Protests and demonstrations calling for an end to police brutality and racial discrepancies have made headlines over the past week, and for good reason. Murders and homicides shake small communities to the core, but oftentimes it’s black communities that are most affected.
According to FBI, in 2012 the national homicide rate was 4.5 homicides per 100,000 people. For whites, that rate fell to 2.65 per 100,000. For African Americans, that rate skyrocketed to 18.03 per 100,000.
Digging further into the statistics, we can see which states have the most black homicide victims per 100,000 people.
The Top 10
The top ten states for black homicide victims are:
1. Missouri – 34.98 per 100,000
2 Nebraska – 34.93
3 Michigan – 34.77
4 Pennsylvania – 31.02
5 Louisiana – 25.75
6 Indiana – 25.48
7 Oklahoma – 25.04
8 Wisconsin – 24.38
9 California – 23.25
10 Tennessee – 22.40
Surprisingly, a slew of Midwestern states fall on that list. Michigan, Indiana and Wisconsin all rank in the top 8. As for Minnesota, the Land of 10,000 Lakes lands right in the middle of the list at 24, with 15.44 deaths per 100,00 people.
Additionally, six states reported zero black homicide victims in 2012. Those states are Hawaii, Idaho, Maine, Montana, New Hampshire and Wyoming.
More Data
Some related data from the findings include:
- Of the 6,565 black homicide victims, 5,708 (87 percent) were male, and 856 (13 percent) were female.
- The homicide rate for black male victims was 32.78 per 100,000. In comparison, the overall rate for male homicide victims was 7.27
per 100,000. For white male homicide victims it was 3.86 per 100,000.
- The homicide rate for female black victims was 4.51 per 100,000. In comparison, the overall rate for female homicide victims was 1.80 per 100,000. For white female homicide victims it was 1.45 per 100,000.
- 17 states had a black homicide victimization rate higher than the national per capita rate of 18.03 per
100,000.
Related source: Violence Policy Center
