California’s Danger Zones: 5 Counties With Highest Homicide Rates

Police respond to a multiple shooting during a Juneteenth celebration near Lake Merritt in Oakland, Calif., on June 19, 2024. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group via AP)

Alameda County, home to Oakland, ranked No. 1 in homicides in the state per capita in 2023, according to a report released earlier this month, by the California Attorney General’s office.

Meanwhile, Merced County—in the central region of the state—which topped the list in 2022, showed a sharp decrease in homicides and fell out of the state’s top five.

Los Angeles County, despite accounting for more than one-third of homicides in the state, also was not on the top five list.

Statewide, 1,892 homicide cases were reported in 2023—a nearly 16 percent decrease compared to 2022. This is the first time the number of homicides has dropped below 2,000 since 2020.

1. Alameda County, Pop. 1.63 Million

The county just north of San Jose topped the list with a murder rate of 10 per 100,000 residents, totaling 165 cases in 2023.

The number is an 11 percent increase over a five-year period and a 3 percent rise from 2022.

A majority of murders occurred in Oakland, with 126 deaths reported by the Oakland Police Department––representing a homicide rate of 27.6 per 100,000 persons.

2. San Joaquin County, Pop. 793,220

Just east of Alameda County, San Joaquin County ranked second in the state with a homicide rate of 9.6 per 100,000 residents, totaling 75 cases last year.

Over a 10-year period covered in the report, the county has consistently been one of the “deadliest” regions in the state, with a homicide rate significantly higher than the state average each year. Additionally, the county has ranked highest in violent crime in recent years.

3. Tulare County, Pop. 477,544

Named after Tulare Lake, this growing county has also seen a rise in its homicide rate in recent years.

With 43 murders in 2023, the county ranked third in the state in 2023 with a murder rate of 9.1 per 100,000 residents. The number has grown by 117 percent since 2019.

4. Kern County, Pop. 916,108; Kings County, Pop. 152,981

Tied for fourth were Kern and Kings counties, both with a murder rate of 7.9 per 100,000 residents.

Largely different in population, the two counties also show varying trends in homicide throughout the years.

Kern County, which spans the southern end of the Central Valley, has seen a downward trend for the past two years, after hitting a rate of 13.7 per 100,000 residents in 2021.

Conversely, the rate for Kings County, located to the northwest of Kern County, has fluctuated due to its smaller population, but has been on the higher end in the state since 2020.

5. Madera County, Pop. 160,256

In 2023, the rural county—located at the southern entrance to Yosemite National Park—reported 12 homicides, resulting in a murder rate of 7.6 per 100,000 residents. The data also indicated an increase in such crimes over the past three years, though the rate remained below the state average in both 2021 and 2022.

Notable Mention: Los Angeles County

Although not among the top 5 “deadliest” counties in the state, L.A. County accounted for more than one-third of the state’s total homicides in 2023, with 683 cases reported.

With more than 9.7 million residents—the most populous county in the nation—the rate translates to a murder rate of 7 per 100,000 residents.

Such is a 7.6 percent decrease compared to 2022, and a nearly 19 percent decrease compared to 2021.

Additionally, when compared with data from the Los Angeles Police Department’s from January, nearly half of the county’s murder cases, according to the report, occurred in the City of Los Angeles, which had 327 homicides and a rate of 8.4 per 100,000 residents in the city of about 4 million people.

Killed by Acquaintance

The report additionally showed that 48.7 percent of the 2023 murders were committed by friends or acquaintances; 30 percent by strangers; and nearly 15 percent by family members.

Additionally, 80 percent of the victims were male, and 20 percent female.

Nearly half of the victims were Hispanic, 27 percent were black, and 17 percent were white.

Nationwide Comparison

Data also showed California’s largest cities have a much lower homicide rate compared with other major cities across the nation.

In 2023, Washington D.C. reported a murder rate of 39.7 per 100,000 residents; Philadelphia, 23.9, Chicago, 22.5; and Dallas, 18.9—according to a 2023 crime report by the Los Angeles Police Department.