Related Studies: Oregon Homicide Rates: 2025 Analysis, Cities With the Lowest Homicide Rates (2025), Easiest States to Buy a Gun: The Best States for Gun Buyers in 2025

California Homicide Rates

In 2024, California's homicide rate was 4.53 per 100,000 people, with 1,766 homicides. The state ranks 32nd in the nation for its homicide rate, with a rate lower than the national average of 6.00 per 100,000.

How Many Gun Owners in California?

In 2023, there were 3.3 million gun owners in California. ² However, some estimates state that there are nearly 6 million gun owners in California (15% of the state population). ³

Rural areas in Northern California have the highest percentage of gun owners, or 40% on average. In contrast, the rate of gun ownership in more densely populated areas in parts of Central and Southern California is 24% on average. ³

California Murder Rate by Year

California's homicide rate in 2024 was 4.45 per 100,000 people; far below the national average of 6.0 per 100,000.

Between 1968 and 1974, California's murder rate rose from 6.7 per 100,000 to 9.7. The state surpassed the national average in 1975 (10.3 per 100,000 versus 9.9), and peaked in 1980 (14.5 per 100,000).

The state's murder rate declined only slightly after 1980, while the rest of the nation declined by more than 1.0 per 100,000 murders. In 2001, the state's murder rate dipped below the national average (6.4 per 100,000 versus 7.1) for the first time in more than two decades.

The rate increased above the national average until 2010 (5.2 per 100,000 versus 5.3), and has remained lower since that year.

California Murder Rates by Gender

In 2024, men in California were four times more likely to be murdered than women. Males died at a rate of 7.21 per 100,000, while women died at a rate of 1.62 per 100,000.

Comparatively, the 2024 homicide rate for men in the U.S. was 9.7 per 100,000; for women, 2.4 per 100,000.

California Murder Rate by City

Los Angeles had the most murders of any city in 2024 (264). However, the city also has nearly 3.8 million people, resulting in a per capita rate of 6.9 per 100,000.

Compton, Oakland, Lancaster, Vallejo, Stockton, Antioch, San Bernardino, Carson, Hawthorne, and Sacramento had the highest homicide rates of all California cities in 2024 (excluding those with populations below 75,000 people).

Note: Cities with fewer than 75,000 people were excluded because per capita rates are too volatile for smaller population sizes.

California Crime Rate Compared to Other States

Compared to six peer states, California ranked fifth for homicides in 2024. Florida, Illinois, and Texas had higher homicide rates, while Oregon and New York had lower rates.

With its population of more than 39 million people, California is comparable to Canada. Therefore, we measured peer states based on the following factors:

1. Region
2. Policy
3. Large population

Illinois has similar firearm and sanctuary policies to California, but the state had the highest homicide rate of all our peer states at 7.9 per 100,000 people in 2024. New York has similar firearm legislation and sanctuary policies, and a homicide rate of 3.4 per 100,000 in 2024. Oregon has comparably relaxed firearm legislation and sanctuary policies, albeit the same homicide rate of 3.4 per 100,000 in 2024.

Florida and Texas have vastly different firearm laws from California, and neither has sanctuary policies. In 2024, these two states had lower homicide rates than Illinois (5.91 per 100,000 and 5.01 per 100,000, respectively), but theirs were higher than those of California, Oregon, and New York.

How Does California Compare to the National Average?

California's average murder rate from 1968 to 2024 is 8.41 per 100,000 people; higher than the national average of 7.66 per 100,000 in the same year.

As mentioned previously, California's homicide rate dropped below the national average in the early 2010s, and has remained lower. In 2024, the state's homicide rate was 26% lower than the national average.

Wrap-Up

California has the nation's largest population, and the second largest number of annual homicides. Although the state has had higher homicide rates than the national average in the past, it now has rates lower than the national average.

Sources:

1. CDC WONDER: Underlying Cause of Death
2. California Department of Justice Releases 2022 Armed and Prohibited Persons System Program Annual Report
3. BulletPoints Project: Firearm Ownership