The homicide rate in the US rose sharply after 2014 but has now reversed course

Monthly murder rates increased sharply beginning in 2015 and spiked in 2020 and 2021 before beginning to fall. Most of the 2020 jump occurred before nationwide protests over the police killing of George Floyd intensified in June of that year. The zero line on the chart marks the average monthly rate from 2010 to 2014, which is when the murder rate reached its previous record low.

Line chart showing monthly U.S. homicides above the 2010–2014 average, rising from 2015, spiking after mid-2020 and returning to the average by 2025.

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Each point shows the excess monthly homicide rate – how far that month's rate was above or below the 2010 to 2014 monthly average – per 1 million people. Derived from CDC mortality data.

Chart: The Conversation, CC-BY-NDSource: CDC WONDERGet the dataEmbed Download imageCreated with Datawrapper