Youth homicide victims by race, 1980-2020

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

Printer-friendly

Violent Crime Victimization

Q:	Does youth homicide victimization vary by race?
A:	White youth homicide victims outnumbered Black youth homicide victims for most years since 1980, but Black victims outnumbered white victims each year since 2014.

[ Text only ] [ CSV file ]

Trends in the number of homicide victims followed a similar pattern for white and Black youth, but the likelihood of being a victim is greater for Black youth than white youth.
In the early 1980s, the homicide rate for Black youth was about 4 times the rate for white youth. This disparity increased so much that by 1993 the Black rate was 6 times the white rate. The relatively greater decline in the homicide rate for Black youth between 1993 and 1998 (down 48%, compared with a 26% decline for whites) returned the disparity in Black-to-white homicide rates to 4-to-1. The ratio stayed within a limited range (4.2 to 4.7) between 2004 and 2013. By 2020, the disparity in Black-to-white homicide rates returned to the 1993 peak of 6-to-1.
More than half (57%) of youth homicide victims with known race in 2020 were Black, 41% were white, and 2% were American Indian or Asian.

Internet citation: OJJDP Statistical Briefing Book. Online. Available: https://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/victims/qa02310.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.