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Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025

Is Phoenix’s 2025 homicide rate twice as high as New York City’s?

Tallulah Anne, Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting
yes

From January through June 2025, Phoenix’s homicide rate was twice as high as New York City’s, according to data compiled by the Council on Criminal Justice, a nonpartisan think tank.

Phoenix, with about 1.7 million residents, averaged 0.55 homicides per 100,000 people during that period. New York City, with more than 8.5 million residents, averaged 0.27.

Nationally, homicide rates for the first half of 2025 were 17% lower than during the first half of 2024, according to the Council on Criminal Justice report. Phoenix and New York experienced declines of 11% and 16%, respectively.

Homicide rates in both cities peaked in 2020, reflecting a nationwide surge that experts linked to pandemic-related stressors.

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Fact briefs are bite-sized, well-sourced explanations that offer clear "yes" or "no" answers to questions, confusions, and unsupported claims circulating online. They rely on publicly available data and documents, often from the original source. Fact briefs are written and published by Gigafact contributor publications.

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The Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting is the state’s only independent, nonpartisan and collaborative nonprofit newsroom dedicated to statewide, data-driven investigative reporting. AZCIR's mission is to hold powerful people and institutions accountable by exposing injustice and systemic inequities through investigative journalism.

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