A small number of counties account for a vast majority of murders committed in the United States, whereas a major portion of counties have very few murders, according to a recent report, which also noted that urban areas had “much higher” murder rates despite lower gun ownership.
Murders were found to be “very concentrated” in some counties, with just 2 percent of counties accounting for 56 percent of murders, and 1 percent of the counties accounting for 42 percent of murders in 2020, said a Jan. 17 report (pdf) by Crime Prevention Research Center. In contrast, 52 percent of counties had zero murders. Sixty-eight percent of counties, accounting for 18 percent of the population, had no more than a single murder. They made up only 2.6 percent of all murders in the country.
