CDC says U.S. rate rose nearly 35% in 2020 from a year earlier

By Zusha Elinson Follow

May. 10, 2022 1:00 pm ET

 The U.S. firearm homicide rate in 2020 was its highest level since 1994, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  The rate hit 6.1 homicides per 100,000 residents, rising 34.6 % during the first year of the pandemic compared with a year earlier, according to the report. Dr. Debra Houry, a deputy director at the CDC,

said the increase continued in 2021, based on preliminary data.

“This is the worst homicide rate in 20 years,” said Dr. Houry. “It’s significant and devastating; we

cannot turn away from it.”

The CDC report offers new details on one of the most violent eras in America in decades. Homicide

rates increased more in areas with higher poverty levels, it found.

Homicide rates had generally been on a long-term decline since the early 1990s with some small peaks

and valleys.

The economic stressors and social isolation in poor communities during the pandemic could be a

factor in the increase in killings, said Dr. Houry. Disruptions to mental-health services and other

social programs during the pandemic also played a role, she said.

About eight in ten homicides were carried out with guns in 2020, the CDC found. And while

Americans bought a record number of guns in 2020, Dr. Houry said that researchers haven't

established a connection between the rise in sales and the rise in shootings.

Several cities set new highs for murders in the past two years. Philadelphia, Portland, Ore., Louisville,

Ky., and Albuquerque, N.M., had their deadliest years on record in 2021, according to data compiled by

The Wall Street Journal. Criminologists and local law-enforcement officials don’t agree on the

reasons for the surge in violent crime. Some cite stress from the Covid-19 pandemic. Some point to

what they see as frayed relations between law enforcement and Black communities after a series of

police killings, such as that of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

Also, the firearm suicide rate edged up slightly in 2020 compared with a year earlier, the CDC found.

Write to Zusha Elinson at zusha.elinson@wsj.com