Map of US states by murder rate; 2011 (better, rates, crime)

[tablemtn]

Now that the FBI released its annual crime report, this is what the 2011 map looks like:

http://i.imgur.com/mEDZk.png

And here's the 2010 map for comparison purposes:

http://i.imgur.com/buRhs.png

The overall national rate dipped a bit, led by declines in Texas and Virginia, even though the number of states in which rates held steady or edged up seems to be greater than those which saw reductions.

[boreatwork]

Great info.. I see a decrease but Maryland still #4.

[tablemtn]

I should add, the images are not under copyright. They're free to distribute. They're based on a public-domain blank border map of the US with some modifications.

[ColdAilment]

Louisiana mostly because of New Orleans I'd imagine. If you saw this map pre-Katrina it'd be worse.

[Carlite]

The map shows the folly of the argument that the death penalty deters crime. Half of the executions nationally were in Texas, Georgia, and Alabama. Yet they were all in the top half of the states for murder rates; Georgia was in the top 10.

[italianuser]

Originally Posted by tablemtn

Now that the FBI released its annual crime report, this is what the 2011 map looks like:

http://i.imgur.com/mEDZk.png

And here's the 2010 map for comparison purposes:

http://i.imgur.com/buRhs.png

The overall national rate dipped a bit, led by declines in Texas and Virginia, even though the number of states in which rates held steady or edged up seems to be greater than those which saw reductions.

Wow! Montana, SD, ND, Wyoming, Colorado, Idaho and Nebraska have experienced an increase in violence: considering that they are rural states anyone would expect them perfoming better, but theirs murder rates are unusually high.

[Mike1306]

Originally Posted by Carlite

The map shows the folly of the argument that the death penalty deters crime. Half of the executions nationally were in Texas, Georgia, and Alabama. Yet they were all in the top half of the states for murder rates; Georgia was in the top 10.

New Hampshire, Utah, Washington, Oregon, Montana, Idaho, South Dakota also have the death penalty and have some of the lowest murder rates in the country, #2, #8, #10, etc.
You can not take just one factor, try to correlate it to murder rates and have any kind of valid argument.

[Ghengis]

Originally Posted by Mike1306

New Hampshire, Utah, Washington, Oregon, Montana, Idaho, South Dakota also have the death penalty and have some of the lowest murder rates in the country, #2, #8, #10, etc.
You can not take just one factor, try to correlate it to murder rates and have any kind of valid argument.

true, a more telling factor in a state's murder rate would likly be their citizens' aim.

[TAM88]

I wonder why a good number of southern states: South Carolina, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee for example, have higher murder rates per capita than some northern states.

[Taynxtlvl]

It's the heat I tell ya! Also they have younger populations as well.