The greatest drops were in the Northeast and West, which each experienced a 13 percent decrease in reported murders. Reported murders in the South and Midwest decreased by 7 percent in 1996. Down 10 percent from 1995, the national murder rate in 1996 was 7.4 per 100,000 inhabitants, the lowest since 1985. Forty-three percent were ages 20 through 34. The percentages of whites and blacks murdered were equal at 49 percent, and other races accounted for the remainder.
Murder is most often intraracial among victims and offenders.
In 1996, data based on incidents involving one victim and one offender show that 93 percent of the black murder victims were slain by black offenders, and 85 percent of white murder victims were killed by white offenders. These same data show, however, that 9 out of 10 female victims were murdered by males. As in previous years, firearms were used in approximately 7 out of every 10 murders committed in the nation. Fifteen percent of the victims were murdered by strangers, while the relationships among victims and offenders were unknown for 35 percent of the murders.