Portland on Pace to Record Fewest Number of Murders Among Nation’s 30 Largest Cities

Overall, the nation's murder rate is on pace to decline nearly 6 percent this year.

Multnomah County Heath Department Headquarters. (Motoya Nakamura / Multnomah County)
By Nigel Jaquiss

The good news in the murder statistics released by the Brennan Center for Justice last week is that Portland is on pace to record the fewest murders of any of the nation's largest 30 cities.

As of Dec. 12, Portland had experienced 27 murders in 2018, slightly fewer than San Diego (28) and Seattle and San Jose (29).

The not-so-good news: those 27 murders are three more than Portland recorded in 2017, when it recorded fewer murders than any big city except El Paso (19).

Looked at another way, in terms of murders per 100,000 people, Portland has the sixth lowest rate in 2018, trailing San Diego, New York, San Jose, Austin and Seattle.

Overall, the murder rate for the top 25 cities dropped 5.8 percent this year.

Source: Brennan Center for Justice.

Willamette Week’s reporting has concrete impacts that change laws, force action from civic leaders, and drive compromised politicians from public office.

Help us dig deeper.

Support