What is the per capita rate of police killings for Black Americans vs White Americans 2020-2023?
Executive summary
From 2020–2023 multiple independent trackers and academic studies show Black Americans were killed by police at a substantially higher per‑capita rate than White Americans, with estimates clustering between roughly 2.5 and 3.5 times the White rate depending on data source and method (Statista; Mapping Police Violence; Washington Post; Harvard) [1] [2] [3] [4].
1. What the headline numbers show: rates and multipliers
Aggregate public trackers report clear disparities: Statista cites a rate for Black Americans of about 6.2 police‑shooting deaths per million people versus about 2.4 per million for White Americans, a gap of roughly 2.6x [1]; Mapping Police Violence reported that in 2023 Black people were killed at about 2.6 times the rate of White people, noting 290 Black victims that year and that Black Americans are ~14% of the U.S. population [2]. The Washington Post’s long‑running database similarly concludes Black Americans are killed by police at “more than twice the rate” of White Americans [3]. An academic synthesis from Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health placed the Black:White disparity higher—reporting Black Americans were 3.23 times more likely than White Americans to be killed by police in its analysis—illustrating how methodological choices move the multiplier [4].
2. Why different sources give different ratios: methods and scope
Differences in reported ratios reflect divergent inclusion rules and denominators: some databases tally only fatal shootings while others include all lethal uses of force (such as restraint deaths), Mapping Police Violence counts broader categories and local investigative projects compile names from media and public records [2] [5]. Statista’s rate statistic appears to summarize per‑million rates from compiled datasets but does not publish complete methodological detail in the snippets provided [1]. The Washington Post built its dataset by systematically logging every person shot and killed by on‑duty officers from 2015 onward and has found undercounts in official FBI reporting, which also affects comparative rates [3]. These choices on which incidents to include produce multipliers in the 2.5–3.5 range across reputable sources [1] [2] [3] [4].
3. Magnitude, population context and demographic notes
The disparity is stark when set against population shares: Black Americans make up roughly 14% of the U.S. population but a disproportionately larger share of police‑killing victims in several datasets, which is why per‑capita comparisons are used to reveal unequal risk [2] [3]. Focused breakdowns show even sharper concentration among Black men—one compilation notes Black males are 6.1% of the population but accounted for 24.9% of persons killed by law enforcement in its reporting—underscoring gendered as well as racial differences in risk [6].
4. Limitations, uncertainties and how to read the numbers
The exact per‑capita figures and multipliers depend on data completeness and classification: official reporting to the FBI has been shown to undercount fatal police shootings, some databases record “unknown ethnicity” entries that grew in specific years, and trackers differ on whether to include non‑shooting deaths such as restraint‑related suffocations [3] [7] [2]. Academic work also finds substantial geographic variation—some cities and states show much larger or smaller disparities—so national multipliers are averages that mask local heterogeneity [4] [2]. Given these well‑documented limitations, the consistent finding across independent sources is that Black Americans faced roughly 2.5–3.5 times the per‑capita risk of being killed by police from 2020–2023, though the precise point estimate depends on which dataset and case definition one adopts [1] [2] [3] [4].
5. What this means and what to watch for next
The convergence of multiple independent trackers and peer‑reviewed analysis on a materially elevated per‑capita risk for Black Americans indicates a real disparity in lethal police encounters rather than a statistical fluke; however, improving federal reporting and transparency on the circumstances of each death would narrow methodological gaps and provide firmer year‑to‑year comparisons [3] [5]. Stakeholders arguing different agendas—advocacy groups emphasizing systemic patterns, officials citing data gaps and local variability—can point to the same body of evidence but highlight different uncertainties, so future reform conversations would benefit from standardized national data collection and clearer incident classifications [3] [5].