Which US cities have the highest homicide rates in 2024 and who are their mayors and party affiliations?
Executive summary
Available reporting shows that 2024 homicide rankings vary by data set and city-size threshold: several sources name Chicago, St. Louis, Memphis, Baltimore and Birmingham among the highest‑rate U.S. cities in 2024, while other studies single out St. Louis for the highest per‑capita rate among medium cities and Memphis or Birmingham among large cities [1] [2] [3]. Ballotpedia and other compilations list mayoral party affiliations across large cities — a dominant share are Democrats — but tying any single mayor or party to 2024 homicide outcomes is not settled by the sources provided [4] [5] [6].
1. Fragmented rankings: different lists, different winners
No single authoritative list appears in the materials; Wirepoints reported Chicago as the “homicide capital” among big cities in 2024 and St. Louis as the per‑capita leader, while other compilations place Memphis, Birmingham or Baltimore at or near the top depending on city‑size cutoff and methodology [1] [2] [3]. Analysts warn that choice of sample (largest cities vs. medium vs. all reporting jurisdictions) and whether totals or rates per 100,000 are used changes the outcome [1] [2].
2. What the major sources say about the top cities in 2024
Wirepoints’ survey of the 75 largest cities put Chicago first in total murders in 2024 and St. Louis as the nation’s per‑capita homicide leader among big cities [1]. SafeHome/SafeHome summaries cited by later aggregators and Newsweek noted Memphis had among the highest murder rates for large cities and St. Louis led medium‑sized cities in per‑capita rates in 2024 [2] [7]. Newsweek and Council on Criminal Justice data emphasize variability and that some high‑rate cities saw declines by year‑end 2024 [8] [9].
3. Who runs those cities — mayors and party context
Ballotpedia’s compilations show most large U.S. cities are led by mayors affiliated with the Democratic Party; after the 2024 cycle the breakdown for top cities ranged around roughly two‑thirds Democratic affiliation (sources list 63–66 Democratic mayors among the 100 largest across different snapshots) [4] [5]. The sources do not provide a single matched table listing each top homicide city alongside its mayor and party for 2024 within the provided snippets; Ballotpedia has full lists but the current results above are summaries [4] [10].
4. Party ≠ proven cause: what the evidence shows about affiliation and crime
Several sources caution against inferring causation from correlation. A cross‑city analysis cited by Ballotpedia and academic work summarized in PMC conclude mayoral partisanship shows little detectable causal effect on policing budgets, crime rates or arrests in the large‑sample studies referenced [5] [11]. Axios’ analysis noted that many high‑murder cities are in Republican‑run states but are led by Democratic mayors — a geographic and political tension, not proof of policy causation [12].
5. Data limitations and why lists diverge
Experts and reporting repeatedly flag data gaps and methodological limits: some cities did not report complete FBI UCR figures for 2024, rates can swing in small populations, and using county vs. city boundaries produces different rates [13] [8]. The Council on Criminal Justice stressed year‑end 2024 reductions in many cities and urged better, timely data for consistent comparisons [9].
6. How readers should interpret "highest homicide rates in 2024"
Interpret lists as snapshots driven by definitions: “highest total murders” favors large cities (Chicago), while “highest rate per 100,000” favors smaller jurisdictions with concentrated violence (St. Louis, Birmingham in some reports) [1] [3]. The sources do not contain a single canonical ranking that pairs each top‑rate city with its mayor and party in one place — Ballotpedia and similar databases are the go‑to for mayors’ party data, while academic and press reports supply varying homicide rankings [10] [1].
7. Bottom line and next steps for readers seeking precision
If you want a concrete, sourced table tying the top‑ranked 2024 homicide cities to their mayors and party affiliations, the sources indicate two steps: pick a specific homicide ranking (e.g., FBI 2024 UCR list by city, Wirepoints’ 75‑city survey, or Council on Criminal Justice sample) and cross‑check each named city against Ballotpedia’s mayoral list for party affiliation [1] [9] [10]. Available sources do not supply that cross‑matched table in a single document; they provide the separate pieces described above [1] [4].
Limitations: this report uses only the supplied search results; detailed city‑by‑city mayoral names tied to a single 2024 homicide ranking are not present in the snippets provided and thus are not asserted here (available sources do not mention a single cross‑matched table pairing the top homicide cities with mayors and party for 2024).