The world’s murder capitals, ranked

February 23, 2023

When it comes to homicide, the most dangerous cities in the world are located in Latin America, where most deaths are related to drug trafficking, weapons trafficking, and gang wars.

According to the latest data from Statista, only three cities outside Central and South America made the top 25, and two of those cities are in the United States.

Here we take a look at those 25 cities and their homicide rates per 100,000 residents:

Coroa do Meio, Aracaju, Brazil — Paulo JC Nogueira / Wikimedia

25. Aracuja, Brazil: 48.77

24. San Salvador, El Salvador: 50.32

23. Baltimore, U.S.: 50.52

Vitoria de Conquista, Brazil — Emilãine Vieira / Flickr

22. Vitoria da Conquista, Brazil: 50.75

21. Maceio, Brazil: 51.46

The El Palacio Municipal in Ciudad Obregon, Mexico — Cnec wiki / Wikimedia

20. Ciudad Obregon, Mexico: 52.09

19. Kingston, Jamaica: 54.12

18. Uruapan, Mexico: 54.52

17. Barquisimento, Venezuela: 56.67

A Catholic church in Ciudad Bolivar, Venezuela — jsandoval / iStock

16. Ciudad Bolivar, Venezuela: 60.09

15. Culiacan, Mexico: 60.52

14. St. Louis, U.S.: 60.59

13. Feira De Santana, Brazil: 63.29

12. Cancun, Mexico: 64.47

11. Belem, Brazil: 65.31

10. Cape Town, South Africa: 66.36

9. Fortaleza, Brazil: 69.15

8. Natal, Brazil: 74.67

7. Ciudad Guayana, Venezuela: 78.3

6. Irapuato, Mexico: 81.44

5. Ciudad Juarez, Mexico: 85.56

4. Ciudad Victoria, Mexico: 86.01

3. Caracas, Venezuela: 99.98

2. Acapulco, Mexico: 110.5

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Constance Brinkley-Badgett

Constance Brinkley-Badgett is MediaFeed’s executive editor. She has more than 20 years of experience in digital, broadcast and print journalism, as well as several years of agency experience in content marketing. She has served as a digital producer at NBC Nightly News, Senior Producer at CNBC, Managing Editor at ICF Next, and as a tax reporter at Bloomberg BNA.

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Last modified: February 23, 2023

About the Author / Constance Brinkley-Badgett

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