CDC Report Shows, 2020 US Homicide Rate , Saw Largest Increase in Modern History.
The CDC's National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) report shows that between 2019 and 2020, the homicide rate for the United States rose 30%.
The only larger increase since we've been recording these data occurred between 1904 and 1905, and that increase was most likely -- at least partly -- the result of better reporting, Robert Anderson, chief of the mortality statistics branch at NCHS, via CNN.
We had states being added to what we refer to as the death registration areas, so we were counting deaths in more areas over time.
We didn't have all states reporting until 1933, Robert Anderson, chief of the mortality statistics branch at NCHS, via CNN.
According to the report, U.S. homicides increased from about six per 100,000 people in 2019 to 7.8 per 100,000 in 2020.
The NCHS noted that the 2020 homicide rate of 7.8 is the highest recorded in the U.S. since 1995.
However, the researchers also point out that it is still lower than the rate of homicides in the early 1980s, which exceeded 10 homicides per 100,000 people.
So, it's obviously of concern but we're not at the levels that we were at that time.
We're heading in the wrong direction though, for sure, Robert Anderson, chief of the mortality statistics branch at NCHS, via CNN.
The initial release of the NCHS' preliminary data did not provide a total number of homicides from 2020.
According to the FBI's Uniform Crime Report, the U.S. saw approximately 21,570 murders last year, compared with an estimated 16,425 murders in 2019