FBI UCR Homicide Data — 20 recorded incidents
Opelika, Alabama has recorded 20 homicides over the tracked period, with 26 victims identified. Tracking continues through 2026. The city ranks #229 among 339 U.S. cities tracked by the FBI, with a clearance rate of 10% — meaning an arrest or suspect identification was made in 2 of those incidents, while 12 remain open. The weapon mix skews toward firearm - handguns (roughly 50% of cases with weapon data), with blunt object, personal weapons (hands, fists, feet), unknown as the next-most-frequent categories. The single deadliest month on record was March 2022, with 5 homicides logged. Reporting is dominated by Opelika Police Department, which filed 20 incident reports. The annual homicide count runs 78% below the per-city average for the FBI's tracking universe. Alabama's statewide firearms policy — the Habitual Offender Act — is part of the regulatory backdrop for the local dynamic, even as the city-level pattern is shaped most directly by community-level conditions and the broader opioid and fentanyl crisis. For broader statewide context, see our Alabama state homicide data page. The Murder Channel's Alabama coverage provides ongoing context for this city's homicide patterns as new FBI UCR reports are released.