Known juvenile homicide offenders by age, 1980-2020

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), Serving Children, Families, and Communities

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Homicide

Q:	How does homicide offending by youth vary by age?
A:	Older juveniles, those ages 16 and 17, account for the majority of known juvenile homicide offenders.

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Between 2011 and 2020, 75% of all known juvenile homicide offenders were age 16 or 17. During the same period, juveniles under age 15 accounted for 10% of known juvenile homicide offenders.
Trends in the number of known juvenile homicide offenders followed a similar pattern for all age groups: the number of known juvenile homicide offenders increased for all age groups between 1984 and 1994 and then declined between 1994 and the mid-2000s. However, older juveniles, those ages 16 and 17, accounted for the largest share of both the increase and the decline (about 70%).
Since reaching their respective lowpoints in the 2010s, the number of known juvenile offenders increased through 2020 for all age groups: 1401 for youth under age 15 (2014 low point), 129% for 15-year-olds and 115% for 16-year-olds (2013 low point for both) and 86% for 17-year-olds (2012 low point).

Internet citation: OJJDP Statistical Briefing Book. Online. Available: https://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/offenders/qa03104.asp?qaDate=2020. Released on December 09, 2021.

Adapted from Puzzanchera, C., Chamberlin, G. and Kang, W. (2021). Easy Access to the FBI's Supplementary Homicide Reports. Available on-line at: https://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/ezashr/.

Data Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation. Supplementary Homicide Reports for the years 1980–2020 [machine-readable data files]. Washington, D.C.: FBI.