The following chart comes directly from The Murder Accountability Project
Cold Case Homicide Statistics
Breakdown of Homicide Clearance Rates
Nearly 340,000 cases of homicide and non-negligent manslaughter went unsolved from 1965 to 2021, 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 |
| Alabama | 20,591 | 60% | 8,259 |
| Alaska | 2,353 | 77% | 531 |
| Arizona | 16,889 | 64% | 6,029 |
| Arkansas | 10,580 | 77% | 2,432 |
| California | 131,113 | 62% | 49,792 |
| Colorado | 9,928 | 68% | 3,164 |
| Connecticut | 6,932 | 73% | 1,886 |
| Delaware | 2,160 | 72% | 612 |
| D.C. | 13,096 | 62% | 5,010 |
| Florida | 57,181 | 66% | 19,549 |
| Georgia | 34,480 | 65% | 12,140 |
| Hawaii | 2,119 | 66% | 729 |
| Idaho | 1,823 | 81% | 352 |
| Illinois | 50,693 | 35% | 32,901 |
| Indiana | 18,437 | 58% | 7,769 |
| Iowa | 3,051 | 73% | 817 |
| Kansas | 5,819 | 65% | 2,027 |
| Kentucky | 12,916 | 74% | 3,351 |
| Louisiana | 30,106 | 65% | 10,625 |
| Maine | 1,337 | 80% | 272 |
| Maryland | 25,164 | 68% | 8,152 |
| Massachusetts | 9,978 | 61% | 3,904 |
| Michigan | 44,148 | 54% | 20,155 |
| Minnesota | 6,259 | 67% | 2,061 |
| Mississippi | 10,436 | 70% | 3,083 |
| Missouri | 24,337 | 71% | 7,009 |
| Montana | 1,392 | 68% | 445 |
| Nebraska | 2,808 | 82% | 514 |
| Nevada | 7,615 | 68% | 2,470 |
| New Hampshire | 972 | 67% | 319 |
| New Jersey | 21,692 | 69% | 6,770 |
| New Mexico | 8,896 | 64% | 2,503 |
| New York | 78,459 | 61% | 30,908 |
| North Carolina | 31,238 | 81% | 5,944 |
| North Dakota | 554 | 83% | 92 |
| Ohio | 33,734 | 65% | 11,665 |
| Oklahoma | 12,507 | 80% | 2,553 |
| Oregon | 5,982 | 66% | 2,032 |
| Pennsylvania | 37,542 | 75% | 9,328 |
| Rhode Island | 1,766 | 63% | 647 |
| South Carolina | 18,805 | 78% | 4,204 |
| South Dakota | 838 | 72% | 232 |
| Tennessee | 23,389 | 69% | 7,298 |
| Texas | 90,476 | 73% | 24,353 |
| Utah | 2,908 | 73% | 799 |
| Vermont | 546 | 64% | 198 |
| Virginia | 24,204 | 76% | 5,917 |
| Washington | 11,034 | 71% | 3,219 |
| West Virginia | 5,018 | 79% | 1,047 |
| Wisconsin | 9,264 | 79% | 1,956 |
| Wyoming | 1,006 | 85% | 150 |
Homicides and Clearance Rates from 1980-2021
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 which shows the number of reported homicides in each year from 1980 – 2021, the clearance rate for each year, and the number of murders left unsolved.
Year |
Homicides |
Clearance |
Unsolved |
| 2021 | 14,715 | 51% | 7,173 |
| 2020 | 20,221 | 51% | 9,847 |
| 2019 | 15,449 | 58% | 6,544 |
| 2018 | 15,877 | 59% | 6,537 |
| 2017 | 17,004 | 58% | 7,154 |
| 2016 | 16,891 | 56% | 7,509 |
| 2015 | 15,594 | 59% | 6,453 |
| 2014 | 13,923 | 61% | 5,413 |
| 2013 | 14,103 | 61% | 5,489 |
| 2012 | 14,822 | 56% | 6,456 |
| 2011 | 14,551 | 58% | 6,163 |
| 2010 | 14,577 | 58% | 6,158 |
| 2009 | 15,166 | 59% | 6,216 |
| 2008 | 16,272 | 64% | 5,858 |
| 2007 | 16,929 | 61% | 6,602 |
| 2006 | 17,030 | 61% | 6,642 |
| 2005 | 16,740 | 62% | 6,361 |
| 2004 | 16,148 | 63% | 5,975 |
| 2003 | 16,528 | 62% | 6,281 |
| 2002 | 16,229 | 64% | 5,842 |
| 2001 | 16,037 | 62% | 6,094 |
| 2000 | 15,586 | 63% | 5,767 |
| 1999 | 15,522 | 69% | 4,812 |
| 1998 | 16,974 | 69% | 5,262 |
| 1997 | 18,208 | 66% | 6,191 |
| 1996 | 19,645 | 67% | 6,483 |
| 1995 | 21,606 | 65% | 7,562 |
| 1994 | 23,326 | 64% | 8,397 |
| 1993 | 24,526 | 66% | 8,339 |
| 1992 | 23,760 | 65% | 8,316 |
| 1991 | 24,703 | 65% | 8,316 |
| 1990 | 23,438 | 67% | 7,735 |
| 1989 | 21,500 | 68% | 6,880 |
| 1988 | 20,675 | 70% | 6,203 |
| 1987 | 20,096 | 70% | 6,029 |
| 1986 | 20,613 | 70% | 5,313 |
| 1985 | 18,976 | 72% | 5,313 |
| 1984 | 18,692 | 74% | 4,860 |
| 1983 | 19,308 | 76% | 4,634 |
| 1982 | 21,010 | 74% | 5,463 |
| 1981 | 22,520 | 72% | 6,306 |
| 1980 | 23,040 | 72% | 6,451 |
| Total | 744,878 | 62% | 286,285 |
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.
