Jackson’s Rate of Killings per Capita Ranks Highest in the U.S.

People are being killed at a higher rate per capita in the Capital City than any other major city in the U.S., according to a 3 On Your Side analysis of more than fifty municipalities across the country.

With 153 killings thus far in 2021, the homicide rate for Jackson is 99.5 per 100,000 residents, a rate that blazes past Memphis, St. Louis, and Baltimore.

For this analysis, 3 On Your Side calculated per capita rates of killings for cities with a population of at least 130,000, including major ones like Chicago, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia, and cities that had previously been ranked for high homicide rates, such as New Orleans and Baton Rouge.

{snip}

Calculating the per capita rate of killings means that a city with more homicides than Jackson could still have a lower rate, depending on the population.

For example, 797 people have been killed in Los Angeles, according to ABC 7 Chicago; because nearly 2.8 million people live in the Windy City, the rate per capita for that major city is 29 per 100,000 residents.

In other words, the rate of killings in Jackson is three times greater than Chicago, meaning statistically, one is more likely to get killed in the Capital City than in these other municipalities.

Though that surge in Jackson homicides resulted in a 17 percent jump in violent crime, according to the city, property crimes dropped by double digits.

Overall, total crime this year has actually fallen 8 percent, though that has been overshadowed from the year’s record number of killings.

2021 will end as the deadliest in Jackson history, eclipsing 2020′s record of 128 homicides based on individual reports supplied to WLBT from JPD.

{snip}