27
9. Cape Town, South Africa - 65.63
8. Palmira, Colombia - 70.88
7. Valencia, Venezuela - 72.31
6. Distrito Central, Honduras - 73.51
5. Maturin, Venezuela - 86.45
4. Acapulco, Mexico - 104.73
3. San Salvador, El Salvador - 108.58
2. San Pedro Sula, Honduras - 111.03
1. Caracas, Venezuela - 119.87

Quote: Pacomartin

The 50 cities with the highest murder rates for 2015 are listed below. A total of 46 are in Americas, with 21 in Brazil. None are in Eurasia or Africa outside of South Africa.

32. New Orleans, USA - 41.44
28. Detroit, USA - 43.89
19. Baltimore, USA - 54.96
15. St. Louis, USA - 59.23

I have read that if you take these 4 out of the USA numbers we go from being on the high end of violence to the low end. Question is how would you clean them up if you were sheriff or even in charge of the FBI?

Acapulco #4, I would have never guessed. I see my own Baltimore is #3 in the US. That does not surprise me. Why is Chicago getting all the publicity?

Quote: AZDuffman

I have read that if you take these 4 out of the USA numbers we go from being on the high end of violence to the low end. Question is how would you clean them up if you were sheriff or even in charge of the FBI?

The two simple things we can do, in my opinion are:

1. Private school vouchers (available to all)
2. Legalize/decriminalize drugs

Quote: Wizard

Acapulco #4, I would have never guessed. I see my own Baltimore is #3 in the US. That does not surprise me. Why is Chicago getting all the publicity?

Well the list obviously had a fairly high population threshold (probably 250K-300K people). This list just published for USA alone probably has a threshold of about 25K. It is 2014 data so the order is slightly different. A bigger city must necessarily have a lower rate since it includes safe as well as dangerous areas.
Chicago has a much higher number of murders than New York city or Los Angeles.

Rank City
30 Chicago Heights, IL
29 Baton Rouge, LA
28 Buffalo, NY
27 Hattiesburg, MS
26 East Chicago, IN
25 Birmingham, AL
24 Desert Hot Springs, CA
23 Compton, CA
22 Myrtle Beach, SC
21 Fort Pierce, FL
20 Harvey, IL
19 Bridgeton, NJ
18 Flint, MI
17 Rocky Mount, NC
16 Pine Bluff, AR
15 Petersburg, VA
14 Newark, NJ
13 Baltimore, MD
12 Harrisburg, PA
11 Jackson, MS
10 Wilmington, DE
9 Trenton, NJ
8 Riviera Beach, FL
7 New Orleans, LA
6 Camden, NJ
5 Detroit, MI
4 Gary, IN
3 St. Louis, MO
2 Chester, PA
1 East St. Louis, IL

Acapulco is a large city. The downtown section has the kind of density as Manhattan but without the skyscrapers.

I'm surprised to see Compton so low on this list.....that places I've never heard of like Pine Bluff, AR is ranked higher. Wow.

Quote: zippyboy

I'm surprised to see Compton so low on this list.....that places I've never heard of like Pine Bluff, AR is ranked higher. Wow.

Compton may be only twice the population of Pine Bluff, but it is more heavily extolled in films and song.

Quote: Wikipedia

Various publications have ranked Pine Bluff MSA as one of the most dangerous cities in America. In 2013 it was rated second in overall crime per capita. In 2009, Pine Bluff was ranked by Morgan Quitno Press as the most dangerous metropolitan area in the U.S and included on the Forbes list of America's ten most impoverished cities. In 2009, Pine Bluff was ranked by Morgan Quitno Press as the most dangerous metropolitan area in the U.S and included on the Forbes list of America's ten most impoverished cities.In 2013, CNNMoney included Pine Bluff on a list of "7 fastest shrinking cities," saying almost a third of the metro area population lived below the poverty line and the city's crime rate was second only to Detroit.

A lot of people have never heard of Chester PA, and Harrah's doesn't use the name Chester for their casino. Instead it is called Harrah's Philadelphia

Quote: AZDuffman

I have read that if you take these 4 out of the USA numbers we go from being on the high end of violence to the low end. Question is how would you clean them up if you were sheriff or even in charge of the FBI?

Overall US Rate according to Wikipedia is 3.8/100,000, which is firmly in the middle. Total murders was 12,253 in 2013. So what happens if we subtract the murders from these cities out.

32. New Orleans, USA - 41.44, pop: 378,000, = 156 murders
28. Detroit, USA - 43.89, pop: 680,000 = 298 murders
19. Baltimore, USA - 54.96, pop: 620,000 = 340 murders
15. St. Louis, USA - 59.23, pop: 2,800,000 = 1,658 Murders (assuming metro St Louis, and this seems a very large area for such a high rate, but there we go).

= 2452 murders. Assume a few would happen at the 3/100k rate, means we reduce the overall total murders in US to 10,000 per 322 Million = 3.1 Murders/100k population.

Shifts US from 121st to 138th. UK rate is 1.0, Canadian Rate is 1.4, Hounduras is 84 (1st) , and US Virigins Islands 54. For comparison. Not seen a ranking of first world countries, but would assume the US is near the top on that.

So, it wouldn't move the needle that much on a global ranking, but would mean 2,500 less dead people a year.

I did this, cos I was curious what the overall effect was... as it appeared it would be a large shift to me, like you said, but seems not.

Quote: TheCesspit

Overall US Rate according to Wikipedia is 3.8/100,000, which is firmly in the middle. Total murders was 12,253 in 2013. So what happens if we subtract the murders from these cities out.

32. New Orleans, USA - 41.44, pop: 378,000, = 156 murders
28. Detroit, USA - 43.89, pop: 680,000 = 298 murders
19. Baltimore, USA - 54.96, pop: 620,000 = 340 murders
15. St. Louis, USA - 59.23, pop: 2,800,000 = 1,658 Murders (assuming metro St Louis, and this seems a very large area for such a high rate, but there we go).

= 2452 murders. Assume a few would happen at the 3/100k rate, means we reduce the overall total murders in US to 10,000 per 322 Million = 3.1 Murders/100k population.

Shifts US from 121st to 138th. UK rate is 1.0, Canadian Rate is 1.4, Hounduras is 84 (1st) , and US Virigins Islands 54. For comparison. Not seen a ranking of first world countries, but would assume the US is near the top on that.

So, it wouldn't move the needle that much on a global ranking, but would mean 2,500 less dead people a year.

I did this, cos I was curious what the overall effect was... as it appeared it would be a large shift to me, like you said, but seems not.

Re: St. Louis, I think most surveys would have to combine St. Louis MO and E. St. Louis IL; they are essentially the same place, but both rank significantly even when broken out.

That used to be such a cool place, too, 40 or more years ago. Sad to see how it's deteriorated.

Quote: beachbumbabs

That used to be such a cool place, too, 40 or more years ago. Sad to see how it's deteriorated.

As late as 1910 St Louis was the 4th most populous city up from#57 in 1830, dropped to #18 by 1970 and about #60 today.
1 New York city, NY *...... 4,766,883
2 Chicago city, IL......... 2,185,283
3 Philadelphia city, PA.... 1,549,008
4 St. Louis city, MO....... 687,029
5 Boston city, MA.......... 670,585

All statistics are suspect, especially with crime rates. That's why they won't let the FBI rank cities anymore. But other people use their data and do their own rankings.

Murder rates are particularly volatile. A horrific crime (quadruple homicide) was committed a few years ago in small borough near here (pop about 10K). Of course their murder rate skyrocketed.

Quote: TheCesspit

I did this, cos I was curious what the overall effect was... as it appeared it would be a large shift to me, like you said, but seems not.

I suppose 4 cities isn't going to turn us into Switzerland, but as anyone who has managed people or things knows, you try to fix the worst person or branch first. Ironically, when you start to fix crime, however, you hit the little things first as NYC showed in the 1990s.

So this begs a question, would these 4 cities follow the broken-window theory? The Baltimore mayor in particular seems to be against this kind of policing.