Fact check: How do US murder rates compare to other developed countries in 2024?

1. Summary of the results

Based on the available analyses, the US murder rate in 2024 was approximately 5 per 100,000 people ^[1]. While this represents a 14.9% decrease from 2023 according to FBI data ^[2], the US murder rate remains significantly higher than most developed countries worldwide ^[1].

For comparison, Japan's murder rate was only 0.23 per 100,000 people in 2023, along with similarly low rates in countries like Oman and Norway ^[1]. The Council on Criminal Justice reported that while some US cities like Baltimore, Detroit, and St. Louis experienced significant declines in homicide rates to levels not seen in about a decade, the US still experiences high levels of homicide compared to other industrialized nations ^[3].

The FBI reported that a murder occurred every 31.1 minutes in the US during 2024, despite the overall decrease in violent crime by 4.5% ^[2].

2. Missing context/alternative viewpoints

The analyses reveal several important contextual gaps:

• No comprehensive comparison data: While the sources confirm the US has higher murder rates than other developed countries, they lack specific 2024 murder rate data for most developed nations beyond Japan ^{[1] [3]}.
• Regional variation within the US: The data shows significant variation between US cities, with some experiencing dramatic improvements while the national average remains high compared to other developed countries ^[3].
• Methodology differences: One source notes that homicide data can be collected through different systems - criminal justice systems versus public health systems - which could affect international comparisons ^[4].
• Latin American context: Multiple sources focus heavily on Latin America and the Caribbean, which reported a median homicide rate of around 20.2 per 100,000 people in 2024 ^{[5] [6]}, providing context that the US rate, while high for developed countries, is lower than many developing regions.

3. Potential misinformation/bias in the original statement

The original question itself does not contain misinformation, as it simply asks for a factual comparison. However, the available analyses reveal potential areas where incomplete information could lead to misunderstanding:

• Cherry-picking timeframes: While 2024 showed improvement in US murder rates, this single-year snapshot might not reflect longer-term trends compared to other developed countries ^{[2] [3]}.
• Lack of comprehensive developed country data: The analyses primarily provide US data and limited comparison points, making it difficult to provide a complete picture of how the US ranks among all developed nations in 2024 ^{[1] [3]}.
• Focus on improvement versus absolute comparison: Some sources emphasize the positive trend of decreasing US murder rates without adequately contextualizing how far the US still lags behind other developed countries ^{[2] [3]}.