The following chart comes directly from The Murder Accountability Project

Cold Case Homicide Statistics

Breakdown of Homicide Clearance Rates

Nearly 346,000 cases of homicide and non-negligent manslaughter went unsolved from 1965 to 2023, according to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report data studied by The Murder Accountability Project. Below are the total number of homicides reported in each state, the rate at which homicides are cleared and the estimated number of unsolved homicides.

Note-1: The number of unsolved homicides was estimated for Illinois and New York since these states provide only partial data for the number of clearances.

Note-2: The total number of homicides in this report is taken from the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report and is greater than the totals found in the FBI’s Supplementary Homicide Report. More police departments report UCR data, which is required for departments to qualify for Justice Department grants.

Note-3: Cases that are reported cleared are counted the year they are cleared not necessarily the year the murder happened. Example, and arrest made in 2020 of a perpetrator in a 1975 cold case would be calculated as a clearance in 2020.

State

Homicides

Clearance

Unsolved

Alabama21,56360%
8,660
Alaska2,51078%563
Arizona18,06964%6,564
Arkansas11,18276%2,687
California137,49362%52,480
Colorado10,62969%3,301
Connecticut7,21872%2,038
Delaware2,258 71%645
D.C. 13,582761%5,363
Florida 59,679 65%20,630
Georgia 36,104 64%12,874
Hawaii 2,18267%728
Idaho 1,93080%382
Illinois53,86054%24,758
Indiana19,37857%8,307
Iowa3,18574% 835
Kansas6.15465%2,141
Kentucky13,62873%3,628
Louisiana31,81964%11,585
Maine1,43080% 292
Maryland26,53366% 8,989
Massachusetts 10,27361% 4,050
Michigan45.44654%20,765
Minnesota6,60868% 2,100
Mississippi10,99670%3,310
Missouri 25,56971% 7,462
Montana1,47367% 485
Nebraska 2,94982%531
Nevada8,05968%2,549
New Hampshire 1,022 67%338
New Jersey22,35368%7,076
New Mexico 7,406 61%2,897
New York80,60365% 28,083
North Carolina 32,97080% 6,655
North Dakota60884%100
Ohio35,14464% 12,488
Oklahoma 13,03879% 2,760
Oregon 6,37866% 2,189
Pennsylvania39,85474% 10,314
Rhode Island 1,808 64% 658
South Carolina19,86877%4,561
South Dakota90572% 255
Tennessee 24,79168%8,034
Texas 94,37573% 26,009
Utah3,056 73% 833
Vermont58563% 217
Virginia 25,38875% 6,382
Washington11,80770% 3,581
West Virginia 5,20978%1,132
Wisconsin 9,87978% 2,186
Wyoming 1,03484% 163

Homicides and Clearance Rates from 1980-2023

Data provided by The Murder Accountability Project

The rate at which homicides are solved has been declining during the past five decades. Below is a table that shows the number of reported homicides in each year from 1980 – 2023, the clearance rate for each year, and the number of murders left unsolved.

Year

Homicides

Clearance

Unsolved

202318,37558%7,778
202220,41954%9,458
202114,71551%7,173
202020,22151%9,847
201915,44958%6,544
201815,87759%6,537
201717,00458%7,154
201616,89156%7,509
201515,59459%6,453
201413,92361%5,413
201314,10361%5,489
201214,82256%6,456
201114,55158%6,163
201014,57758%6,158
200915,16659%6,216
200816,27264%5,858
200716,92961%6,602
200617,03061%6,642
200516,74062%6,361
200416,14863%5,975
200316,52862%6,281
200216,22964%5,842
200116,03762%6,094
200015,58663%5,767
199915,52269%4,812
199816,97469%5,262
199718,20866%6,191
199619,64567%6,483
199521,60665%7,562
199423,32664%8,397
199324,52666%8,339
199223,76065%8,316
199124,70365%8,316
199023,43867%7,735
198921,50068%6,880
198820,67570%6,203
198720,09670%6,029
198620,61370%5,313
198518,97672%5,313
198418,69274%4,860
198319,30876%4,634
198221,01074%5,463
198122,52072%6,306
198023,04072%6,451
Total792,29163%293,724

Notes: This total homicide estimate differs from the counts found in the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report and Supplementary Homicide Report. Those two reports are based upon incomplete data provided by local police departments. The homicide totals and clearance rates presented here are estimated by the FBI, based upon the incomplete reporting. The FBI provides this definition of when homicides are considered to be cleared: “Law enforcement agencies clear or solve an offense when at least one person is arrested, charged with the commission of the offense, and turned over to the court for prosecution. Law enforcement agencies may also clear a crime by exceptional means such as when an identified offender is killed during apprehension or dies by suicide.”

The above information was compiled and published by The Murder Accountability Project.