22.4

77.3

victims

63.1

offenders

8.4

Percentage of homicides by victim and 

offender sex, where known A

Men

Women

> The highest percentage of both victims

and offenders are those age 20–24 

A

32.9

7.9

Percentage of homicides by victim and offender age A

Offender

Victim

28.2

14.5

11.3

20.6

13.2 9.9 13.6

7.2 4.9 2.6

32.3

0.9

<20 20s 30s 40s 50s 60+ Unknown

Homicide

HOMICIDE, or murder, is the non-negligent 

killing of one human being by another. 

Current homicide totals are the lowest in 

20 years, at a rate of 4.5 homicides per 

100,000 people, almost half the 1995 rate. 

Most homicides are committed by someone 

known to the victim; 10% are by an intimate 

partner. Most homicide victims, as well as 

perpetrators, are men.A Minorities, young 

adults age 20-24,A and children under 4C are 

disproportionate victims of homicide. More 

than 60% of reported murders are solved by 

arrest or exceptional means.

 A

Mass shootings make up a small subset of 

homicide—but have garnered a great deal 

of media attention, particularly in recent 

years. Given the interest in these crimes, 

a separate fact sheet is devoted to Mass 

Casualty Shootings.

NOTE: Data for 2014 unless otherwise indicated. 

Hover for data hyperlinks to source material.

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH

Homicide rate decline: A

> 1.2% from 2013-2014

> 6.1% from 2010-2014

> 20.8% from 2005-2014

14,249 homicides

4.5 murders/100,000 people A

acquaintance

stranger

intimate partner

family member

friend

other relationship (neighbor, employer,

employee)

Relationship to Offender: A

Stranger (11.5%)

Acquaintance (20.2%)

Intimate partner (10.1%)

Family member (9.0%)

Friend (2.8%)

Unknown (45.5%)

Other relationship (1.0%)

“Other relationships” are neighbors, 

employee, or employer

White 

offenders

Black

offenders

 White (16.6%)

Black (81.9%)

Other/ (1.6%)

Unknown

White (90.3%)

Black (6.8%)

Other/ (2.9%)

Unknown

White (45.1%)

Black (51%)

Other/Unknown (3.9%)

Victims by race Black (51%)

White (45.1%)

Other/Unknown (3.9%)

Victims 

by race

Victims 

by race

Of the 47.7% of homicides involving a single offender and 

victim, most are intra-racial:

A
SOURCES

A Federal Bureau of Investigation, Crime in the 

United States, 2014, (Washington, DC: U.S. 

Department of Justice, 2015), https://www.fbi.

gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2014/

crime-in-the-u.s.-2014

B U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, 

2015, CPS Table Creator, https://www.census.gov/

cps/data/cpstablecreator.html

C U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 

Administration for Children and Families, 

Administration on Children, Youth and Families, 

Children’s Bureau, Child Maltreatment 2013,

http://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/cb/

cm2013.pdf

Homicide continued

+

At least 15% of homicides occur in connection with another

felony (e.g., rape, robbery, arson)

Of the homicides that occur in connection with another felony, 

31.6% of those murder victims are robbed A

> 46.5% are under 1 year old 

> 17% are age 1

> 10.4% are age 2

> 7.1% are age 3 

> 5.8% are age 4

> 2.9% are age 5

> 10.1 are age 6 - 17

1,520 children died due to child abuse or neglect in 2013 C

2.04/100,000 children, birth to age 17; the rate declines with age

vs

Boys died from abuse or neglect at a rate of 2.36/100,000 boys

Girls died from abuse or neglect at a rate of 1.77/100,000 girls C

Child fatalities declined by 12.7% from 2009-2013 C

Law enforcement cleared 64.5% of 

murders by arrest or exceptional means A

vs

47.4% of all violent crime, or 

20.2% of property crime

Handguns (46.5%)

Shotguns (2.2%)

Rifles (2.1%)

Other/unknown (17.2%)

Knives or similar (13.1%)

Firearms (67.9%)

Bodily weapons (5.5%)

Blunt objects (3.6%)

Weapons: A

Other weapons (9.8%)

Shotguns Rifles

Ha

n

d

gun

Unknown

FirearmsKnives or similaBodies (handsBlunt objects (Other (poison, explosives)

Bodily weapons, or “personal” weapons, include 

hands, feet, and fists

Other weapons include strangulation, fire, 

narcotics, and poison

11,961

weapons